Yard uses a small set of nouns, and uses each one for one thing only.
admin token: the token the install script creates. It is in /srv/yard/tokens/admin.token on the host, and a boot recreates it if it is ever removed.
app: one name on the host, with one repo, one branch, and one trigger. An app is a Compose project of the same name. Its record is /srv/yard/apps/<name>/app.
app container: the container of service app in the app's Compose project, always named <name>-app-1. Binds dial it.
app env: the file of environment variables for one app, /srv/yard/apps/<name>/env, mode 600. yard env changes it. The next deploy applies it.
apply image: localhost/yard-apply, the image of every deploy container. It holds podman-remote, docker-compose, and apply.sh.
bind: one public host name that Caddy serves over HTTPS and proxies to one container and port. yard bind changes it.
check: a comparison of the branch tip on the forge with the commit in Yard's clone. A different commit starts a deploy. A webhook or the five-minute timer starts a check.
clone: Yard's git checkout of an app's repo, /srv/yard/apps/<name>/repo. Each deploy resets it to the commit it deploys.
compose file: the repo's compose.yml or compose.yaml, at the root or in ops/. Without one, Yard uses its default compose file.
data directory: /srv/yard/apps/<name>/data on the host, /data in the container. It survives every deploy. yard app rm deletes it.
deploy: one run of the deploy container for one commit of one app. It ends as ok, reverted, failed, pending, or skipped.
deploy container: deploy-<name>, the short-lived container that builds the image and runs docker-compose up for one deploy. Its log is the deploy log.
dial: the target of a bind, container:port. The port is 8000 when it is left out.
forge: the service that hosts the repos: GitHub or Cursor Origin. Yard connects to it as an installed app.
host: the one VM that runs Yard, Caddy, and every app.
image: localhost/<name>:<sha12>, built on the host from one commit. Images stay on the host until yard prune removes them.
ref: the branch an app follows, main by default.
revert: what a deploy does when the new container never gets healthy: it starts the previous image again.
tip: the newest commit on the branch an app follows, as the forge reports it.
token: a bearer token for the API. yard token new creates one, and yard login saves one on your computer.
trigger: when an app deploys. push deploys after a check sees a new tip. manual deploys only on yard app deploy.
webhook: the request a forge sends to /hooks/github or /hooks/origin after a push. It only starts a check.
yard network: the Podman network that Caddy, Yard, and every app container join. Caddy reaches containers by name on it.