Glossary

Adapter

Core functionality offered by the node (see also, external adapter).

• HTTPGet
• HTTPPost
• JSONParse
• EthBytes32
• EthUint256
• EthTx
• Multiply
• NoOp
• NoOpPend
• Bridge

Assignment

V1 spec of a JobSpec which was used by the Ruby Node.

Consuming Contract

A Smart Contract which uses the services of an oracle.

External Adapter

External adapters are what make Chainlink easily extensible, providing simple integration of custom computations and specialized APIs. A Chainlink node communicates with external adapters via a simple REST API.

Function Selector

A function selector is the first four bytes of the call data for a function call and specifies the function to be called.

Initiator

Starts the JobSpec.

Available initiators are:

• runlog
• cron
• ethlog
• runat
• web

Job

This term is usually used as short-hand for a JobSpec.

JobRun

The run of a job's execution, tracks multiple TaskRuns.

JobSpec

The JobSpec is the definition for what initiates a job and tasks to perform.

Oracle

Entity which connects computations on blockchains with off-chain resources. Typically made up of two components: the Oracle Node (off-chain) and the Oracle Contract (on-chain).

Oracle Contract

The on-chain component of an Oracle. The Oracle Contract is the interface through which Consuming Contracts pass and receive data with off-chain resources.

Oracle Node

The off-chain component of an Oracle.

Run

The node executing on some specification is referred to as a run. A run can mean a JobRun or a TaskRun.

Task

This term is usually used as short-hand for a TaskSpec

TaskSpec

The TaskSpec is the definition for the individual task to be performed within the job pipeline.

TaskRun

The result of the individual task's execution.

A TaskRun may have the following statuses:

• in_progress
• pending_confirmations
• pending_bridge
• errored
• completed