Glossary and technical questions
Use these definitions alongside the workflow and architecture guides. A technical term describes a system behavior; it does not grant approval.
Technical glossary
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Addressable artifact | A stored text, page, image, or component record with enough identity and locator metadata to retrieve and cite it again. |
| Bounding box | Normalized page coordinates that identify a visual region such as a material callout or detail and can support highlighting or cropping. |
| Embedding | A numerical representation used to compare the meaning or visual similarity of project evidence and a retrieval question. |
| Fan-out / fan-in | Running bounded evidence searches or specialist tasks in parallel, then joining their validated results into one stable record. |
| MCP | Model Context Protocol: an integration standard for exposing approved tools and context to compatible AI applications over controlled transports. |
| Multimodal | Using more than extracted text-for GAIA Civil, this includes rendered sheets, single-page PDFs, native page/image representations, and localized components. |
| Native representation | A search representation created from a complete source form, such as the full page PDF or rendered drawing, instead of only a text transcription. |
| Provenance | The source hash, model/schema version, document, page, and processing identity that explain where an artifact came from and whether it can be reused. |
| Reranking | A second relevance pass that reorders retrieved evidence against the primary question after the initial search. |
| RTO / RPO | Recovery Time Objective is the targeted maximum service-recovery time; Recovery Point Objective is the targeted maximum recoverable data-loss window. |
| Typed schema | A validated output shape with required fields and allowed value types, used to keep needs, measurements, BOM rows, and report sections structurally consistent. |
| WAL | Write-Ahead Logging: the database recovery log used with snapshots and point-in-time recovery to restore relational state. |
Is GAIA Civil only OCR plus semantic search?
No. Text extraction is one representation. Full ingestion also retains single-page PDFs, rendered images, native page and image embeddings, structured visual summaries, and component crops where available. Retrieval combines scoped semantic search, text reranking, native-image matches, and stable source addressing before typed analysis begins.
Does every page produce every artifact?
No. Artifact availability depends on page content and processing status. Text-heavy pages may produce many text chunks; drawing-heavy pages may contribute stronger image or component records. A failed visual pass can leave a marked text/raw-asset stub, while extraction failures remain visible in partial coverage.
How are calculations kept inspectable?
GAIA Civil separates evidence identification from local arithmetic and confidence calculation. A measurement can retain geometry type, scale basis, formula, named inputs, units, assumptions, source references, cross-checks, conflict flags, and verification status. Missing scale or dimensions become needs-input questions rather than silent values.
What are BALLPARK, TAKEOFF, and QUOTE_READY?
They are configurable estimating-accuracy profiles. BALLPARK prioritizes rapid qualification from documented sources and bounded heuristics. TAKEOFF adds broader independent scale and geometry analysis. QUOTE_READY applies strict per-opportunity verification, BOM reconciliation, and engineering review. The selected profile and any remaining reviewer approvals stay visible.
Are the analysis agents free to return any answer shape?
Core stages request and validate typed schemas for needs, engineering analysis, BOM rows, report narrative, drill-downs, and actions. Schema validation protects structure; source citations, calculation traces, QA stages, and human review protect meaning.
How does a customer verify GAIA Civil before adoption?
Use representative documents and agreed acceptance criteria. Inspect intake validation, page artifacts, retrieval scope, citation behavior, measurement states, warning handling, output accuracy, tenant controls, deletion behavior, integrations, and the human approval path with the people who own those decisions.