Glossary & FAQ

Glossary

Term	Meaning
Intent	The AI's request to show UI: a verb plus props, never a component.
Constitution	The full set of rules (schemas) that decide what's allowed.
Gate	The server-side check every intent passes through.
Interception	Running an intent through the gate before anything mounts.
Validate, then mount	SINA's core rule: check on the server first, render second.
Interception contract	The uniform result shape: { valid, violations, requiredComponent }.
Violation	One thing the gate found, with a message, a severity, and a cited standard.
Decision	The router's envelope around a result: { intent, props, result, mount }.
Mount	The component name a decision allows your app to render (null = nothing).
Severity	How hard a violation acts: flag, escalate, or reject.
Escalation	Redirecting a blocked request to a stricter component instead of refusing.
Governed	A rule for an action, with policy and possible escalation.
Display / ungoverned	A rule for a read: shape-checked and masked, never escalated.
Redaction	Stripping/masking sensitive data before it's stored in the audit log.
Audit event	The record every decision emits.
Four-eyes	The rule that an approver must differ from the initiator.
Payload binding	Tying an approval to the exact terms, recomputed on the server.
Minor units	Money as whole integers (cents), per ISO 4217. No floats.
Primitive	A headless, accessible core component (Button, Dialog, …).
Token	A named design value (color, size, font) as a --sina-* variable.
Brand-open / governance-locked	Token roles you may re-theme vs. ones reserved for safety.
Manifest	The list of intent verbs the AI may emit.

FAQ

Do I need an AI or an LLM key to use SINA? No. You can call the gate with a plain object, and the docs run it live with no key. If you only want the components, use the primitives alone.

Is SINA only for fintech? The shipped rules are fintech-only. The governance seam is domain-agnostic, so another domain can be added; none is built or currently planned.

Does it work outside Next.js? The gate needs somewhere to run a server-side check. Next.js App Router is the smoothest fit, but any server that can run the check works. The components are plain React.

Is it production-ready? It's an early 0.x project: public APIs may change between minors. The gate and primitives are tested (including an adversarial suite and automated accessibility checks); the audit trail is a defined contract with a no-op sink. Evaluate accordingly; current version and status live in Releases & stability.

What's the license? MIT, free. SINA exists so startups and individuals can adopt a governed design system without building the governance layer themselves.

Does the gate add latency? It's a synchronous server-side check, a schema parse plus policy, measured in milliseconds. There's no model call in the gate itself.

Does SINA run the AI? No. You run your agent; SINA governs its output. The model proposes intent, and SINA decides what renders.