Glossary

Plain definitions of the terms used across the Tango docs and app, from allocation cap to VaultManager, with links to the pages that explain them.

This page explains the terms used across the Tango docs and the Tango app. Each definition is short. Where a term has its own page or section, the definition links to it.

Key points

The app and the contracts sometimes use different names for the same thing. The app calls a vault a strategy, and a depositor a backer.

NAV (net asset value) is the total value of everything a vault holds, minus fees it owes. NAV per share sets the price of every deposit and withdrawal.

Profiles such as the VaultAdmin, VaultManager and Sentry are fixed bundles of permissions. Roles and profiles explains each one.

Term	Meaning
Allocation cap	The most USDC a vault can send to one sub-account, minus what that sub-account has sent back. See Sub-accounts.
Asset registry	The list of assets each tracked sub-account is allowed to hold. See Tracked sub-accounts.
Atomic deposit	A deposit that is requested, settled and delivered as shares in one transaction. It is off in vaults with an attested sub-account. See Deposits.
Attested sub-account	A sub-account whose value comes from a figure someone posts. It is used for venues the vault cannot value onchain. The app calls it the Delegated Vault Account. See Attested sub-accounts.
Backer	Someone who deposits into a strategy. Also called a depositor.
Builder fee	A fee per order that Hyperliquid lets an app charge when an order fills. See Perps on Hyperliquid.
Call shape	A transaction type an attested sub-account is approved to make: a set target, function and pattern of arguments. See Approved call shapes.
CCTP	Circle's Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol. It is used to move USDC between Base and Hyperliquid. See Bridging.
Ceiling	A limit fixed when a vault is deployed. It can never be raised.
Creator	The person who builds and runs a strategy.
Creator commitment	Shares a creator has locked in their own strategy. See Share locking.
Crystallise	To turn fees that have built up into real shares. This happens at each settlement. See Fees.
Deposit cap	The most money a vault accepts in deposits, after subtracting what has been withdrawn (its net principal). See Deposits.
Deposit silo	Where USDC from pending deposit requests waits. It is not counted in NAV.
Deviation band	How far a new attested value may move and still be used. See Safeguards.
Factory	The contract that deploys and sets up every vault for one release. See Deployment.
Fee splitter	The contract that receives a vault's fees and divides them between recipients. See Fees.
Forced exit	A holder settling their own withdrawal when it is still unsettled after 3 days. See Withdrawals.
Heartbeat	How old a price or attested value may be before it counts as stale.
High-water mark	The highest share price on which a performance fee has been charged.
HyperCore	Hyperliquid's trading layer, where perps positions and USDC balances live.
Idle cash	USDC the vault holds itself, rather than in a sub-account. Withdrawals are paid from it.
Module	A contract a tracked sub-account uses to swap, lend or provide liquidity. See Modules.
NAV	Net asset value: the total value of everything the vault holds, in USDC, minus fees it owes.
NAV guardian	The profile that can freeze an attested value and re-anchor it to a reading the NAV provider has posted. See Roles.
NAV manager	A key allowed to post attested values to a NAV provider, the contract that records them.
Previous release	A strategy on an older contract release, kept for its existing backers.
Queued deposit	The app's name for a settled deposit. The depositor requests a deposit, then the creator settles it.
Release	The contract version a vault was deployed from. See Contract releases.
Sentry	The profile that can pause the vault and lower limits. It can never raise anything or unpause.
Settle	To fill pending requests at one NAV price. In the app, the creator does this.
Shares	The vault's token, a standard ERC-20. Each share represents a part of the vault's NAV.
Stale	Too old to trust: a price or value past its freshness limit. A stale NAV pauses settlement.
Strategy	What the app calls a Tango vault.
Sub-account	A separate contract that holds part of a vault's strategy. See Sub-accounts.
Timelock	A waiting period before a change that adds risk can take effect. See Timelocks.
Tracked sub-account	A sub-account valued onchain from its registered assets and their oracle prices. The app calls it the Onchain Vault Account.
Trading wallet	The Hyperliquid account a perps strategy trades from. See Hyperliquid trading wallets.
VaultAdmin	The top profile. It holds every role, each behind its timelock.
VaultManager	The profile that runs the vault day to day. It settles requests, moves cash, executes actions on sub-accounts and adjusts fees within their ceilings.