# The Clearing Primitives (/docs/primitives)



Seven primitives describe everything Ductor does. Five are the headline of the
[clearing lifecycle](/docs/clearing-layer); two — Worker and Warranty — are the
structural pieces that make it hold together. Each is a *reading layer* over
stable API and domain types: the prose speaks the primitive, and bridges to the
technical name once per page. The API, SDKs, and Go internals keep their existing
names unchanged.

## The lifecycle [#the-lifecycle]

Work — a lead, a ticket, a task, an inference call — enters a pool with rules.
From there, five stages carry it from price to proof:

<ProcessRail label="How a unit of work clears" title="From price to proof">
  <ProcessStep label="Priced" title="A bid names its worth" tone="gold">
    Fixed, expression-based, or discovered by a market.
  </ProcessStep>

  <ProcessStep label="Routed" title="A route binds it to a worker" tone="worker">
    A strategy ranks eligible workers; the decision carries its reason.
  </ProcessStep>

  <ProcessStep label="Executes" title="The worker does the work" tone="pressure">
    Durably, on the coordinator/worker engine.
  </ProcessStep>

  <ProcessStep label="Settles" title="Money moves on the ledger" tone="commit">
    Charge, credit, and claw-back inside a warranty window.
  </ProcessStep>

  <ProcessStep label="Proven" title="A receipt records what happened" tone="halt">
    Decision, manifests, cost, and consent, joined and signed.
  </ProcessStep>
</ProcessRail>

## The seven primitives [#the-seven-primitives]

<Cards>
  <Card title="Work" href="/docs/primitives/work">
    A unit of value to be done. Cargo-agnostic — a lead, a ticket, an AI task, an order.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Worker" href="/docs/primitives/worker">
    Anyone who can take Work — person, team, external system, or AI agent — with capacity and a price.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Bid" href="/docs/primitives/bid">
    A priced offer to do Work, with a quality claim and an SLA promise.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Route" href="/docs/primitives/route">
    The decision that binds Work to a Worker, carrying the reason the winner won.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Receipt" href="/docs/primitives/receipt">
    The signed, verifiable record of what happened and what it cost.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Settlement" href="/docs/primitives/settlement">
    The money movement that closes the Work — charge, credit, claw-back.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Warranty" href="/docs/primitives/warranty">
    The review window in which settled Work can be returned if it fails review.
  </Card>
</Cards>

## Public name, technical name [#public-name-technical-name]

Every primitive reads over an existing technical identifier. This is
the whole map; each page repeats its own row as a bridge line on first use.

| Primitive  | Reads as                                                               | Status   |
| ---------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------- |
| Work       | `Routable`                                                             | shipping |
| Worker     | `WorkerRegistration` (projected over recipients and agent definitions) | shipping |
| Bid        | `RoutingMarketBid`                                                     | shipping |
| Route      | `Decision` + `Explanation`                                             | shipping |
| Receipt    | `WorkReceipt`                                                          | shipping |
| Settlement | ledger transactions + returns                                          | shipping |
| Warranty   | `Return`                                                               | shipping |