Definition
Plain language
A way of storing a picture as instructions for drawing shapes and lines, rather than as a grid of colored dots.
As stated in the literature
Scalable Vector Graphics — an XML-based format describing images as drawing commands (paths, shapes, text); used in optimize-anything as a text artifact the system evolves, e.g. generating an SVG of a pelican on a bicycle.
Also called: SVGs
Why it matters: It matters because storing an image as editable text lets a system tweak and evolve a picture by directly rewriting its drawing commands.
For example, a company logo saved as an SVG stays crisp whether shown on a phone icon or a billboard, because it stores drawing instructions rather than fixed dots.
Heard on the show
“The artifact can be a kernel, a prompt, a scheduling algorithm, an SVG, an entire agent architecture.”Episode 065 — One Loop to Optimize Them All: A Universal API for LLM-Driven Discovery