Glossary

Term	Definition
contract	The `.mdv.md` rule file; the primary noun in prose.
schema	The same file, named this way only for the CLI option `--schema` and API variable names.
directive	A hidden Markdown HTML comment beginning `<!-- mdv:` and ending `-->`.
tag	A construct you attach rules to. Exactly two kinds: `section` (owns a heading, nests) and a leaf (`list`, `evidenceList`, `taskList`, `choice`, `table`, `code`, `line`, `media` — headingless, one per construct, always inside a section). `document` and `front` are structural markers with no end tag.
rule	A check attached to a tag, such as `required`, `minWords=N`, or `allChecked`.
prop	The reference's column name for an attachable rule; a rule as it appears in a Props table.
atom	One token inside a directive; most user-facing atoms are rules, plus meta-atoms like severity overrides and structure atoms.
concern	What a diagnostic is about: syntax or state.
syntax / shape	The form of the Markdown: headings, fences, tables, and other structure.
state	The document's content, attestation, or external facts.
attestation	A human-owned claim of completion, such as a checked box or provided evidence.
field kind	The internal kind of a tag's body, such as prose, list, or table; user-facing docs should usually say tag or rule.
plugin	An npm package or local module, built with `definePlugin`, that extends mediva's rule registry with namespaced rules, diagnostics, and tags — leaves (`defineLeaf`), section presets (`defineSectionPreset`), or composite sections (`defineCompositeSection`). See Authoring plugins.
manifest	The object `definePlugin` validates and returns: `name`, `apiVersion`, plus the rules/diagnostics/leaves it contributes.
namespaced rule	A plugin rule name or diagnostic code prefixed `${plugin-name}/`, e.g. `compliance/noWeasel` — required so a plugin can't collide with core or another plugin.
fill	For a `syntax`-concern diagnostic, whether its fix is a pure transform of text already present (`mechanical`) or needs information the document may not contain (`facts`).
repair card	A `repairActions` entry: the instruction handed to an LLM autofixer when a `syntax`-concern diagnostic fires. Required for every such diagnostic, unless it's listed in `unsupportedAutofix`.
apiVersion	The plugin API version a manifest declares; must equal the loading mediva's `PLUGIN_API_VERSION` or the plugin fails to load with `plugin-api-mismatch`.