vocabulary:
  name: WasmEdge Vocabulary
  description: >-
    Domain vocabulary for WasmEdge, the CNCF sandbox WebAssembly runtime for
    cloud native, edge, and decentralized applications. Covers runtime
    internals, embedding APIs, plugin architecture, and deployment patterns.
  version: '1.0'
  created: '2026-05-03'
  modified: '2026-05-03'
  tags:
    - Cloud Native
    - CNCF
    - WebAssembly
    - Edge Computing
  terms:
    - term: WasmEdge Runtime
      definition: >-
        The core execution engine of WasmEdge that interprets or executes
        compiled WebAssembly modules. Supports both interpreter mode and
        AoT-compiled native execution. Implements the WebAssembly MVP spec
        and numerous proposals (SIMD, bulk memory, multi-value, etc.).
      tags:
        - Core Concept
    - term: AoT Compiler
      definition: >-
        Ahead-of-Time compiler in WasmEdge based on LLVM that compiles
        WebAssembly bytecode to native machine code before execution. Produces
        a shared library (.so or .dylib) that the runtime loads for maximum
        performance — significantly faster than interpreted execution.
      tags:
        - Performance
        - Compilation
    - term: WASI
      definition: >-
        WebAssembly System Interface — a standardized API for WebAssembly
        modules to access OS-level capabilities like file systems, sockets,
        clocks, and random number generation. WasmEdge implements WASI and
        extends it with additional proposals for networking and crypto.
      tags:
        - Standard
        - Interfaces
    - term: WASI-NN
      definition: >-
        A WASI proposal and WasmEdge plugin providing a machine learning
        inference API. WasmEdge's WASI-NN plugin supports TensorFlow,
        TensorFlow Lite, PyTorch, and OpenVINO backends, enabling AI inference
        from within WebAssembly modules without Python dependencies.
      tags:
        - AI
        - Machine Learning
        - Plugin
    - term: Plugin
      definition: >-
        A host-native shared library that extends WasmEdge with additional
        host function packages. Plugins are loaded at runtime and expose new
        WebAssembly host imports. Standard plugins include wasi_nn (AI),
        wasi_crypto (cryptography), wasi_logging, and WASM-BPF.
      tags:
        - Extension
        - Plugin System
    - term: Host Function
      definition: >-
        A native function implemented in the host language (C, Rust, Go, etc.)
        that is registered in the WasmEdge store and callable from WebAssembly
        modules as an import. Host functions bridge WebAssembly's sandboxed
        environment to native capabilities.
      tags:
        - Embedding
        - Extension
    - term: VM (Virtual Machine)
      definition: >-
        WasmEdge's high-level API object combining a Store, Executor, and
        optional Configuration for loading and running WebAssembly modules.
        The VM is the primary entry point for the embedding SDKs.
      tags:
        - Embedding
        - API
    - term: Store
      definition: >-
        The WasmEdge Store holds all instantiated module instances, function
        instances, table instances, memory instances, and global instances.
        Multiple modules can be registered in a single store and call each
        other's exported functions.
      tags:
        - Runtime
    - term: Executor
      definition: >-
        The component responsible for executing WebAssembly instructions within
        the WasmEdge runtime, whether in interpreter mode or using AoT-compiled
        native code.
      tags:
        - Runtime
    - term: Gas Meter
      definition: >-
        A resource limiting mechanism in WasmEdge that assigns a cost to each
        WebAssembly instruction and halts execution when a gas limit is
        exceeded. Useful for smart contract environments and serverless
        functions that need bounded computation.
      tags:
        - Security
        - Resource Management
    - term: WASM-BPF
      definition: >-
        A WasmEdge plugin enabling WebAssembly modules to interact with the
        Linux eBPF (Extended Berkeley Packet Filter) kernel subsystem from
        user space. Allows Wasm programs to load, run, and communicate with
        eBPF programs for networking and observability use cases.
      tags:
        - eBPF
        - Plugin
        - Linux
    - term: runwasi
      definition: >-
        A containerd-shim implementation that enables running WebAssembly
        workloads as OCI containers using WasmEdge (or other Wasm runtimes).
        runwasi allows Kubernetes to schedule Wasm containers alongside
        traditional Linux containers.
      tags:
        - Kubernetes
        - Container
        - OCI
    - term: crun
      definition: >-
        A fast, low-memory OCI container runtime that supports WebAssembly
        workloads via WasmEdge integration. With WasmEdge's crun integration,
        podman and Kubernetes can run Wasm containers natively.
      tags:
        - Container
        - OCI