Glossary and abbreviations
Defines the technical names and the abbreviations that this manual uses.
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Terms
One word, one meaning. The last column lists words this manual does not use. A word on the list is avoided only in the sense of its row.
| Term | Definition | Do not use |
|---|---|---|
| account | The sign-in identity of one developer. It holds a handle. | None. |
| credential | The proof that a request uses: a login, a token, a key, or a git credential. It is not a secret. | None. |
| environment | A set of services with one shared disk that desks connect to. | stack. |
| git credential helper | The program that git runs to get a short-lived, read-only credential from Kode for a clone or a fetch. | checkout. |
| idle | The state of a desk, or of a workspace in no desk, that has had no use for its idle time. | sleeping, inactive. An idle item is stopped, not deleted. |
| intercept | The routing of the traffic of one environment service to a workspace. | redirect, proxy rule. |
| job | One unit of a run that runs its steps in one capsule. | task, stage. |
| kl | The command-line tool that runs inside a workspace. | workspace CLI. |
| kode | The command-line tool that runs on your laptop. | desktop CLI. |
| lineage | The chain of the snapshots of one volume. Each snapshot names the snapshot that came before it. | history, timeline. |
| managed workspace | A workspace created in a desk and controlled only through it. It is deleted when the desk is deleted. | attached workspace, member workspace. |
| member | A person in a team, or a workspace or capsule connected to a desk. | user, participant. |
| owner | A person handle or a team slug; every object belongs to one owner. | account, tenant. |
| phase | The lifecycle field of a capsule. | None. |
| pipeline | A named, versioned definition of jobs for an owner. Each start makes a run, for scheduled, data, event-driven, or build work. | workflow. |
| pipeline version | One saved definition of a pipeline. It never changes, and a run records the one it used. | revision, release. |
| quota | The set of ceilings for one owner on workspaces, environments, snapshots, disk, cpu, memory, and capsules. | limit, allowance. A limit is a fixed value of the platform. |
| region | A place where the platform runs the workspaces and environments of a team. | zone, datacenter. |
| request | A question that an administrator decides: quota, access, region, or other. | ticket, ask. |
| run | One execution of a pipeline. | build, execution. |
| capsule | A short-lived machine that runs one command and ends when the command exits. | container, VM. |
| secret | A named value that the platform keeps for an owner and gives to a workspace, a service, or a job by reference. | credential, password store. |
| service | One program of an environment, named by its DNS label. | container, app. |
| desk | One piece of work: the agent's conversation, the workspaces and capsules it uses, and the environment they reach. Private to its creator; teammates use their own desks on the same environment. | connection, attachment, bench. |
| signing key | An SSH or GPG key that proves you wrote a commit; it never opens a connection. | commit key. |
| snapshot | A read-only point-in-time copy of the disk of a workspace or environment, with its definition. One link in the lineage of a volume. | backup, checkpoint, image. |
| SSH key | A key that you register for git over SSH. | login key. |
| standalone workspace | A workspace created outside a desk, which you control directly. It reaches no environment. | detached workspace. |
| state | The stored lifecycle field of a workspace, environment, desk, or run. | None. |
| status | A summary that a command prints, or an HTTP status code. The lifecycle field of a resource is state; a region keeps its literal field status. | None. |
| step | One shell command inside a job. | command block. |
| team | An owner that several people share, with one region and its own quota. | organization, group. |
| team owner | The role in a team above admin. It is not the owner of a resource. | None. |
| time to live | The unused time after which the platform deletes an environment, desk, or workspace; the field is ttl_secs. | expiry, lifetime. Expiry is the end of a snapshot. |
| token | A credential for the API, git, or the registry, scoped to one owner. | API key, password. |
| tool server | The HTTP API that every workspace serves on port 7788 for files, commands, and processes. | agent API, IDE server. |
| trigger | A rule in a pipeline definition that starts a run: a schedule, a webhook call, or the end of another pipeline. | hook, event rule. |
| user | A developer, or an AI agent that works for one. | customer, end user. |
| variable | A named value in the env of a workspace, a service, or a job; its value is a literal or a secret reference. | environment variable (the word environment names another object). |
| volume | The saved storage of a workspace or environment, with the lineage of its snapshots. | drive, storage. |
| webhook URL | The secret address of a pipeline. A POST to it starts a run, with its JSON body as webhook.body. | trigger URL, hook. |
| workspace | A development machine that you start, stop, and connect to, with your packages and SSH access. | dev box, container, VM. |
Lifecycle verbs
Each verb has one meaning for every resource.
| Verb | Meaning |
|---|---|
| start | Run a stopped workspace, environment, or desk again. A pipeline also starts a run. |
| stop | Stop the compute of a resource. The disk and the data stay. |
| end | Finish by itself or by request: a capsule ends when its command exits, a run ends in a final state. |
| terminate | Ask a running capsule to end. The record of the capsule stays. |
| delete | Remove a resource with its data or record. Deleting a desk also deletes its managed workspaces. |
| remove | Take one item out of a set: a member from a team, a package, a service, an intercept, or a key. |
| revoke | Make a token or a login stop working at once. |
Callouts
| Label | Use |
|---|---|
| NOTE | Information that helps but is not required. |
| CAUTION | An action interrupts work or is hard to reverse. |
| WARNING | An action can lose data or expose a credential. |
Abbreviations
| Abbreviation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| API | Application programming interface; the /v1 routes of the platform |
| CLI | Command-line interface; kode and kd |
| DNS | Domain name system; a service is reached by its DNS label |
| GPG | GNU Privacy Guard; a type of signing key |
| HTTP | Hypertext transfer protocol |
| JSON | JavaScript object notation; the format of API bodies and pipeline definitions |
| JWT | JSON web token; the format of a desk, a CLI login, and the tool tokens |
| SDK | Software development kit; the clients for Python, TypeScript, Go, Ruby, and Java |
| SSH | Secure shell; the protocol for git over SSH and for connections to workspaces |
| TTL | Time to live; the field ttl_secs |
| IDE | Integrated development environment; an editor with a terminal and tools |
| MCP | Model Context Protocol; the protocol through which an AI agent calls tools |
| nixpkgs | The Nix package collection; the source of the packages of a workspace |
| OAuth | Open authorization; a sign-in flow that gives a token without a password |
| OCI | Open Container Initiative; the standard format of container images and registries |
| vCPU | Virtual central processing unit; one unit of cpu quota |
| WSL | Windows Subsystem for Linux; a Linux environment on Windows |