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A lexicon-driven AppView for ATProto.
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For a broader introduction to the atproto, see the <a href="https://atproto.com/guides/glossary" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="">official ATProto glossary</a>.</p><h2 class="anchor anchorTargetStickyNavbar_zGuS" id="atproto-terms">atproto terms<a href="#atproto-terms" class="hash-link" aria-label="Direct link to atproto terms" title="Direct link to atproto terms" translate="no"></a></h2><p><strong>AppView</strong> — A backend service that indexes atproto records and serves them through an API. HappyView is an AppView. See the <a href="https://atproto.com/guides/glossary#app-view" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="">ATProto docs</a> for more.</p><p><strong>DID</strong> (Decentralized Identifier) — A persistent, globally unique identifier for an account (e.g. <code>did:plc:abc123</code>).</p><p><strong>Firehose</strong> — A real-time stream of all record events (creates, updates, deletes) across the atproto network. HappyView consumes a filtered slice of this via <a href="https://github.com/bluesky-social/jetstream" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="">Jetstream</a>.</p><p><strong>Handle</strong> — A human-readable name for an account (e.g. <code>user.bsky.social</code>). Handles resolve to a DID via a DNS TXT record or an HTTP <code>.well-known/atproto-did</code> lookup.</p><p><strong>Lexicon</strong> — A schema definition for atproto data types and API methods. Lexicons define what records look like, what endpoints exist, and what parameters they accept. See <a class="" href="/guides/lexicons">Lexicons</a>.</p><p><strong>NSID</strong> (Namespaced Identifier) — A reverse-DNS identifier for a lexicon (e.g. <code>xyz.statusphere.status</code>). The authority is everything except the last segment.</p><p><strong>PDS</strong> (Personal Data Server) — The server that hosts a user's data. Users can be on any PDS — there's no single server. HappyView proxies writes back to each user's PDS.</p><p><strong>PLC directory</strong> — A public service (e.g. <code>plc.directory</code>) that maps DIDs to their DID documents, which contain the user's PDS endpoint and other metadata.</p><p><strong>Record</strong> — A single piece of data in an atproto repository, identified by an AT URI (e.g. <code>at://did:plc:abc/xyz.statusphere.status/abc123</code>).</p><p><strong>Relay</strong> — A network service that aggregates repository data from many PDSes. HappyView queries the relay during <a class="" href="/guides/backfill">backfill</a> to discover which repos contain records for a given collection, then fetches each repo's records directly from its PDS.</p><p><strong>rkey</strong> (Record Key) — The unique key for a record within a collection and repo. These are most commonly TIDs (timestamp-based) or NSIDs.</p><p><strong>TID</strong> (Timestamp Identifier) — A 13-character sortable identifier used as a record key. Generated from the current timestamp.</p><p><strong>XRPC</strong> — The HTTP-based RPC protocol used by the atproto. Query methods map to GET requests, procedure methods map to POST requests. See <a class="" href="/reference/xrpc-api">XRPC API</a>.</p><p><strong>Jetstream</strong> — A <a href="https://github.com/bluesky-social/jetstream" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="">filtered firehose</a> that delivers atproto record commit events as JSON over WebSocket. Not part of the core atproto spec, but widely used. HappyView subscribes to Jetstream with a collection filter built from its indexed record lexicons, and persists a cursor for resume on reconnect.</p><h2 class="anchor anchorTargetStickyNavbar_zGuS" id="happyview-specific-terms">HappyView-specific terms<a href="#happyview-specific-terms" class="hash-link" aria-label="Direct link to HappyView-specific terms" title="Direct link to HappyView-specific terms" translate="no"></a></h2><p><strong>Backfill</strong> — The process of bulk-indexing existing records from the network. HappyView discovers repos via the relay and fetches each repo's records directly from its PDS. Runs when a new record-type lexicon is uploaded or triggered manually. See <a class="" href="/guides/backfill">Backfill</a>.</p><p><strong>Network lexicon</strong> — A lexicon fetched directly from the atproto network via DNS authority resolution, rather than uploaded manually. See <a class="" href="/guides/lexicons#network-lexicons">Lexicons - Network lexicons</a>.</p><p><strong>Permission</strong> — A granular access control right that authorizes a specific action in the admin API. HappyView defines 20 permissions organized by category (e.g. <code>lexicons:create</code>, <code>users:read</code>). See <a class="" href="/guides/permissions">Permissions</a>.</p><p><strong>Permission template</strong> — A predefined set of permissions that can be applied when creating a user. Templates are: <strong>Viewer</strong> (read-only access), <strong>Operator</strong> (viewer + backfill and API key management), <strong>Manager</strong> (operator + lexicon and record management), and <strong>Full Access</strong> (all 20 permissions).</p><p><strong>Super user</strong> — The bootstrapped user created on first login to a fresh HappyView instance. The super user has unrestricted access to all endpoints regardless of permissions, can transfer super status to another user, and cannot be deleted.</p><p><strong>Target collection</strong> — The record collection that a query or procedure lexicon operates on. Set via the <code>target_collection</code> field when uploading a lexicon.</p></div></article><nav class="docusaurus-mt-lg pagination-nav" aria-label="Docs pages"><a class="pagination-nav__link pagination-nav__link--prev" href="/reference/lua/standard-libraries"><div class="pagination-nav__sublabel">Previous</div><div class="pagination-nav__label">Standard Libraries</div></a><a class="pagination-nav__link pagination-nav__link--next" href="/reference/architecture"><div class="pagination-nav__sublabel">Next</div><div class="pagination-nav__label">Architecture</div></a></nav></div></div><div class="col col--3"><div class="tableOfContents_X45M thin-scrollbar theme-doc-toc-desktop"><ul class="table-of-contents table-of-contents__left-border"><li><a href="#atproto-terms" class="table-of-contents__link toc-highlight">atproto terms</a></li><li><a href="#happyview-specific-terms" class="table-of-contents__link toc-highlight">HappyView-specific terms</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div></main></div></div></div><footer class="theme-layout-footer footer"><div class="container container-fluid"><div class="footer__bottom text--center"><div class="footer__copyright">Copyright © 2026 <a href="https://birb.house">Birbhouse Games</a>.</div></div></div></footer></div></body></html>