bakedin

Baked-in is an adjective used to describe features, properties, or behaviors that are an integral part of a system’s design and are present by default rather than added later. The term evokes ingredients that are intentionally included in the dough, making the trait inseparable from the final product. In practice, baked-in design signals that certain capabilities or protections are intended to be always on and not easily disabled without substantial effort.

In software engineering and hardware design, baked-in elements are implemented as part of the core codebase or architecture rather than as optional plugins, extensions, or external modules. Examples include baked-in input validation, authentication, logging, error handling, performance monitoring, and security controls. In product and system design, baked-in attributes can also encompass accessibility features or privacy protections implemented by default rather than as user-configurable options.

By contrast, bolted-on or add-on features are designed to be installed, removed, or upgraded independently of the main system. Such features are sometimes referred to as plug-ins or extensions and may offer greater flexibility but can introduce fragmentation or inconsistency if not managed carefully.

Advantages of baked-in design include greater consistency, reliability, and reduced risk of omitting critical protections. It can also lower long-term maintenance costs by ensuring uniform behavior across deployments. Potential drawbacks include reduced flexibility, higher initial complexity, and the possibility of entrenching suboptimal decisions if requirements evolve.

Spelling varies in usage. The standard form in technical writing is baked-in or baked in; some brands or discussions may use bakedin as a single word, but that is less common. The concept is widely understood across software, engineering, and product disciplines.