ADR 0002: Use device terminology

• Status: Accepted
• Date: 2026-08-06

Context

Existing Ovahol code and product language primarily use device and device record. Introducing asset as a parallel term would make it unclear whether two names describe different concepts or the same physical equipment.

Ovahol also needs to distinguish a shared catalog definition from an organization-owned physical item.

Decision

Use the following canonical terms:

• Device is a catalog definition.
• DeviceRecord is a uniquely tracked physical device.
• devices is the module name.
• DeviceLifecycle and DeviceRetirement describe lifecycle behaviour.

Do not use asset as an internal synonym. If an external standard or integration uses asset, translate it at the integration boundary.

Existing public API paths, database objects, or internal identifiers containing asset are legacy compatibility concerns. They are not renamed by this ADR alone.

Consequences

• New APIs, events, packages, and types use device terminology.
• Existing asset-named code is reviewed during Devices module extraction.
• Renaming a public contract requires a separate compatibility and migration decision.
• Procurement creates or requests a DeviceRecord; it does not create an Asset domain type.