inner workings

noun

noun

The mechanisms that function internally to a system and are not outwardly visible

Nobody really understands the inner workings of politics.
After more than 18 months in non-protected storage, they have needed significant patching and repair work to bodyshells and inner workings before they can enter service.2025 November 26, David Stubbings, “News: Rolling stock strategy 'will give clarity'”, in RAIL, number 1049, page 7:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.