Terminology

2205 terms, tools, patterns and metrics an architect is expected to use precisely. Each one gets a short explanation of what it is, and — where it matters — what it is commonly confused with. Search filters as you type; the column headers sort.

All areas2205 Architecture Fundamentals77 Distributed Systems107 Data Architecture110 Cloud Architecture94 Networking88 API & Integration Architecture82 Reliability & Resilience75 Observability70 Performance & Capacity Engineering72 Security Architecture86 Cost Architecture & FinOps71 Business Architecture67 Architecture Communication67 Enterprise Architecture66 Legacy Modernization71 AI-Era Architecture69 Software Architecture & Engineering71 Architecture Patterns71 Architecture Decision-Making63 The Architect's Meta-Skills61 Delivery & Release Engineering66 Platform Engineering & Developer Experience70 Testing & Quality Architecture66 Data Platform Architecture64 Streaming & Real-Time Data69 Data Governance & Semantics69 Frontend & Experience Architecture66 Edge, Mobile & IoT68 Regulatory & Data Protection Architecture65 Assurance, Audit & Model Risk64

Kind Any concept794 practice734 pattern368 metric125 case-study77 tool62 protocol45

3 terms shown.

Term	Kind	Topic	What it is
Guardrail Availability Policy Fail-Open Guardrail Decision, Safety Check Degradation Policy	practice	Guardrails	The decision, made in advance and per action class, about what the system does when a safety check cannot run - because the alternative is that a timeout in a classifier decides your safety posture at 03:00.
Guardrails	pattern	Guardrails	Deterministic checks applied to model inputs and outputs, enforcing constraints that the model itself cannot be relied upon to respect.
Output Validation Layer	pattern	Guardrails	A deterministic check applied to model output before it is used, treating the model as an untrusted component.