# Reference

The Reference section is the place to look things up rather than read through. Each
page here documents one slice of BackWave's public surface: the exact options, method
signatures, states, defaults, and identifiers, stated as fact so you can confirm a
detail and move on. Reference is for lookup; [Core Concepts](/docs/core-concepts/jobs-and-handlers)
is where you learn the vocabulary and the reasoning behind it. When you want the
definition of a term rather than its API, the [Glossary](/docs/reference/glossary) is
the single canonical home other sections link to.

The pages below are grouped by what you are trying to do. The grouping is a reading
aid; the pages stand on their own and cross-link where a term is defined elsewhere.

## Authoring jobs

Everything you write in your own code to declare work: the `[Job]` attribute and its
handler, the cron builder behind a Recurring Schedule, and the Transition Observer
authoring surface.

| Page | What it covers |
|---|---|
| [Job & Handler API](/docs/reference/job-attributes) | The job-authoring surface: the `[Job]` attribute, the handler interface, the job context, and the generated registry module. |
| [Cron API](/docs/reference/cron-api) | The cron builder and expression API for Recurring Schedules, including parsing, canonical form, and IANA time zones. |
| [Observers API](/docs/reference/observers-api) | The Transition Observer authoring surface: the observer interface and context, the observer builder, and the observer pump options. |

## Driving the runtime

The public API you call at runtime to enqueue, inspect, and act on work, plus the
Dispatch Policies a Worker Group chooses between and the Pro Workflow surface.

| Page | What it covers |
|---|---|
| [Client, Monitor & Operator API](/docs/reference/client-api) | The runtime public API: the client's enqueue, dependency, and recurring methods, the monitor's read queries, and the operator's actions. |
| [Dispatch Policies](/docs/reference/dispatch-policies) | The dispatch policies a Worker Group chooses: Strict and Weighted, their API, determinism, and the work-conservation guarantee. |
| [Workflows API](/docs/reference/workflows-api) **(Pro)** | The complete BackWave Pro workflow API: registration, the workflow builder, enqueue and append, cancel, and the monitor projections. |

Workflows are a [BackWave Pro](/docs/reference/packages-compatibility) feature; the rest
of the runtime API is in the core packages.

## Configuration and operational limits

What you set at startup and the bounds the store enforces at runtime.

| Page | What it covers |
|---|---|
| [Configuration Options](/docs/reference/configuration) | An option-by-option reference for `AddBackWave`, Worker Group options, retry and retention policies, the observer block, and the environment switches. |
| [Limits & Defaults](/docs/reference/limits-and-defaults) | The named storage bounds (payload size, wire-name length, attempts, output bytes, and lease defaults), with each default and the reject-not-truncate rule. |

## The state model

The canonical enumeration of where a job can be and how it moves, and the definitions
those states rest on.

| Page | What it covers |
|---|---|
| [Job States & Transitions](/docs/reference/job-states) | Every job state, the full transition table with triggers, and the recorded terminal causes. |
| [Glossary](/docs/reference/glossary) | Definitions of every BackWave term, the single canonical home other sections link to. |

## For adapter authors and operators

The lower-level contracts: what a Storage Adapter must satisfy, the exact telemetry
BackWave emits, and the package and compatibility map.

| Page | What it covers |
|---|---|
| [Storage Contract Reference](/docs/reference/storage-contract) | The adapter-author lookup for the job-store operation surface, its invariants, capability flags, schema versioning, and wake-up hints. |
| [Telemetry Reference](/docs/reference/telemetry) | The exact OpenTelemetry identifiers BackWave emits across all three pillars: the source names, every metric instrument, the send/receive/process spans, the log event-id catalog, and the tag keys. |
| [Packages & Compatibility](/docs/reference/packages-compatibility) | The NuGet package map, the target framework, and the canonical adapter capability matrix. |

## Where to go next

- [Core Concepts](/docs/core-concepts/jobs-and-handlers): the guided path through the
  vocabulary these pages assume.
- [Configuration](/docs/introduction/configuration): the getting-started walkthrough of
  the options you reach for first.
- [Job & Handler API](/docs/reference/job-attributes): the most common starting point
  once you know the concepts.
- [Configuration Options](/docs/reference/configuration): the exhaustive option-by-option
  reference for wiring BackWave up.