Assessment Term Sheet

Use this plain-language sheet while reading the entry diagnostic, exit diagnostic, or chapter checkpoints. Looking up a term is allowed and does not reveal a recommended decision, score, or answer pattern.

Term	Plain-language meaning
Access token	A secret credential that lets software act on an account. A broad token grants many permissions or reaches a large scope of data.
Artifact	A concrete piece of work used as evidence, such as a file, screenshot, recording, test result, or deployed page.
Authorization	Permission from the person or organization responsible for data or a system.
Data classification	A label for how sensitive data is and what handling rules apply to it.
Data minimization	Using, sharing, and retaining only the data necessary for a specific task.
Fixture	A known input or saved setup used to run a repeatable test.
Least privilege	Giving a person or tool only the access needed for the current task, for only as long as it is needed.
MCP server	A program that offers tools or data to an AI agent through the Model Context Protocol.
Monitoring	Repeatedly observing a released system to detect failures, misuse, cost changes, or unexpected behavior.
Prompt injection	Instructions hidden or embedded in content that try to redirect an AI system or its tools.
Provenance	A record of where information or an artifact came from and how it was produced or changed.
Provider handling	How an AI or cloud provider sends, stores, retains, reviews, and uses submitted data.
Recourse	A way for an affected person to question, correct, appeal, or obtain human review of an output or decision.
Regression	A behavior that used to work but breaks after a change.
Revocation	Removing access that was previously granted, such as disabling a credential or disconnecting a tool.
Roll-forward	Recovering by making and deploying a new corrective change instead of restoring an older version.
Rubric	A scoring guide that names the criteria and evidence used to judge work.
Sandbox	An enforced environment that limits which files, processes, networks, or other resources a program can reach.
Schema	A description of a data structure: its fields, types, relationships, and rules.
Synthetic data	Artificial examples that resemble a useful pattern without containing real confidential or personal information.

These definitions explain vocabulary only. Your assessment response must still decide which risks matter, what evidence is sufficient, and what action is justified in the situation.