Glossary

Terms used across TongueToQuill, its templates, and the Quillmark format.

Account pairing. Binding an MCP-created document to a user account after the fact, via a claim handshake: create_document returns a claim token and a claim link, and the user opens the link and signs in, which claims the draft. Deployments that turn on device-code claiming add a step — the user relays a six-digit code and the AI calls claim_document. See Account Pairing.

Advanced Mode. Raw-markdown editing surface, with syntax highlighting. The alternative to Rich Text Mode. The underlying document is identical in both modes.

Card. A single ~~~ (card-yaml) frontmatter block plus its prose body. A Quillmark document is a sequence of one or more cards. The first card is the root card; subsequent cards are typically indorsements or attachments-as-sections.

card-yaml. The fenced YAML block format used in Quillmark frontmatter. The canonical fence is bare ~~~ (three tildes, no info string) for both open and close, at column zero; ~~~card-yaml also opens a card.

Claim link. The short /claim/<code> URL (R) returned by create_document. It resolves to the draft and hosts the sign-in page where claiming happens; after the claim it redirects the owner to the document. Pre-claim it serves no document content.

Claim token. The model-carried secret (S, claim_token) from create_document. Resolves the draft at update_document to revise it — and at claim_document where that step exists — until the draft expires. Never shown to the user.

Classification banner. A color-coded marking at the top and bottom of every page, derived from the document's classification frontmatter field. Per the usaf_memo Quill's DoD/CAPCO-aligned colors: green for UNCLASSIFIED, black for CUI and CONFIDENTIAL, red for SECRET, orange for TOP SECRET. Blank classification produces no banner.

Community template. A template published by a non-official user on this deployment. Appears in the gallery's Popular section.

CUI. Controlled Unclassified Information per DoDM 5200.48. A classification level supported by the USAF / USSF memo Quills.

Device code. The six-digit code (C) minted for the account that opens a claim link, on deployments using device-code claiming. The user relays it to the AI, which passes it to claim_document. Single-use and rate-limited; the only element of account pairing a human transcribes.

Ephemeral document. A document created over MCP that has no owner yet. Unclaimed it lives for a short window (typically 5 min); once a signed-in user completes account pairing it becomes theirs.

Fork. Create an independent, editable copy of a document you're reading but don't own (the in-app action is labeled Save Copy). The original is untouched. Available to anyone reading a shared document, and to the owner of a freshly claimed MCP draft.

Frontmatter. The structured metadata at the top of a card. In Quillmark, frontmatter is YAML inside a ~~~ (card-yaml) fence.

Indorsement. A chained response or routing block appended to a memorandum. Each indorsement is its own card with $kind: indorsement. See Indorsements.

MCP. Model Context Protocol. The protocol used by TongueToQuill's AI integration endpoint at /mcp. See AI Integration.

Memorandum For Record (MFR). A memo with no specific recipient — used to document something for the file. Rendered from a USAF memo with memo_for: [RECORD] and memo_from omitted, which drops the FROM: line.

Metadata widget. The form in the editor that renders a template's frontmatter as a structured form. Each field corresponds to a frontmatter key.

Office symbol. The short form of a unit and function — e.g., 20 FW/CC for 20th Fighter Wing Commander. The renderer uppercases office symbols on MEMORANDUM FOR lines.

Publish (template). Take a snapshot of a document and expose it in the template gallery. Subsequent edits to the document don't change the template until you republish.

Quill. A template package — frontmatter schema + Typst layout + assets — bound to a document via $quill. The Quill defines the contract: if frontmatter validates, the layout is correct.

Quillmark. The format (CommonMark + card-yaml frontmatter) and the rendering engine (Rust workspace, also published as WASM/Python/CLI) used by TongueToQuill. See Quillmark Format.

Quiver. A bundle of Quills shipped together. Each TongueToQuill deployment picks one Quiver at install time (e.g., @airmark/quiver for the Airmark deployment).

Recents. Per-user (or per-device, for guests) row in the template gallery showing the templates you've imported most recently.

Reset to Published. Roll a document that backs a published template back to that template's last snapshot, discarding the unpublished changes. Offered on the divergence banner, beside Update Template.

Rich Text Mode. The default rich-text editing surface. The alternative is Advanced Mode, reached by the Advanced Mode toggle in the sidebar.

Schema. The set of allowed frontmatter fields, their types, defaults, and constraints for a given Quill. Retrievable via the MCP get_specs tool.

Star. Bookmark a template. A starred-only filter narrows the gallery to your stars, which follow your account across devices, and each star adds to the template's public star count.

Template. A published document snapshot in the gallery. Importing a template produces a new document seeded with the template's content. Distinct from a Quill (which is the format package).

Template short code. The identifier for a published template (e.g., HeLiBeKrXeFeCoNiZnAr), shown in the template library. Copying it with Copy for AI chat produces an instruction that drives the MCP get_template tool, so an AI assistant can load that exact template.