Glossary

Interface Contract

Also called: Service Contract, API Contract

A formal specification that defines how software components, services, APIs, or AI agents interact by describing supported operations, input and output formats, data types, protocols, constraints, and expected behavior, ensuring consistent and interoperable communication.

Explore more about Interoperability Patterns

Related terms

Function Schema

A structured specification that defines a callable function's name, purpose, parameters, input types, constraints, and expected outputs, enabling AI systems to correctly invoke tools and generate valid arguments.

Integration Layer

An architectural layer that mediates communication between applications, services, AI agents, and external systems by handling data transformation, protocol translation, routing, authentication, and orchestration to enable seamless interoperability.

Protocol BuffersProtobuf

A language- and platform-neutral mechanism developed by Google for serializing structured data.

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