# Glossary

> The terms used across the Synap docs, in one place.

URL: https://docs.synap.live/docs/start/glossary · Last reviewed against the code: 2026-10-20

### Agent

An AI program that works on your pod through MCP or the Hub REST API, for example Claude Code, Codex or Cursor.
Each connected agent has its own identity and key on the pod.

### API key

A bearer token that lets an app, script or agent call your pod. It has scopes (which surfaces it may call) and a
grant (what it may touch). See [API keys](/docs/build/api-keys).

### Automation

A playbook bound to a trigger: an event, a schedule (cron), a webhook, or a manual start.

### Channel

A conversation room. A session has a channel where you and your agents work on the same goal.

### Control Plane

The Synap Cloud service at `api.synap.live` that creates and manages hosted pods, handles Synap accounts and
billing, and serves the marketplace catalog. A self-hosted pod can work without it.

### Entity

One record in your pod: a person, a task, a note. Every entity has exactly one kind and zero or more roles.

### Event

An append-only record of a change. The event log is the pod's audit trail.

### Facet

Another name for a role attached to an entity.

### Hub REST API

The pod's HTTP API under `/api/hub`, used by agents, scripts and integrations. Every pod publishes its OpenAPI
description at `/api/hub/openapi.json`. See [Hub REST API](/docs/reference/hub-api).

### Kind

What an entity is: `person`, `task`, `event`, `note`, `article`, `decision`, or a kind you define.

### MCP

Model Context Protocol, the standard AI clients use to call tools. Every pod serves an MCP endpoint at `/mcp`.
See [MCP](/docs/build/agents/mcp).

### Playbook

A session shape you can run again: a template for one kind of work, or a method a project runs as a track.

### Pod

Your Synap server: the API, PostgreSQL database, search, file storage and sign-in, run as a set of containers.
Self-hosted or on Synap Cloud.

### Pod admin console

The pod's web console for its owner and admins, served on its own host name next to the pod (for example
`pod-admin.example.com`).

### Project

Long-lived intent: something you are doing over weeks or months. Its progress is derived from the work it contains.

### Proposal

A change an agent asks to make. You review it and approve or reject it. Deletes, admin actions and changes of scope
are always proposals; an agent's own key can never approve one.

### Relay

The Synap mobile app (iOS and Android), where you approve proposals and capture things. See [Relay](/docs/use/relay).

### Role

A context an entity plays, such as `client` or `blocker`. A role is attached to the entity; it is not a second
entity. Also called a facet.

### Session

A bounded unit of work toward one goal, with a scope you accept before it runs. It can stand alone or be filed at a
track and stage.

### Skill

A folder of instructions (a `SKILL.md` and reference files) that teaches an agent how to use Synap. See
[Agent skills](/docs/build/agents/skills).

### Synap Cloud

Synap's hosted service: Synap runs your pod for you. See [Self-hosted pod or Synap Cloud](/docs/use/cloud-vs-self-hosted).

### Track

A reusable method running inside one project, such as "Content" or "Build". It keeps the definition it started
from.

### View

A projection over your records (a table, board, calendar, graph and so on). It never copies data.

### Workspace

A space inside your pod that groups records, views and members, such as a business workspace and a personal one.