# The technical words, in plain English

> The technical words on this site, each in one line of plain English: canary, rollback, pod, Kubernetes, MCP, tenant, idempotency and the rest.

Every technical term the site uses, in one line. On each page, the first time a term appears, it comes with its definition and a link to this page.

- **Markdown mirror**. The same page, generated from the same content. To cite it, link the canonical page.
- Canonical page: https://grailaos.com/glossary
- Statements verified as of October 27, 2026.
- [Built by Omniatix™](https://omniatix.com/) · Made in Argentina.

**How to read the labels**: [Runs today] · [Partial] · [Available on request] · [Coming soon] · [Vision]. [What each one means](https://grailaos.com/features#seals).

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## The terms, from A to Z

- **API**: An interface that lets another system use a service through requests and responses, without going through a screen.
- **Cache**: A fast store for data that also lives somewhere else or can be computed again.
- **Canary**: A new version that first reaches only part of the users, so it can be seen working before everyone gets it.
- **Commit**: A change saved in the history of the code, with a unique identifier that tells which version something comes from and lets you go back to it.
- **Compiler** [Runs today]: In GrailAOS, the piece that checks the whole solution before anything runs and, for each error, says what happened, where and how to fix it.
- **Container**: A program packaged with everything it needs to run the same way on any server.
- **Deployment**: A specific installation of a system, with its own configuration and data.
- **Embeddings**: Numbers that represent the meaning of a text, so it can be searched by closeness in meaning and not only by words.
- **Framework**: A set of libraries on which an application is programmed in code.
- **Gateway**: An intermediary that takes requests through a single interface and passes them on to different providers.
- **GitOps**: Operating by declaring in a repository what should run: a tool applies it, and going back means returning to an earlier version of the repository.
- **Helm**: A package manager for Kubernetes: it installs an application with its resources from a template, called a chart.
- **Hybrid search**: A search that combines matching words with closeness in meaning.
- **Idempotency**: Repeating an operation has the same effect as doing it once: a retry does not duplicate a payment or a message.
- **JSON**: A text format for structured data, which programs read without ambiguity.
- **k3s**: A lightweight distribution of Kubernetes, with the same standard interface.
- **Kubernetes**: The standard system for running containers across several servers: it spreads the work, restarts what fails and updates one copy at a time.
- **Language** [Runs today]: In GrailAOS, the way a solution is declared in text documents: its agents, workflows, tools, knowledge, tests and the rest of its pieces.
- **LLM**: A large language model, such as Claude, that reads and writes text. This site calls it “the model.”
- **llms.txt**: A file with the index of a site, meant to be read by models.
- **Markdown**: Plain text with simple marks for headings, lists and links, which reads well for both people and models.
- **MCP**: Model Context Protocol: an open protocol that lets a model use the tools and data that another server offers.
- **NDA**: A non-disclosure agreement: what is shown under NDA cannot be disclosed.
- **OAuth**: A standard that lets one application access another on someone's behalf without knowing their password.
- **OIDC**: OpenID Connect: a standard, built on OAuth, for signing in to an application with the identity that another provider gives.
- **OpenTelemetry**: An open standard for sending traces and metrics to whatever observability tools each company uses.
- **Outbox**: A queue stored in the database with what has to be sent: if a send fails, it is retried from there without being lost.
- **Pod**: The unit in which Kubernetes runs one copy of a service: adding pods means adding copies that serve at the same time.
- **Postgres**: A widely used relational database that stores data durably.
- **Probe**: The periodic check Kubernetes uses to know whether a service has started, whether it is ready to receive traffic and whether it is still alive.
- **Prometheus**: A standard system that collects a service's numeric metrics to chart them and raise alerts.
- **Prompt**: The written instruction given to a model.
- **Push notification**: A notification that reaches a phone or a computer even when the app is not open.
- **Readiness**: The check Kubernetes uses to know whether a pod is ready to receive traffic: if it is not, no requests are sent to it.
- **Redis**: A very fast in-memory store, used as a cache and to coordinate several copies of a service.
- **Rollback**: Going back to the previous version when the new one is not working well. As a verb, roll back.
- **Rolling update**: An update that replaces the copies of a service one at a time, so it keeps serving while it changes version.
- **Runtime**: The engine that runs a program that is already written. In GrailAOS, the one that operates the compiled solution.
- **SAML**: A standard, older than OIDC, for signing in to an application with a company's identity provider.
- **SDK**: A software development kit: libraries and tools for programming against a service.
- **SSO**: Single sign-on: signing in to several applications with the same company account, the one from the company's identity provider.
- **Streaming**: Showing a response as it is generated, instead of waiting until it is complete.
- **Tenant and multi-tenant**: A tenant is an account, for example a business, with its data kept apart; multi-tenant means that several of them share the same installation without seeing each other's data.
- **Token**: The unit in which a model reads and writes text, and in which providers charge: a few letters per token.
- **Trace**: The record of what happened in a turn: what was done, which tools were called, how long it took and how much it cost.
- **Webhook**: A notice that one system sends to another over the web when something happens, for example when a message arrives.
- **White-label**: A product offered under the brand of whoever uses it, not the brand of whoever makes it.