Glossary · Ntwine

Ntwine doesn't have much vocabulary, but the words it does use mean something specific. Most of them link to the page that covers them in detail.

Term	What it means
Project	A directory you ran Ntwine in, with its own board at `/project/<name>`. One server holds all of them, and All projects shows them together.
Thread	One effort, start to finish. The agent's session is the thread.
Worker	The agent driving a thread: a real Claude Code, Codex or ACP agent process, running as you.
Sub-agent	A helper a worker dispatches for one prong of its task, listed under its parent.
Handle	A thread's short name, `@port-the-parser`, used to mention, read and message it. A sub-agent's is `@parent.child`.
The queue	The list of threads at rest that need you. A thread earns a card only when it wants a human.
Bands	Pinned, Queue, Running, Snoozed and Done. Every thread is in exactly one.
Rested	An agent that ended its turn and is waiting on you. A rested thread isn't idle; it's your move.
Question	An answerable choice an agent hands back, with numbered options and a recommendation.
Steps	Things an agent needs you to do that it can't, with a Done button.
Snooze	Hide a card until later, optionally with a follow-up prompt.
Goal	A standing prompt a thread receives on its own, at every rest, on a clock, or both.
Schedule	A prompt plus a recurrence, in plain words. Each run starts a fresh thread.
Time limit	A deadline on a thread that its agent plans around and the card counts down to.
Spinoff	A new thread started from another, carrying its context.
Scratch directory	A thread's own folder, `.ntwine/threads/<id>/`, for its agent's notes and files.
`NTWINE.md`	An optional file at your repo root, injected into every thread.