Glossary

Admin key#

A passkey or key file that signs tenant changes.

App#

A name such as checkout that blobs list and grants tie to identities.

Artifact check#

Executable hashes an app must match to start sessions.

Attestation#

The chip's signed report of the enclave's code, which your SDK checks first.

Blob#

A seal1. string holding an encrypted key and its rules, which only your enclaves open.

CLI#

The seal command for admin work, which checks the log itself.

Console#

The web app at console.seal.zone, which can't sign changes or read keys.

Control plane#

Seal's server for your signed documents and telemetry, which can withhold but not forge them.

Deployment#

A replica's cloud identity, which your tenant state must list for it to get keys.

Destination#

The address sealed with --to, the only place the key goes.

Enclave#

The program in a TEE that opens blobs, adds keys to requests and masks them in responses.

Extend#

The SDK's automatic five-minute session renewal, which rechecks grants.

Fingerprint#

A hash of a build's exact code, also called measurement, which must match a release.

Freshness#

A signed statement that a tenant state is the latest, which replicas require.

Front door#

The *.enclave.seal.zone entry that wakes hosted replicas and passes encrypted traffic through.

Grant#

A rule letting an identity act as an app, cut off about 30 seconds after removal.

Identity#

How an app proves which app it is, such as a managed identity or app key.

Integrity policy#

Your rules for what happens when a signal arrives.

Key guardian#

Seal's enclave that gives keys only to released builds.

Network rule#

CIDR ranges an app may connect from.

Pending window#

How long a widening change waits in public, shown as "Risky changes" in the console.

Platform#

Confidential hardware that opens your blobs, today Azure on AMD SEV-SNP.

Proposal#

A change awaiting admin signatures.

Receipt#

A client's proof that an event was logged, which exposes withheld telemetry.

Registrar#

The service that signs a new tenant's first admin keys.

Release#

An enclave or guardian build that gets keys once signed and logged.

Replica#

One running copy of your enclave; the SDK fails over between them.

Root id#

A digest of your first admin keys, in <tenant>@<root id>, that defeats look-alike tenants.

Seal#

To encrypt a key with its rules for your enclave alone.

Seal-hosted replica#

A replica Seal runs for you, which stops when idle.

SDK#

The library your app uses to seal and open sessions.

Secret#

The credential you seal, often just called key.

Session#

Your app's use of a blob through a local URL and stand-in key.

Signal#

A report of possible compromise, low to critical.

Simulator#

The whole system on your machine.

Stand-in key#

The session's key for your app, useless outside its tunnel.

State in force#

The tenant state enclaves apply now.

Suspension#

An integrity action that blocks one identity and ends its sessions.

TEE#

A trusted execution environment, where memory is sealed off even from root.

Telemetry#

The enclave's signed record of what it did, never keys or bodies.

Telemetry reader#

A key telemetry is encrypted to, leaving Seal only metadata.

Tenant#

One set of sealed keys with its own admins and a permanent id.

Tenant key version#

The key new blobs use; retiring old versions stops their blobs.

Tenant state#

The signed document your enclaves obey.

Threshold#

How many admin keys must sign a change.

Transparency log#

The public, append-only record of releases and tenant settings.

Tunnel#

The SDK's 127.0.0.1 forwarder to the enclave, which never sees the key.

Upstream#

The API or database your key is for.

Waiting period#

How long a release stays public in the log before getting keys.

Widening and narrowing changes#

Narrowing applies at once; widening, or anything unclear, waits out the window.

Witnesses#

Cosigners of log checkpoints, so everyone sees one log.

Workspace#

A console group whose roles never sign tenant changes.