Terminology — SOP Kit
This file is the canonical source for all vocabulary used in SOP production. When any other file in this kit, in a deployment kit, or in a client deliverable uses a term defined here, this definition applies. If a term appears differently elsewhere, this file wins.
Core Document Terms
| Term | Definition | Do Not Use |
|---|---|---|
| SOP | Standard Operating Procedure. A document that defines how a specific recurring process works — who does what, when, in what order, with what handoffs. Produced as a standalone HTML file. | "process document," "workflow guide," "playbook" |
| SOP (Human) | An SOP where team members follow the steps directly. Contains expandable step cards with What/When/Who detail. | "manual SOP," "team SOP" |
| SOP (Agent) | An SOP where a single operator runs the process through an AI agent. Contains an executable workflow block designed to be copied and pasted into a project. | "AI SOP," "automated SOP," "bot SOP" |
| Version | The iteration number of this document. v1 = first build. v2, v3, etc. = revised builds. Increment when content changes. Do not increment for encoding fixes or minor formatting corrections. | "draft number," "revision" |
| Active | Version badge status. The document is in use. The team is operating from it. | "live," "current," "published" |
| Draft | Version badge status. The document is in review. Not yet in use. | "pending," "in review," "beta" |
Production Terms
| Term | Definition | Do Not Use |
|---|---|---|
| Extraction interview | A structured interview conducted by the consultant with the process owner and key team members. The primary source of all SOP content — step detail, ownership, phases, exceptions. | "discovery session," "intake interview," "requirements gathering" |
| Source material | All inputs provided for a specific SOP build. Includes extraction interview transcript, any pre-written drafts, session notes, and reference data. | "inputs," "raw material" |
| Pre-written draft | A document (PDF, Google Doc, bullet list) provided by the client or advisor that captures process rules or principles. A supplementary input — not a replacement for the extraction interview. | "source document" (this implies completeness it may not have) |
| Gap | A required piece of content that is not present in the source material. Gaps are flagged and escalated — never filled by inference or assumption. | "unknown," "TBD," "placeholder" |
| Gap report | A structured list of every gap identified before a build begins, with resolution status tracked for each item. The build does not proceed until every gap is resolved. | "open items list," "questions list" |
| Golden example | A complete, production-quality SOP used as a styling reference. Used to extract exact CSS values, spacing, component patterns, and structure. Not a content source. | "template," "sample," "reference SOP" |
SOP Structure Terms
| Term | Definition | Do Not Use |
|---|---|---|
| Process owner | The person designated responsible for this specific process by the firm owner. Must be explicitly named — never assumed from role or seniority. The process owner of one SOP may not be the process owner of another, even within the same engagement. | "owner," "responsible party," "lead" (without the "process" qualifier) |
| Phase | A named stage in the process cycle. Each phase groups related steps and has a distinct time window or trigger. Phase names and boundaries come from how the client experiences the process — they are not imposed from the golden example or from a generic framework. | "stage," "section," "block" |
| Step | One discrete action within a phase. Each step has an owner, a What, a When, and a Who. Steps are expandable in the Human SOP format. | "task," "action item," "activity" |
| Step owner | The person or role responsible for executing a specific step. Confirmed individually per step during extraction. Not inherited from the process owner. | "assigned to," "responsible role" |
| Handoff | The moment when responsibility for a step or the overall process passes from one person to another. Documented explicitly in the step detail and in the process flow diagram. | "transfer," "pass-off" |
| Gate | A hard stop in a step. A condition that must be true before the step can proceed. Rendered as a red note block. | "blocker," "dependency," "prerequisite" (for step notes — use "prerequisite" only for the overall readiness conditions section) |
| Flag | A warning or watch item within a step. Something to pay attention to, but not a hard stop. Rendered as an amber note block. Also called "Why This Matters" when it explains the reasoning behind a rule. | "warning," "note," "heads up" |
| Pending | A note indicating that something within the step is in progress or awaiting a future build. Rendered as a navy note block. | "TBD note," "placeholder note" |
| Readiness condition | A state that must already be true when the process begins. Displayed in "Before the Process Begins" as reference items — not checkboxes, not tasks. | "prerequisites," "setup steps," "pre-flight items" |
| Context bar | The 3px vertical navy bar on the left of each readiness condition item. Visual indicator that these are reference conditions, not actionable tasks. CSS class: .context-bar. | .context-checkbox (prohibited), "sidebar," "left border" |
| Recurring checkpoint | A cross-phase monitoring activity that spans all phases of the cycle. Typically a regular report or status check that applies regardless of which phase the process is in. | "ongoing task," "standing item," "continuous activity" |
Visual System Terms
| Term | Definition | Do Not Use |
|---|---|---|
| Role owner tag | A small colored badge on a step title identifying which role executes that step. Colors are defined by the client deployment kit — not by this vault kit. | "role badge," "owner chip," "assignment tag" |
| Phase divider | A styled section break that separates phases in the Process Guide. Contains the phase name, number, and time window. Background tint uses the phase color. | "phase header," "section divider," "phase break" |
| Step card | The expandable unit for a single step. Header always visible; detail revealed on click. Contains step number, title, role owner tag(s), summary, and expandable What/When/Who detail. | "accordion item," "collapsible row," "step block" |
| Executable workflow block | The dark navy block in an Agent SOP containing the copy-paste workflow text. Has a toolbar with a copy button. | "code block," "agent prompt," "workflow template" |
| Process flow diagram | The visual representation of the process path — phases, decision points, branching paths, handoffs. Hand-built in HTML/CSS. Never Mermaid, never a library. | "flowchart," "process map," "diagram" |
| Version badge | The small label in the document header showing version number and Active/Draft status. | "status chip," "version tag," "badge" |
Quality and Production Terms
| Term | Definition | Do Not Use |
|---|---|---|
| Encoding artifact | A corrupted character in the file — typically the result of a Windows-1252/UTF-8 mismatch in the production pipeline. Examples: â€" for an em-dash, · for a middle dot, â• for a box-drawing character. Any encoding artifact is a blocking failure in QC. | "display issue," "character bug," "font problem" |
| BOM | Byte Order Mark. A hidden marker at the start of a file sometimes added by Windows tools (particularly PowerShell). Causes rendering issues. Its presence indicates the file was written by a process other than the main conversation's Write tool. Must be stripped before delivery. | n/a |
| Mojibake | The class of encoding corruption where UTF-8 bytes are misread as Windows-1252 characters, producing visible garbage characters. The term to use when describing the category of problem — not a term for client-facing communication. | n/a (internal production term only) |
| Visual verification | Opening the completed SOP in a browser and visually inspecting it. Required before every delivery. Cannot be replaced by code-based checks. Catches flow diagram alignment, step card behavior, contrast issues, and rendering problems that grep cannot detect. | "browser check," "visual QC," "preview" |
| Blocking failure | A QC finding that must be fixed before the SOP is delivered. No exceptions. | "critical issue," "must-fix" |
| Warning | A QC finding that should be addressed if time permits, but does not block delivery. Must be noted for the next revision. | "minor issue," "nice to have," "low priority" |