Every term CFDL uses in a specific sense, with the one meaning it carries.
Terms are listed with one definition each. Where a term is an abbreviation, the expansion given is the form to use on first mention.
Language
The constructs a model is written from.
account
A declared cash location whose balance accumulates across periods under the balance law; drawn by a waterfall, credited by a step, read by logic as settled history.
assumption
A declared input to the model, constant or stochastic. Declared with assume.
config namespace
The cfg.<path> expression binding, which reads scenario knobs from the run configuration. Distinct from the run configuration itself.
container
An entity family for a grouping that scopes cash without producing it — a fund, a portfolio, an SPV, a transaction.
contract
A first-class agreement carrying terms and effects.
curve
A named series of values indexed by time.
entity
A thing the model is about. An asset produces or consumes cash; a party contracts, owns, or lends.
event
Something that happens. An event fires on each occurrence, and nothing restricts it to happening once.
fact field
A field on an entity that takes a literal and nothing else. A value that moves must be a rule field.
grain
How finely the model slices time and things. Timeline grain and entity grain are independent choices.
lifecycle
A declared finite state machine: enumerated states, an initial one, and guarded edges declared only as used. A core-language construct that packs tailor to domains.
master type
A base type in the language's ontology that pack types refine — what a thing is, before a domain specializes it.
metric
A derived summary figure over the model's cash flows.
option
An electable right held by a party.
pack
A domain vocabulary supplying types, roles, and terms to a model.
priced amount
A stream amount whose series window reaches forward: a valuation setting a causal amount, evaluated after the causal cells settle, refused where the graph cycles.
quantile
A named series of values indexed by cumulative share.
refinement
The recorded is-a edge from a pack type to the type it specializes, declared with refines.
rule field
A field carrying a recurrence: init gives the first period's value, next is evaluated each later period with prev bound to the field's own previous value.
scenario
A named set of overrides applied to a run.
schedule
The set of dates on which a stream pays.
slice
A named, deliberately partial selection of a model's streams, with figures computed over the selection.
statement
A per-period report published from the model's results.
stream
A dated, directed movement of cash attached to an entity and laid out on the timeline.
waterfall
An ordered distribution of cash through steps by seniority.
Compiler
What the toolchain does with a model, and what it reports.
diagnostic
A compiler message carrying a stable code and a source span.
IR — intermediate representation (IR)
The canonical JSON intermediate representation a model compiles to.
lowering
The compiler stage that reduces language constructs to the canonical IR. A technical noun, so exempt from the rule against -ing forms.
span
The region of source a diagnostic points at.
Finance
Domain terms the packs and the documentation use in their standard sense.
cap rate
The capitalization rate applied to stabilized income to derive value.
catch-up
The waterfall tier that restores a party to its target share after a preferred return is paid.
covenant
A contractual test the borrower must satisfy.
DSCR — debt service coverage ratio (DSCR)
Debt service coverage ratio.
EBITDA
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization.
expense stop
The expense level above which recoveries are billed to a tenant.
IRR — internal rate of return (IRR)
Internal rate of return: the discount rate at which NPV is zero. Undefined for a series that never changes sign.
lease-up
The period during which vacant space is let to stabilized occupancy.
MOIC — multiple of invested capital (MOIC)
Multiple of invested capital.
NPV — net present value (NPV)
Net present value.
PPA — power purchase agreement (PPA)
Power purchase agreement.
promote
The sponsor's disproportionate share of profit above a return hurdle.
reversion
The terminal value realized at the end of a hold.
takeout
Permanent financing that repays construction debt.
term power purchase agreement
A power offtake contract for a fixed term.
weighted average life
The average time to principal return, weighted by principal repaid.
working capital
Receivables, payables, and inventory, modeled on a days-based policy.
Verbs
Each of these describes one action and is used for no other.
accrue
To recognize an amount in a period without paying it.
compile
To translate a model into the canonical IR.
diff
To compare two artefacts and report the differences.
discount
To apply a discount rate to a future cash flow.
escalate
To increase an amount on a stated schedule.
evaluate
To compute a value for a period.
lower
To reduce a language construct to its IR form.
resolve
To bind a name to its declaration.
seed
To fix the random draw so a stochastic run reproduces.