Glossary
The vocabulary, one line each. Terms link to the page that owns them.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Agent | A conversational operator with instructions, knowledge files, and tools. → |
| Agent draft | The one mutable copy of an agent; what Test conversations run. → |
| Published agent version | An immutable snapshot created by publishing; Live conversations run the latest one. There is no rollback. → |
| Test / Live conversation | The agent rail: Test runs the draft (and workflow dev heads); Live runs the latest published version (and live releases). “Test” is agent vocabulary only. → |
| Integration action | One ready operation from a connected app, attached directly to an agent. → |
| Workflow tool | A flow exposed to an agent with a typed input contract. Always follows the workflow’s latest live release. → |
| Approval request | The pause a requiresConfirmation tool creates; resolved in the conversation or Slack, expires on session end or publish. → |
| Knowledge file | An agent’s reference document (the app’s Reference tab); frozen into each published version. → |
| Runtime file | An agent file on the Runtime tab; rail-scoped (dev/live), writable by workflows, never versioned by publish. → |
| Conversation file | A file scoped to one conversation; promotable to the agent level. → |
| Workflow | The top-level automation container: flows, triggers, data types, data store, versions. → |
| Flow | A function-like unit inside a workflow: typed inputs → node graph → optional typed outputs. → |
| Development version | The editable state of a workflow; what dev runs and Test conversations use. Never called “draft”. → |
| Live release | A numbered immutable state created by publishing a workflow; what triggers, the API (default), and Live conversations run. → |
| Dev run | A run against the development version. Real side effects, real metering — only the data/file rail is isolated. Never “test run”. → |
| Node | One executable step in a flow. → |
| Component | A concrete integration operation (action) or event source, addressed by nodeSlug + key, from the ~14k catalog. → |
| Edge | A dependency: the downstream node waits for the upstream node’s result. One incoming edge per input handle. → |
| Only when | A node’s optional skip condition. False → skipped, outputs null, edges still followed. → |
| If/Else | Exclusive branching: ordered conditions, first match wins, mandatory Else. → |
| Router | Fan-out branching: every route whose condition is true runs. → |
| Join Paths | The convergence node — runs when any incoming branch arrives; everything else gets blocked by untaken branches. → |
| Trigger | An event source mapped into one flow: webhook, schedule, email, or catalog app event. → |
| Sample event | A captured real event adopted as a trigger’s output schema. → |
| Dual dispatch | The hazard where an enabled, published trigger with test events still armed runs one real event on both rails. → |
| Expression | A typed value computation in the restricted JS syntax, compiled to the engine’s AST. → |
| Data type / custom type | A schema (custom.<key>) describing a shape; the key is machine-derived once and stable. → |
| Data record | A stored row of a custom type (dataRecord.custom.<key>) with identity (id, timestamps). Only real records satisfy dataRecord.* inputs. → |
| Data store | Per-workflow record storage; one collection per type per rail — dev and live stores are separate. → |
| Output type / contract | A node’s typed output: static (built-in), observed (from a run), or declared (unverified until a run confirms). → |
| Resolved config | A node execution’s props after expression evaluation — the debugging ground truth. → |
| Skip reason | Why a node didn’t run: its own condition, an upstream skip, blocked branches, or no active path. → |
| Version state | One saved state of the development version; cai workflow restore returns to any of them. → |
| Connection | A saved credential for one app, owned by you, reused across nodes and actions. → |
| Live binding | A change that alters live behavior without a publish: workflow releases, connection rebinds, action detachment. → |
| Organization sharing | Making a published agent usable (not editable) by the organization, on the owner’s connections and the org usage pool. → |
| Usage cents | The metering unit: 100 = $1, drawn from the organization’s shared pool. → |
cai | The CLI (@controllerai/cli) coding agents use to operate all of the above. → |
| Managed skills | The 11 versioned, digest-verified instruction packages cai connect installs into a coding agent. → |