Terminology

Starfarer uses starship names for its parts. This is the glossary.

The ship

Term	What it is
Starfarer	The whole thing: Starbase, the Bridge, the AIs and the devices.
Starbase	The one computer that runs everything: the models (through Ollama), hearing, the AI's voice, memory and the web server.
Bridge	The app, served by Starbase: open its address in any browser. Also the name of its home page.
Deck	A section of the Bridge, in the menu at the top left: Bridge, Comms, Ops, Logs, Shuttlebay, Holodeck, Spacedock, Engineering.
Comms	Your whole conversation from every room and device, your past conversations, and your Private ones. Comms
Ops	Messages and mail, the calendar, lists, tasks, projects, away missions, files and the Cargobay. Ops
Logs	What the AIs remember about you: facts, the reading shelf, their journals. Only you see yours. Logs
Shuttlebay	The devices in your home, and pairing new ones. Shuttlebay
Holodeck	Your apps (Modules with their own screens). Holodeck
Spacedock	Where the Captain finds and installs Modules, from catalogs. Modules
Engineering	The settings, for the Captain and First Officer: Neural Net, Crew, Starbase, Modules. The Captain's job
Ready Room	Your own page (your name, top right): profile, security, notifications, your AIs, requests. Ready Room
Sensors	The live map on the Bridge of everything the AI does, lit up step by step. Systems and Sensors
Ship status	The Captain's and First Officer's summary on the Bridge: Starbase, Ollama, devices, problems, backups.
Cargobay	Each person's own big videos, pictures and sound, on a drive the Captain picks. Files
AI box	The button at the bottom right of most decks: the same conversation, right there.
Intro card	The card at the top of each deck or view saying what it's for.

Devices

Term	What it is
Viewscreen	The Bridge in a browser: a PC, phone or tablet, nothing installed. Also the panel where things to pick from show up (videos, your inbox, past conversations). Viewscreen
Satellite	A speaker and mic in a room, running the Satellite program. Satellites
Shuttle	A Satellite with a screen: a TV or monitor that shows the AI. Shuttles
Starship	Your own PC or laptop: hold a key to talk, a corner window, and the AI's hands there if you allow them. Starships
Mobile Starship	A laptop that goes with you: using it doesn't tell Starbase which room you're in.
Probe	A small ESP32 or take-along device. Later.
Beacon	Things that aren't for talking: motion sensors, lights, switches. Later.
Pairing	Adding a device: it shows a six-digit code, and the Captain or First Officer checks it in the Shuttlebay.
Personal / shared	A personal device is one person's (it's always them talking). A shared one is in a room, and voice ID decides who's talking.
Let out	A device the Captain allowed to connect from outside the home. Outside the home

People

Term	What it is
Crew	Everyone with a sign-in. Also the rank for adults.
Captain	The owner, made at Welcome aboard. The only one who promotes and demotes, ticks ranks in Clearance, installs Modules and reads under oversight.
First Officer	An optional second admin: Engineering, the Shuttlebay, requests, giving tools by name.
Cadet	Anyone under 18 (by birthday): family-friendly answers, Lumina to start with, only the AIs the Captain allows. Becomes Crew on their 18th birthday.
Guest	Someone at a home device who isn't signed in, or a voice nobody's taught. Gets the Computer, family-safe; their conversations are kept 30 days.
Oversight	The Captain's read-only view of the conversations of Cadets, anyone under 18, and Guests. Each read is logged. Adults' conversations are private, even from the Captain.
Requests	Asking the Captain for an AI or a tool, or sending a suggestion, problem or complaint. The answer is passed back next time you talk.
PIN	4 to 8 digits that approve anything that changes something important. Typed or said; never kept or shown.
Two-step sign-in	A code from an authenticator app at sign-in; needed from outside the home.
Recovery codes	One-time codes for a forgotten password (Captain and First Officer).

The AI

Term	What it is
Persona	Who the AI is: a name, a personality, a voice, a color and a hologram. Built in: Celestra, Nova, Lumina and the Computer. The personas
Your usual AI	The persona you picked as yours; "Hey Ship" and your own devices get it.
Computer	The facts-only persona that Guests always get.
Hologram	The AI's animated figure on the Bridge, a Shuttle or a Starship.
Rapport	Where you set how each AI is with you (energy, sarcasm, teasing, language…) and see its mood.
Mood	How an AI feels with you right now; it drifts back to its usual self over time.
Ship roleplay	How much the AIs play the starship with you: Off, Light or Full. Facts stay true at every level.
Journal	What an AI remembers about you two, written by it after each conversation. Each AI keeps its own.
Reading shelf	Links and documents you gave the AI to read, to ask about later.
Private conversations	Conversations behind your PIN; a conversation that turns adult moves there on its own.
Rules / Prime Directives	The few locked lines every AI follows: honesty, family-safe for Cadets and Guests. Rules and Decisions
Mature content	Off for the whole ship until the Captain turns it on; then adults opt in, on their own devices.
Specialist	Your own expert (Ready Room): a name, a brief and the model it runs on.
Hand-off	The AI passing a big job (a script, a long document, an expert question) to a better-suited model, then explaining the result.

Listening

Term	What it is
Listening	The ear button: say an AI's name on any of your devices and it answers. Stays on until you turn it off.
Wake word	"Hey Celestra", "OK Nova", or a distinctive name on its own. Heard on the device; nothing is sent until it is.
Hey Ship	Always gets your usual AI.
Hold to talk	The mic button, or a Starship's talk key.
Conversation mode	"Let's talk": no name needed until "that's all" or 5 quiet minutes.
Talking over it	Speaking while the AI talks stops it.
Voice ID / voiceprint	Room devices knowing who's talking from their voice, once taught. Voiceprints stay on the Starbase.
Paging	A message heard out loud right away, where the person is. Paging

Tools and work

Term	What it is
Hands / tools	What the AI can do: search, read links, weather, timers, lists, mail, calendar, paging, and more from Modules and tool servers.
Chip	A small card under the AI's reply: a timer it set, a list, a command waiting for your Run, the links it used.
Level	What happens when the AI uses a tool: Look (right away), Change (your OK), Serious (OK and PIN). Tools
Clearance	Who may have the AI use each tool, by rank or by name. Clearance
Never list	What the AI won't do for anyone on any PC (wiping a disk, deleting your Documents…). Only the Captain can loosen it, with the PIN.
PC hands	The AI using the Starbase PC: opening things and running commands.
Starship hands	The same on a Starship, only for its owner and only with its local switch on.
Away mission	A job the AI works through on its own, step by step, with a report. Away missions
Co-work / AI Assist	A project's or list's own chat with the AI, and having the AI work on a row. Tasks
Tool server	A program or web address that gives the AI tools over MCP (Home Assistant, for example).
MCP	The Model Context Protocol: the open standard for tool servers.
Module	An add-on: new tools, apps, settings. Installed by the Captain from Spacedock. Modules
Catalog	A list of Modules from a publisher; Modules install only from publishers the Captain trusts.

Models

Term	What it is
Ollama	The program that runs the AI models on the Starbase.
Neural Net	Engineering's tab for Personas, Models and Rules.
Job	What a model is used for: Chat, Deep, Vision, Code, Reading, Embed. Models
Chat size	Standard, Lite or Ultralite: the size of the personas' brain, to fit the graphics card.
Brain	A model's weights. Personas built on the same brain switch instantly.