Glossary
Domain-specific terms used throughout the docs. UK consumer-credit context unless stated otherwise.
Agent. The AI surface talking to the customer (or installer). Implemented as Claude Sonnet 4.6 with a structured-event protocol.
<agent-event>. The structured event tag the agent embeds in its prose. See Event protocol.
Application details. Step in the customer journey where personal and financial facts are captured in a single form. Also called the “Information Request gate”.
Audit log. The chronological record of every state-mutating event in a case. Surfaced at /audit/[sessionId]. See Audit & replay.
Awaiting counter decision. State the case enters when a downstream lender has counter-offered and the customer is choosing whether to accept.
Broker. The FCA-regulated credit broker that arranges consumer credit through a panel of lenders. Holds the regulatory permission. Distinct from the retailer (introducer) and the lender (decisioning).
Broker-controlled surface. A page rendered on the broker’s own infrastructure, used for low-trust user agents to render verbatim regulated content. See Trust gradient.
CaseState. The TypeScript type representing the journey’s source of truth. See State types.
case_outcome. Terminal event recording how a case ended. See Withdraw and outcomes.
Case Outcome Kind. One of selected, declined, ineligible, withdrawn, completed.
CONC. The FCA Handbook’s Consumer Credit sourcebook. See CONC.
Consumer Duty. FCA rules (PS22/9, FG22/5) requiring firms to deliver good outcomes for retail customers. Four outcomes: products and services, price and value, consumer understanding, consumer support. See Consumer Duty.
Counter-offer. A lender approving an application at terms different from the requested ones (e.g. higher APR, longer term). See Counter-offer mechanics.
Decision API. A lender’s HTTP/MCP/REST surface for receiving an application and returning an approved_as_requested | approved_with_counter | declined decision. Mocked in lib/decision-engine.ts. See Decision API adapter.
Direct events. Events dispatched by the UI directly (button clicks, form submissions) without going through the model. Always deterministic. Distinct from model events.
Disclosure. Verbatim regulated content presented to the customer. The demo has three: service_status, credit_search_consent, pre_contract_summary. Stored in lib/disclosures.ts.
DPIA. Data Protection Impact Assessment. ICO guidance requires one for processing involving novel technology, automated decision-making, or special category data. See DPIA.
Eligibility check. Four-yes-no-question gate that runs before any credit search. Failing eligibility takes the customer to the ineligible path with no application made.
FCA. Financial Conduct Authority, the UK regulator for consumer credit.
FG21/1. FCA Finalised Guidance on the fair treatment of vulnerable customers. See Vulnerable customers.
FG22/5. FCA Finalised Guidance on Consumer Duty. See Consumer Duty.
Indicative quote. The pre-application loan figure shown to the customer based on the prime lender’s rate card. Subject to which lender actually approves them.
Information Request gate. The protocol’s term for a single structured form that captures multiple facts at once. The demo’s “Application details” card is one. Distinct from conversational data gathering.
Installer. The retailer’s representative on the customer’s doorstep. Uses the installer surface to capture project facts and customer contact, then hands off to the customer’s phone.
Introducer. The retailer in the regulated sense: the firm that introduces the customer to the broker. Doesn’t hold the FCA permission itself.
Lender. The firm making the credit decision and providing the funding. Sits on the broker’s panel.
Lender adapter. Per-lender code that wraps the lender’s decision API behind a uniform LenderAdapter interface for the waterfall to call.
Model events. Events the model emits as inline <agent-event> tags. Probabilistic; the deterministic side (reconciliation) closes any gaps.
PECR. Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations. Governs SMS, email, cookies. See PECR & cookies.
Pre-contract summary. The disclosure asking the customer to confirm the information they’ve given is true and complete, before the application is submitted to the lender panel.
Prime / Prime 2 / Sub-prime. Lender tiers in the demo’s mock waterfall. Prime is the first lender called; subsequent lenders cover progressively higher-risk customers.
PRIN. The FCA Handbook’s Principles for Businesses. See Principles & SMCR.
Reconciliation. The pure function in lib/reconcile.ts that closes cross-cutting gaps the model leaves open. Three rules: ack on consent, present pre-contract on consent, run waterfall when all gates pass. See Reconciliation.
Replay engine. The component that re-runs each disclosure N times against the agent to produce a per-disclosure compliance pass rate. See Replay & evidence.
Retailer. The firm whose installer is on the customer’s doorstep. Introduces the customer to the broker. Doesn’t hold the FCA permission.
Seed. A base64-encoded snapshot of case state and transcript that travels in the URL or request body. Lets cold serverless instances recover the full session state. See Cold-start recovery.
select_offer / accept_counter_offer / refuse_counter_offer. Events dispatched by the customer’s accept/refuse buttons during the waterfall.
Service status disclosure. The opening regulated content presented to the customer, explaining who the broker is, that they’re not the lender, and what’s about to happen.
SMCR. Senior Managers and Certification Regime. Allocates personal accountability for AI-related decisions in regulated firms. See Principles & SMCR.
Trust gradient. The protocol concept that high-trust user agents can render regulated content inline, while low-trust user agents have to send the customer to a broker-controlled surface. See Trust gradient.
UK GDPR. The UK’s data-protection regulation, derived from EU GDPR but distinct in some respects post-Brexit. See UK GDPR.
User agent. The AI surface talking to the customer. Could be the broker’s own (high-trust) or a third-party assistant (low-trust).
Verbatim. Regulated content that must be rendered exactly as published, with no paraphrasing by the model. The demo’s disclosure pattern (model emits present_disclosure, UI renders body verbatim) is what makes this enforceable.
Vulnerability indicators. The five-checkbox card asking the customer to self-disclose vulnerability factors. Always optional, never penalised. See Vulnerable customer protection.
Waterfall. Sequential lender panel: lender 1 first, then 2, then 3, etc. Each can approve as requested, counter-offer at different terms, or decline. See Waterfall protocol.
Withdraw. The customer’s option to leave the journey at any point. Triggered by the “Leave for now” link in the page header. See Withdraw and outcomes.