18 Glossary

This glossary defines the terms used throughout Athene documentation so operators, developers, and security reviewers use the same language.

18.1 Repository Model Terms

Term	Definition
Backend type	Repository family handled by Athene, such as `debian`, `rpm`, or `maven`.
Repository	A named package store within a backend type, for example `debian/main` or `maven/releases`.
Location	The workspace path where a repository is stored. If not overridden, Athene uses a backend-based default path.
Index	Athene's searchable metadata catalog for packages, versions, and selectors.
Package selector	Identifier used to target a package for actions like delete, often with namespace/name and optional version.
Ambiguous selector	A selector that matches multiple packages; Athene returns conflict details so you can retry with a narrower selector.

Term	Definition
Authenticator	A configured login mechanism (for example `simple`, `password-file`, `ldap`, `localhost`).
Authentication	Verifying identity (who the caller is).
Authorization	Enforcing what an authenticated caller is allowed to do.
Access token	OAuth token used by CLI/API clients after login.
Personal access token (PAT)	User-generated secret used like a password for automation. Athene stores only a digest and shows the raw token once.
PAT expiry	Optional UTC date boundary for token validity. A token remains valid through the selected UTC date and then expires.
Basic authentication	HTTP `Authorization: Basic` header carrying username plus password or PAT secret.
Bearer authentication	HTTP `Authorization: Bearer` header carrying an OAuth access token.

Term	Definition
Import	Uploading package content into Athene for a repository.
Publish	Making imported packages available to consumers through Athene endpoints.
Browse	Navigating repository paths and package content, typically via `/r` endpoints or Web UI repository views.
Search	Querying indexed package metadata to find packages, versions, or namespaces.
Tag	Named alias for a package version, such as `stable` or `beta`, resolved at request time.
Pinning	Operation that binds a tag to one explicit package version in a repository.
Reindex	Rebuilding or refreshing index metadata from repository content.
Copy repository	Creating a new repository by duplicating an existing repository root.
Rename repository	Changing a repository name within a backend type while preserving its content.

Term	Definition
Sync target	Named filesystem profile used for export/replication (`local`, `sftp`, `s3`) with settings stored in repository configuration.
Sync	Transfer operation between Athene repository content and a configured sync target.
Configuration editor	CLI `athene <type> configuration <name>` flow used to edit repository-scoped config files.
Global configuration	Server-wide settings edited via commands such as `athene configuration authentication`.
Consumer	Tooling that downloads packages from Athene (for example `apt`, `dnf`, `yum`, Maven dependency resolution).
Producer	Tooling that uploads packages to Athene (for example Maven deploy, CI/CD publish jobs).
Service account	Non-human account used by automation systems such as Jenkins for repeatable authenticated operations.

Documentation consistency

Reuse these terms in local runbooks and support tickets to reduce ambiguity between operations and development teams.