Stakker glossary.

Stakk

A multi-peptide protocol assembled for a specific goal — recovery, longevity, growth, metabolic, etc. The unit of PepStakk's product. A stakk is a deliberate combination of peptides with defined doses, schedules, and cycles; not a random assortment.

See: Build your first stakk

Cycle

A defined on-period followed by an off-period for a single peptide. Common patterns: 8 weeks on / 4 weeks off; 12 weeks on / 4 weeks off; or continuous use for peptides that don't downregulate. Cycling exists to prevent receptor downregulation, hormonal feedback issues, and to create rest windows.

See also: currently cycling, tapering, running continuous

Reconstitution

The process of dissolving a lyophilized (freeze-dried) peptide in a sterile diluent — almost always BAC water — to produce an injectable solution. Reconstitution math determines the concentration (mg/mL), which determines how much volume to draw per dose. PepStakk's Calculator handles this math; the user enters peptide weight, BAC volume, and target dose, and the Calculator returns syringe units.

BAC water · Bacteriostatic water

Sterile water containing 0.9% benzyl alcohol — a preservative that inhibits bacterial growth, allowing the reconstituted vial to remain stable for multiple weeks of use. Standard diluent for peptide reconstitution. Not interchangeable with sterile water (no preservative — single-use only) or saline (different osmolality).

Function

PepStakk's categorical grouping for what a peptide does in the body. Examples: Healing & Recovery, Growth Hormone Secretagogues, GLP-1, Metabolic, Longevity, Sexual Health, Cognitive. Used in the Library to browse peptides by goal, and in stakk-building to assemble compatible combinations.

Off-label

Use of an FDA-approved drug for a condition, dose, or route not covered by its approved label. In the peptide context, off-label use typically refers to using an approved peptide for purposes outside its labeled indication (e.g. semaglutide for weight loss in a non-diabetic patient when prescribed for that purpose by a licensed practitioner). Distinct from RUO peptides, which are not FDA-approved for any human use.

FDA approval status

PepStakk classifies every peptide in the Library by its regulatory status. Five states:

• Approved — has an FDA-approved indication; available via prescription
• Approved + off-label — FDA-approved for one indication, commonly used off-label for others
• Withdrawn — was approved, no longer marketed
• Research only (RUO) — not approved for human use; sold by research-grade vendors for laboratory and research purposes (per regulatory labeling)
• Unscheduled / international — approval status varies by jurisdiction

See: What are peptides?

Running

A vial currently in use. Doses are drawn from it. Each peptide in your stakk has at most one running vial at a time — the next vial in line is stocked until promoted.

Stocked

An unopened vial on hand, ready to start running once the current vial is spent. Stocked vials count toward your supply runway at full dose value.

Inbound

A vial ordered but not yet arrived. Counts toward forward supply only if an expected-arrival date is known and within the supply-runway horizon. Useful for tracking restocks across shipping windows.

Spent

A vial that's been fully drawn down. Removed from active supply count. The Dashboard auto-promotes the next stocked vial to running once the current vial is marked spent.

Supply runway

Forward-looking forecast of how many days of supply you have, based on your schedule cadence, current inventory (running + stocked + inbound), and dose-logging history. Drives the restock window and running low warnings.

See: How dose logging tracks your supply

Restock window

Supply warning zone — 14 days or less of supply remaining. Time to plan a restock. Surfaced on the Dashboard's Actions Required panel so you can order before you're cutting it close.

Running low

Supply critical zone — 10 days or less remaining. Order ahead of the next cycle window. More urgent than the restock window; the Dashboard flags this as a higher-priority action.

Out of stock

Supply has reached zero with no inbound vials. The peptide is in your stakk but you can't actually take the next scheduled dose. The Dashboard surfaces this as a top-priority alert.

Mark drawn

The action of logging a dose. "Drawn" is Stakker vernacular — peptide users literally draw doses into syringes from a reconstituted vial. Marking a dose drawn subtracts from your running vial and updates supply runway in real time.

See: How dose logging tracks your supply

Restock

Replenishing supply by ordering new vials. PepStakk uses "restock" over "reorder" — the inventory frame is what you keep on hand, not just what you order. Premium Auto-Restock (roadmap) automates this against your supply runway.

Currently cycling

The peptide is in its on-cycle window — actively dosed per schedule. Surfaced in the Dashboard's stakk overview as the active state.

Tapering

The peptide is in its off-cycle window after an on-cycle ended. Receptors recover; hormones rebalance. Some protocols taper with smaller maintenance doses, others go fully off. The Schedule tab honors whatever taper pattern you define.

Ready to restart

Between cycles — the off-cycle window is ending, and the next on-cycle starts soon. Common surface for Actions Required ("Restart BPC-157 cycle Monday").

Running continuous

The peptide has no off-cycle window — it runs straight through. Some peptides don't require cycling (or the user's protocol design doesn't include one). The Schedule tab models this as a single continuous on-cycle.

Off cycle

Paused, extended rest, or not currently in a planned cycle. Distinct from tapering (which is a defined off-window within a cycle pattern) — off-cycle is unscheduled or indefinite.

COA · Certificate of Analysis

A document from a third-party lab confirming a peptide vial's identity, purity, and (optionally) sterility / endotoxin testing. The single most useful supplier disclosure. Look for batch-specific COAs (not generic), HPLC-tested, ideally with mass spec identity confirmation, from labs the vendor doesn't own.

HPLC · High-Performance Liquid Chromatography

The standard analytical technique for measuring peptide purity. An HPLC trace shows the peptide as a peak with the percent-purity calculated against the total area under the curve. ≥97% purity is the floor for credible research-grade vendors; ≥99% is preferred.

Mass spec · Mass spectrometry

Identity confirmation — verifies the molecule in the vial is actually the peptide on the label. HPLC tells you how pure the sample is; mass spec tells you what it is. Best practice is both, on every batch.

503A

A state-licensed compounding pharmacy that produces patient-specific prescription medications. 503A pharmacies serve individual prescriptions, not bulk inventory. Operating under state pharmacy boards plus relevant federal regulations.

503B

A federally-registered outsourcing facility that compounds in volume for licensed practitioners, not individual prescriptions. 503B facilities operate under FDA cGMP-style standards and are subject to FDA inspection. The most heavily regulated compounding category.

RUO · Research Use Only

Regulatory labeling indicating a product is sold for laboratory and research purposes, not for human consumption. Research-grade peptide vendors operate under RUO labeling because they are not FDA-approved manufacturers. Always consult a licensed clinician before any therapeutic protocol.

See: The Source tier · What are peptides?

Disclosed Source

PepStakk's posture for vendors in the Source tier — research-grade peptide vendors, raw-material manufacturers, and reference standards. PepStakk vets each vendor's disclosure (third-party COAs, testing methodology, sourcing, country of origin, lab partners) but does not certify or audit the lab partner.

Channel partner · Disclosed Channel Partner

The downstream tier — wellness centers, aesthetic medicine practices, telehealth providers, hormone-optimization clinics, independent prescribers. The partners a Stakker actually books with. PepStakk doesn't vouch for what happens in the room; it vouches for the integrity of what the partner disclosed.

See: The Channel tier

Vetted Compounding

PepStakk's posture for compounding-tier suppliers (503B outsourcing facilities, 503A pharmacies, brand owners). Scored across a five-category disclosure framework — regulatory, quality, sterility, compliance history, transparency — producing a tier label (Comprehensive / Standard / Limited).

See: The Compounding tier

Vetted Distribution

PepStakk's posture for distributors — state-licensed wholesalers, drop-shippers, fulfillment partners between Compounding-tier makers and Channel-tier practitioners. We verify the active wholesale license and require upstream-source disclosure.

See: The Distribution tier

Reviewing Clinician

A licensed practitioner in the PepStakk Clinician Network who provides async written feedback on a Stakker's protocol. Vetted on credentials, peptide-protocol experience, and async-review fit. Async reviews are informational, not a clinical relationship.

See: Clinician Network

Evidence tier

PepStakk's four-tier framework for grading the strength of evidence behind a peptide claim. T1 is human RCTs or systematic reviews; T2 is human observational or open-label trials; T3 is animal models or preclinical mechanism; T4 is anecdotal or community-reported. Library detail pages cite evidence tier for each major claim.

Tier badge

The visual marker in the Library and News feed that signals an item's evidence tier. Helps Stakkers calibrate how seriously to weight any given research claim — a T1 finding is dramatically more reliable than a T3 mechanism study.

Featured Intelligence

The Dashboard's surfaced-news section. PepStakk scores incoming research and news items against the Stakker's current stakk and recent Advisor queries, then surfaces the most relevant. The point: every Stakker gets a personalized feed of what actually matters to their protocol, not a generic peptide-news firehose.