> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.autheo.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Terminology

> Key terms and concepts used throughout Autheo documentation.

This page defines terms used throughout the Autheo documentation. For a complete alphabetical glossary, see the [Glossary](/start-here/glossary).

## Chain identifiers

| Term                  | Mainnet                                               | Testnet        |
| --------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- | -------------- |
| **Chain ID (EVM)**    | `2127`                                                | `785`          |
| **Chain ID (Cosmos)** | `autheo_2127-1`                                       | `autheo_785-1` |
| **`autheod`**         | The Autheo Chain node binary (current version: 1.0.8) | ← same binary  |

Use the Cosmos chain ID in all CLI `--chain-id` flags. Use the EVM chain ID when adding the network to MetaMask or configuring ethers.js / Hardhat / Foundry.

## Token and denomination

| Term        | Definition                                                                                 |
| ----------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **THEO**    | The native token of Autheo Chain                                                           |
| **`aauth`** | The base denomination of THEO (10⁻¹⁸ THEO). All on-chain amounts are expressed in `aauth`. |
| **1 THEO**  | Equal to 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 `aauth` (10¹⁸ `aauth`)                                  |

## Addresses

| Term                           | Definition                                                                        |
| ------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Cosmos address**             | Bech32-encoded account address, prefix `autheo1...`                               |
| **Validator operator address** | Bech32-encoded address with prefix `autheovaloper1...`                            |
| **Ethereum address**           | EIP-55 hex address (`0x...`), derived from the same keypair as the Cosmos address |
| **`eth_secp256k1`**            | The key algorithm used by Autheo Chain — the same elliptic curve as Ethereum      |

## NFT licenses

| Term                  | Definition                                                                                                          |
| --------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Sovereign license** | NFT license granting the right to create and operate a validator; earns \~187,969 THEO/year                         |
| **Prime license**     | NFT license granting the right to delegate to external validators (higher emission tier); earns \~18,797 THEO/year  |
| **Core license**      | NFT license granting the right to delegate to external validators (standard emission tier); earns \~1,880 THEO/year |
| **LicenseRecord**     | The on-chain Cosmos-side representation of an NFT license                                                           |
| **ISSUED**            | License status: minted but not yet bound to a validator                                                             |
| **BOUND**             | License status: committed to a validator address, no active delegation                                              |
| **ACTIVE**            | License status: committed to a validator with a live delegation — earns per-block rewards                           |
| **REVOKED**           | License status: governance-suspended, no operations permitted                                                       |

## Staking

| Term                 | Definition                                                                            |
| -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Validator**        | A node operator participating in CometBFT consensus; requires a Sovereign NFT license |
| **Delegator**        | An account that stakes THEO to a validator; requires a Prime or Core NFT license      |
| **Bonded**           | THEO that is actively staked to a validator                                           |
| **Unbonding period** | The period (\~21 days) during which unbonding THEO cannot be transferred              |
| **Self-delegation**  | The validator's own stake in their node, submitted via `MsgCreateValidator`           |
| **Redelegate**       | Disabled on Autheo Chain. Use undelegate + delegate instead.                          |

## Rewards

| Term                     | Definition                                                                                                  |
| ------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Staking rewards**      | Proportional rewards from `x/mint` and `x/distribution` — auto-accrued, manually withdrawn                  |
| **NFT emission rewards** | Fixed per-block rewards from `x/emissions` based on license tier — manually claimed via `claim-nft-rewards` |
| **ASCF**                 | Autheo Storage & Compute Fund — fee revenue pool that funds validator and developer rewards                 |

## Validator operations

| Term               | Definition                                                                                             |
| ------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Jailed**         | A validator temporarily excluded from consensus for missing blocks or governance revocation            |
| **Tombstoned**     | A validator permanently banned for double-signing; cannot be unjailed                                  |
| **Double-signing** | Signing two different blocks at the same height — results in tombstoning                               |
| **MemIAVL**        | RAM-based state tree used by Autheo Chain, requiring 8–16 GB of extra RAM above process baseline       |
| **Sentry node**    | A public-facing node that relays traffic to a private validator, protecting the validator's IP         |
| **tmkms**          | Tendermint Key Management System — a remote signer that keeps the consensus key off the validator host |