feels

Glossary

Quick reference for terms, abbreviations, and components used throughout the Feels Protocol documentation.

Core Terms

FeelsSOL

The hub token in the protocol's hub-and-spoke architecture. Backed 1:1 by JitoSOL reserves held in protocol vaults. All trading pairs must include FeelsSOL.

JitoSOL

Liquid staking token that serves as the backing asset for all FeelsSOL. Earns staking rewards over time, which accrue to protocol reserves.

GTWAP (Geometric Time-Weighted Average Price)

A manipulation-resistant price oracle that calculates the geometric mean of prices over time by averaging tick indices. Each pool maintains its own GTWAP.

  • Implementation: Ring buffer of tick observations updated on every swap
  • Minimum window: 60 seconds
  • See: 204-pool-oracle.md

CLMM (Concentrated Liquidity Market Maker)

Uniswap V3-style AMM where liquidity providers can concentrate capital in specific price ranges for improved capital efficiency.

Hub-and-Spoke Architecture

Design pattern where all tokens trade through a central hub (FeelsSOL), eliminating fragmented liquidity and ensuring maximum 2-hop routes.

Liquidity Concepts

Floor Liquidity

Protocol-owned, single-sided liquidity position that provides a guaranteed price floor. Funded by pool reserves, ratchets up monotonically over time.

  • Formula: Floor Price = Pool Allocated Reserves / Circulating Supply
  • Characteristic: Can only rise or stay constant, never falls
  • See: 205-floor-liquidity.md

JIT Liquidity (Just-In-Time)

Automated market-making strategy that places contrarian liquidity opposite to incoming trades, funded by pool buffer (τ).

  • Placement: Around GTWAP anchor with micro-spreads
  • Execution: Place-execute-remove in single transaction
  • MVP: JIT v0.5 with virtual concentration
  • See: 202-jit-liquidity.md

POMM (Protocol-Owned Market Making)

General term for automated liquidity strategies owned and operated by the protocol, including Floor and JIT.

Bonding Curve

Initial price discovery mechanism using discretized staircase liquidity pattern. Active during pool Phase 1 before graduation.

  • Implementation: 10-40 micro-ranges approximating x*y=k curve
  • Graduation: Transitions to steady-state (Floor + JIT) after market cap target
  • See: 207-bonding-curve-feels.md

Protocol Components

market::Oracle

Per-pool GTWAP oracle component. Calculates geometric time-weighted average price using ring buffer of tick observations.

  • State account: OracleState
  • Key methods: update(), get_twap_tick(seconds_ago)
  • Ring buffer: 12 observations (configurable)
  • See: 204-pool-oracle.md

market::Floor

Pool-level floor price calculator. Determines minimum safe price based on pool reserves and circulating supply.

  • State: PoolFloor struct
  • Key methods: calculate_floor_tick(), can_ratchet(), get_safe_ask_tick()
  • Ratcheting: Monotonic increases with cooldown period
  • See: 205-floor-liquidity.md

PoolController

Per-pool component managing fee distribution, strategy allocation, and lifecycle phases.

  • Responsibilities: Fee splits, capital allocation, phase transitions
  • State account: PoolController
  • See: 206-pool-allocation.md

SafetyController

Global protocol component coordinating risk management and degraded operation modes.

FlowSignals

Unified component tracking market flow patterns for coordination across fee model, JIT, and other subsystems.

  • Signals: Flow EWMA, directional toxicity, combined signal
  • Consumers: Dynamic fees, JIT sizing, spread adjustments
  • See: 201-dynamic-fees.md

protocol::Oracle

Protocol-level oracle providing conservative FeelsSOL↔JitoSOL exchange rate for global solvency.

  • Sources: Jito native rate + filtered DEX TWAP
  • Safety: Takes minimum of available rates with divergence guards
  • Distinct from: market::Oracle (per-pool GTWAP)
  • See: 200-feelssol-solvency.md

Accounts and State

Pool

Central account for a trading pair. Contains AMM state, configuration, and references to auxiliary accounts.

  • Key fields: sqrt_price, liquidity, current_tick, token_0, token_1
  • PDA seed: [b"market", token_0, token_1] (also called "market")
  • See: 203-pool-clmm.md

PoolBuffer (τ, tau)

Per-pool tactical account funding JIT liquidity and routing creator fees. Accumulates trading fees.

PoolReserve

Per-pool strategic capital backing floor liquidity. Isolated per market for solvency.

Position

User's concentrated liquidity position, represented as NFT. Tracks range, liquidity, and uncollected fees.

  • State account: Position
  • Key fields: tick_lower, tick_upper, liquidity, fee_growth_inside_*
  • NFT: Each position is unique SPL token
  • See: 203-pool-clmm.md

TickArray

Fixed-size array storing tick data for a contiguous range. Uses zero-copy for efficiency.

  • Size: 64 ticks per array (configurable)
  • Lazy init: Ticks initialized only when liquidity added
  • PDA: Derived from pool and start tick index
  • See: 203-pool-clmm.md

PreLaunchEscrow

Temporary account holding tokens and fees before market deployment. Links to market after initialization.

  • Contents: All token supply, mint fee in FeelsSOL
  • Lifecycle: Created in mint_token, linked in initialize_market, cleared in deploy_initial_liquidity
  • See: 300-launch-sequence.md

Abbreviations and Units

General Abbreviations

  • AMM: Automated Market Maker
  • TWAP: Time-Weighted Average Price
  • GTWAP: Geometric TWAP (averages log prices / tick indices)
  • LP: Liquidity Provider
  • JIT: Just-In-Time (liquidity)
  • POMM: Protocol-Owned Market Making
  • POL: Protocol-Owned Liquidity
  • PDA: Program Derived Address (Solana)
  • CU: Compute Units (Solana transaction cost)
  • MVP: Minimum Viable Product (initial release scope)

Unit Suffixes

  • _bps: Basis points (1/10,000). Example: 30 bps = 0.30%
  • _ticks: Price ticks on logarithmic scale. 1 tick ≈ 0.01% price change
  • _q: Quote token amount (FeelsSOL in most contexts)
  • _q16: Fixed-point Q16 format (16 fractional bits)
  • _q32: Fixed-point Q32 format (32 fractional bits)
  • _x64: Q64.64 format (64.64 fixed point, used for prices)
  • _pct: Percentage (0-100)

Special Symbols

  • τ (tau): PoolBuffer account (tactical working capital)
  • R_*: Floor reserves (strategic floor capital)
  • α (alpha): Size adjustment factor in JIT (toxicity-based throttling)
  • L: Liquidity amount in CLMM formulas

Pool Lifecycle Phases

Phase 0: Uninitialized

Token minted but market not yet created.

  • Next: initialize_market → Phase 1

Phase 1: Price Discovery (Bonding Curve)

Initial liquidity deployed in staircase pattern. Third-party LPing disabled.

  • Duration: Fixed time or volume milestone
  • Liquidity: 10-40 discretized ranges approximating bonding curve
  • Next: graduate_pool → Phase 2

Phase 2: Steady State

Mature market with Floor + JIT liquidity. Open to third-party LPs.

  • Floor: Large single-sided position at calculated floor
  • JIT: Active contrarian market making
  • LPs: Public can open positions

Fee and Economic Terms

Base Fee

Static component of trading fee, set per pool. MVP default 30 bps.

Impact Fee

Dynamic component based on realized tick movement. Calculated post-swap.

  • Formula: ticks_moved with lookup table and floor
  • Floor: Minimum 10 bps to prevent split-trade gaming
  • See: 201-dynamic-fees.md

Fee Split

Distribution of collected fees among stakeholders.

  • MVP recipients: LPs (45%), PoolReserve (25%), PoolBuffer (20%), Protocol Treasury (8%), Creator base (2%)
  • Configurable: Via protocol parameters
  • See: 206-pool-allocation.md

Rebates (Phase 2, Deferred)

Fee discounts for equilibrium-restoring trades. Not in MVP.

  • Mechanism: Negative adjustments to total fee calculation
  • Funded by: PoolBuffer foregone revenue
  • See: 201-dynamic-fees.md

Mint Fee

One-time fee paid in FeelsSOL to create new protocol token. Held in escrow until deployment.

  • Default: 1000 FeelsSOL (configurable)
  • Destination: 100% to treasury after successful deployment; 50/50 split if expired
  • See: 300-launch-sequence.md

Safety and Risk Terms

Solvency Ratio

Measure of protocol's ability to honor redemptions.

  • Protocol-level: JitoSOL Reserves ≥ FeelsSOL Total Supply
  • Pool-level: FeelsSOL in Pool ≥ Liquidity Exit Needs
  • See: 200-feelssol-solvency.md

Circuit Breaker

Emergency mechanism halting operations when thresholds breached.

Degraded Mode

Reduced functionality state when safety conditions not optimal but not critical.

  • Example: GTWAP stale → disable rebates but allow swaps
  • Graceful: System remains usable with reduced features
  • See: 210-safety-controller.md

Rate Limiting

Throttling mechanism to prevent resource exhaustion.

  • Applies to: Swap volume per slot, JIT budget consumption, oracle updates
  • Granularity: Per-pool per-slot typically
  • See: 209-params-and-governance.md

Toxicity

Measure of adverse price movement after JIT fills, used to throttle future participation.

  • Tracking: Exponential moving average (EMA) with asymmetric update rates
  • Response: Reduce JIT size, widen spreads
  • See: 202-jit-liquidity.md

Staleness

Condition when oracle data is outdated beyond acceptable threshold.

  • Threshold: Typically 150 slots (~60 seconds at 0.4s/slot)
  • Response: Degrade to fallback behavior (e.g., use current price)
  • See: 204-pool-oracle.md

Implementation Terms

Zero-Copy

Memory layout optimization allowing direct account data access without deserialization.

  • Used for: TickArray, large state accounts
  • Benefit: Reduced compute units, better performance
  • See: 203-pool-clmm.md

Ratcheting

Mechanism allowing monotonic increases only, never decreases.

Warmup Period

Initial phase where certain features disabled to prevent manipulation with noisy early data.

  • Duration: Requires BOTH time (e.g., 2400 slots) AND volume (e.g., 150 trades)
  • During warmup: Rebates disabled, equilibrium bias reduced
  • See: 201-dynamic-fees.md

Unified Components

Shared infrastructure used consistently across subsystems to reduce duplication.

  • Examples: market::Oracle, market::Floor, FlowSignals, SafetyController
  • Benefit: Consistency, reduced state, coordinated responses
  • See: 200-feelssol-solvency.md

Cross-References

By Topic

Token Launches:

Trading & Swaps:

Oracles & Pricing:

Liquidity & Market Making:

Safety & Governance:

Protocol Architecture: