> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.guardway.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Glossary > Comprehensive glossary of terms used across the Guardway.ai platform and documentation. # Glossary ### Adapter A software component that translates between Guardway's unified API format and a provider's specific API format. Each provider (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.) has its own adapter. ### Chat Completion The primary LLM interaction where a model generates a response based on a conversation history (messages). Also called "chat" or "completion." ### Completion Tokens The number of tokens in the generated response from the LLM. Typically costs more per token than prompt tokens. ### Context Length The maximum number of tokens (prompt + completion) that a model can process in a single request. For example, GPT-4 has a 128K token context length. ### Embeddings Dense vector representations of text that capture semantic meaning. Used for similarity search, clustering, and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG). ### Few-Shot Learning Providing a model with examples in the prompt to guide its behavior without fine-tuning. For example, showing 3 examples of the desired output format. ### Fine-Tuning The process of training a base model on domain-specific data to specialize its behavior. Results in a custom model. ### Function Calling See [Tool Use](#tool-use). ### Guardrails Security and safety mechanisms that validate, filter, or block LLM inputs and outputs. Examples: PII detection, hate speech filtering, prompt injection detection. ### Hallucination When an LLM generates false or nonsensical information presented as fact. A key challenge in production LLM deployments. ### JSON Mode A feature where the LLM is constrained to output valid JSON only. Useful for structured data extraction. ### Max Tokens The maximum number of tokens the model can generate in its response. Acts as a cost control and prevents runaway generation. ### Message A unit in a conversation with an LLM, consisting of a role (`system`, `user`, `assistant`, or `tool`) and content (the text). ### Model A trained neural network capable of text generation, embeddings, image generation, or other AI tasks. Examples: GPT-4, Claude 3, Llama 2. ### Moderation Content filtering to detect harmful, unsafe, or inappropriate content. Can be applied to inputs (user prompts) or outputs (LLM responses). ### Prompt The input text sent to an LLM. Can include instructions, examples, and the actual query. ### Prompt Engineering The practice of crafting effective prompts to get desired behaviors from LLMs without fine-tuning. ### Prompt Injection A security attack where malicious input attempts to override the system prompt or manipulate the LLM's behavior. **Prompt Injection vs. Jailbreaking**: Prompt injection targets the system prompt to change the model's behavior, while jailbreaking attempts to bypass safety guardrails. Both are security concerns addressed by Guardway. ### Prompt Tokens The number of tokens in the input sent to the LLM. Typically costs less per token than completion tokens. ### Provider A company or service that offers LLM APIs. Examples: OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Cohere, Groq. ### RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) A technique where relevant documents are retrieved from a knowledge base and included in the prompt to ground the LLM's response in factual information. ### Semantic Cache A caching system that matches queries based on meaning rather than exact text match. Uses embeddings to find similar queries. ### Stop Sequence A string that, when generated by the model, signals the end of generation. Used to create structured outputs. ### Streaming Sending the LLM response in chunks as it's generated, rather than waiting for the complete response. Improves perceived latency. ### System Prompt Instructions given to the LLM that set its behavior, persona, and constraints. Typically the first message in a conversation. ### Temperature A parameter (0-2) that controls randomness in generation. Higher = more creative/random, lower = more deterministic/focused. ### Token The basic unit of text processing for LLMs. Roughly 4 characters or 0.75 words in English. Tokenization varies by model. **Tokens vs. Words**: A common source of confusion. Tokens are not words -- they are sub-word units. The word "unbelievable" might be split into multiple tokens. Always check the model's tokenizer for exact counts. ### Tool Use The ability for an LLM to call external functions/APIs. The model decides when to use a tool, Guardway calls it, and the result is fed back to the model. ### Top-K Sampling strategy where only the K most likely next tokens are considered. Reduces randomness. ### Top-P (Nucleus Sampling) Sampling strategy where tokens are selected from the smallest set whose cumulative probability exceeds P. More dynamic than top-K. ### Vision The ability for an LLM to process and understand images in addition to text. Example: GPT-4V, Claude 3. ### Zero-Shot Learning Using an LLM without providing examples, relying solely on instructions. The model must generalize from its training. ### API Key A secret token used to authenticate requests to the Guardway gateway. Each key can have quotas, budgets, and access controls. ### Budget A spending limit (in dollars) associated with an API key or team. Requests are blocked when the budget is exceeded. ### Failover The automatic switching to a backup provider when the primary provider fails or is unavailable. ### Gateway The central service that receives client requests, applies security policies, routes to providers, and returns responses. The core of Guardway. ### Health Check An endpoint (`/health`) that reports the operational status of the gateway and its dependencies (Redis, providers). ### Latency The time between sending a request and receiving a complete response. Measured in milliseconds (ms). ### Middleware Software components that intercept and process requests before they reach route handlers. Examples: authentication, rate limiting, logging. ### Multi-tenancy The ability to serve multiple independent customers (tenants) from a single gateway instance with isolation and access controls. ### Quota A limit on the number of requests allowed within a time period. Can be per-API-key, per-user, or per-team. ### Rate Limiting Restricting the number of requests allowed in a time window to prevent abuse and manage load. Can limit by requests/minute or tokens/minute. **Rate Limiting vs. Quota**: Rate limiting controls the speed of requests (e.g., 100 requests/minute), while quotas control the total volume (e.g., 10,000 requests/month). Both are important for cost control and abuse prevention. ### Routing The process of selecting which provider and model to use for a request based on rules, strategies, or load balancing. ### Routing Rule A configuration that maps requests to specific providers based on patterns (model name, user, tags, etc.). ### Routing Strategy An algorithm for selecting providers. Examples: lowest-cost, lowest-latency, least-busy, priority-based. ### Sanitization The process of removing or redacting sensitive information (like PII) from text while preserving the rest of the content. ### Store Guardway's data persistence layer, backed by Redis, that holds configuration, keys, logs, and metrics. ### Throughput The number of requests processed per unit of time, typically measured in requests per second (req/sec). ### Webhook An HTTP callback that Guardway can trigger when certain events occur (quota exceeded, budget threshold, etc.). ### AES-256-GCM Advanced Encryption Standard with 256-bit keys in Galois/Counter Mode. Used by Guardway to encrypt API keys and secrets at rest. ### AppArmor A Linux kernel security module that confines programs to a limited set of resources. Used in Guardway's container hardening. ### Attack Surface The sum of all points where an unauthorized user could try to enter or extract data from a system. ### Authentication Verifying the identity of a user or system. In Guardway, this is done via API keys. ### Authorization Determining what actions an authenticated user is allowed to perform. In Guardway, this is per-API-key permissions. **Authentication vs. Authorization**: Authentication answers "Who are you?" while authorization answers "What are you allowed to do?" Both are required for secure API access. ### Capabilities (Linux) Fine-grained privileges that can be granted to processes instead of full root access. Guardway drops unnecessary capabilities. ### Defense in Depth A security strategy employing multiple layers of defense so that if one layer fails, others still provide protection. ### Encryption at Rest Encrypting data when it's stored (e.g., API keys in Redis) so it's unreadable without the decryption key. ### Encryption in Transit Encrypting data while it's being transmitted over the network, typically using TLS/HTTPS. ### Fail-Closed A security posture where errors cause requests to be blocked. More secure but less available. ### Fail-Open A security posture where errors allow requests to proceed. More available but less secure. **Fail-Closed vs. Fail-Open**: These are opposite security postures. Fail-closed blocks requests on error (more secure), while fail-open allows them (more available). Choose based on your security requirements. ### Least Privilege The principle of granting only the minimum permissions necessary for a task. Applied to processes, users, and API keys. ### Non-root User Running processes as a non-privileged user rather than root to limit the impact of security breaches. Guardway containers use UID 1001. ### PII (Personally Identifiable Information) Data that can be used to identify an individual. Examples: SSN, email, phone number, name, address. ### RBAC (Role-Based Access Control) An access control approach where permissions are assigned to roles, and users are assigned to roles. ### Read-only Root Filesystem A security hardening technique where the container's root filesystem cannot be modified at runtime, preventing certain types of attacks. ### Secrets Management Secure storage, access control, and rotation of sensitive data like API keys, passwords, and certificates. ### Seccomp (Secure Computing Mode) A Linux kernel feature that limits the system calls a process can make. Guardway uses a restricted seccomp profile. ### TLS (Transport Layer Security) Cryptographic protocol for secure communication over networks. HTTPS uses TLS. ### Zero Trust A security model that assumes no implicit trust and requires verification for every access request, regardless of location. ### JSON-RPC A remote procedure call protocol encoded in JSON. Used by MCP for client-server communication. ### MCP (Model Context Protocol) A protocol that allows LLMs to interact with external tools, data sources, and services in a standardized way. ### MCP Server A service that implements the MCP protocol and exposes tools, resources, or prompts to clients. ### Prompt (MCP) A pre-defined prompt template provided by an MCP server that clients can use. ### Resource (MCP) A data source or document that an MCP server makes available to clients (e.g., files, database records). ### Session A stateful connection between an MCP client and server, maintaining context across multiple requests. ### stdio Transport Communication via standard input/output streams. Used by Python and Node.js MCP servers. ### Tool (MCP) A function that an MCP server exposes to clients. The LLM can call tools to perform actions or retrieve information. ### Tool Filter Access control rules that restrict which MCP tools are available to specific API keys. ## Related documentation * [Introduction](/getting-started/introduction) — what Guardway is * [Gateway overview](/guardway-gateway/overview) — how the pieces fit together * [Environment variables](/guardway-gateway/environment) — full config reference * [API reference](/api-reference/coming-soon) — coming soon