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Terminology

In Juno, we use some terms that may be unfamiliar to some. This page provides a summary of the most commonly used terms.

Account Identifier​

An "Account Identifier" is an address, serving as the textual representation of an account on the Internet Computer (ICP) ledger. It can represent an account owned by an individual or a smart contract.

When you send ICP from a cryptocurrency exchange or wallet, as explained in the documentation, you are sending it to the "Account Identifier" associated with your mission control.

Console​

The "console" refers to Juno's administration application, located at https://console.juno.build.

Cycles​

Cycles are used to pay for infrastructure usage. Your mission control or satellite consumes cycles while it's active.

The amount of cycles available determines whether a smart contract will be active or inactive.

This ensures that related costs cannot surpass the amount of cycles available.

Learn more about computation and storage costs.

Controller​

Controllers are used to grant permissions to mission controls and satellites in Juno.

For more detailed information, please refer to the dedicated documentation.

ICP​

The ICP token is the cryptocurrency used to pay for transactions on Juno's infrastructure.

Internet Identity​

Internet Identity is a Web3 authentication provider that offers a secure blockchain login experience with a user-friendly Web2 interface.

It is free, passwordless, and does not track user activity. It also integrates WebAuthn for maximum compatibility.

Mission control​

A mission control is a dedicated smart contract designed for managing your satellites. It is under your exclusive control, allowing it to hold ICP and perform various operations such as topping up your satellites and itself.

For a schematic representation, refer to the Architecture documentation page.

Modules​

A module or segment — i.e. Satellite, Mission Control, and Orbiter — refers to a smart contract compiled into WebAssembly (WASM) code and deployed on the Internet Computer with Juno.

It acts as a comprehensive entity, encompassing memory, permission checks, and other Juno abstractions. These serve as endpoints that developers and users can query for various functionalities.

A really high level schema representing a Satellite architecture

NFID​

NFID is a digital identity that provides private and secure sign-in to applications. It offers a convenient way to authenticate with third-party providers like Metamask and Google.

Orbiter​

An orbiter is the term we use to refer to the smart contract that can optionally be employed for analytics to gather valuable, anonymous insights about your users.

Principal​

Principals are generic identifiers for the console, mission controls, satellites, and users.

They consist of a public-private key pair. When displayed or used as a configuration value, the public ID of the principal is used.

Learn more about principals.

Satellite​

A satellite is a container for your application that runs entirely on-chain. It contains your project's data, storage, application bundle, and assets.

A satellite is essentially a smart contract with added capabilities.

Currently, each satellite is dedicated to a single application.