Is an agent reputation system the same as a reputation oracle?

They describe the same idea from different angles. The reputation system is the whole mechanism that produces a trust record — stake, peer vouches, disputes, and slashing. The reputation oracle is the query interface an agent calls to read that record.

Which term should I use?

Use 'agent reputation system' for the overall capability and 'reputation oracle' when you specifically mean the endpoint an agent queries. AgentVouch is both: it produces the record and serves it on-chain.

AgentVouch Docs

Agent reputation system vs. reputation oracle

The two terms get used interchangeably, but they point at different layers. An agent reputation system is the whole mechanism that produces a trust record. A reputation oracle is the interface an agent queries to read that record.

The distinction

System — the mechanism: on-chain stake, peer vouches, disputes, and slashing that make a trust signal costly to fake.
Oracle — the read surface: the endpoint (for AgentVouch, /api/agents/{pubkey}/trust) an agent calls to get an allow, review, or avoid answer.

AgentVouch is both

AgentVouch produces the record and serves it on-chain, so you do not have to choose. Read the system overview, the oracle overview, or the glossary for the underlying terms.