Tool
gh issue create is a tool because it does a concrete action.
Page role
Use this page for fast definitions, not full lessons.
The glossary is the shortest layer in the site: one term, one meaning, enough context to keep the stack readable.
If you want the metaphor, the lab link, the real-world tools, or the lifecycle status for a category, jump to the catalog instead.
- Beads
- A distributed graph issue tracker for AI agents, exposed through the
bdCLI and designed as durable task memory. - Agent
- A model-driven loop that observes, reasons, chooses actions, uses tools, and evaluates progress toward a goal. See agents and agent systems.
- Agent framework
- A developer toolkit for building agent loops, workflows, memory, tools, routing, and multi-agent systems.
- Agent runtime
- The software loop and state machine around the model: planning, memory, tool routing, retries, and termination. See agents and agent systems.
- AI host
- The application that owns the user experience and coordinates models, context, tools, approvals, and results.
- API
- A programmatic interface exposed by software. Agents often call APIs directly or through wrappers and protocols.
- API key
- A credential used to authenticate programmatic access to a hosted API. Treat it like a secret. See API key security.
- CLI tool
- A command-line program. Agents like CLIs because they are composable and can often be run in a controlled workspace.
- CLI AI wrapper
- A terminal-facing AI application that wraps models, tools, context, approvals, and sometimes MCP or skills into one workflow.
- Commercial hosted offering
- A paid product where important parts run as a provider-operated service. Client code, SDKs, or docs may be public while the model or service remains proprietary.
- Context
- Information provided to the model for the current task: user prompt, files, tool results, memory, docs, or retrieved data.
- Context window
- The amount of input and output a model can consider in one request. Larger windows help with long tasks but do not remove the need for retrieval, memory, or good prompts.
- Direct model provider
- A company or service that exposes its own hosted models through APIs, SDKs, and product surfaces.
- Embedding model
- A model that turns text or other inputs into vectors for search, retrieval, clustering, or similarity workflows.
- Evaluation
- A repeatable check that asks whether an AI tool or agent behaved as expected for a known input.
- FOSS
- Free and open-source software: software with a license that allows users to inspect, run, modify, and redistribute the code under defined terms.
- Function calling
- A model-provider feature where the model emits structured calls to application-defined functions.
- Governance
- Controls that keep AI systems safe and accountable: permissions, approvals, audit logs, evals, policy, and monitoring. See governance on the stack.
- Gas Town
- A multi-agent workspace manager for coding agents, using concepts like Mayor, rigs, polecats, hooks, convoys, and Beads-backed work state.
- Hook
- A callback triggered at a lifecycle point, commonly used for policy, context injection, automation, formatting, or logging. See hooks.
- Hermes Agent
- A Nous Research persistent agent project with a CLI, messaging gateway, memory, skills, scheduling, subagents, and tool execution according to its public README.
- JSON interface
- A stable input/output shape using JSON so tools are easier for agents to call, validate, log, and replay.
- Lab
- A small hands-on exercise that builds a toy version of one AI tooling concept.
- LangChain
- A framework for building applications around model calls, prompts, tools, retrieval, and agent loops. It usually belongs in the framework/runtime part of the stack rather than at raw model access.
- LangGraph
- A graph-oriented orchestration layer in the LangChain ecosystem for stateful agent workflows and longer-running coordination.
- LSP
- Language Server Protocol: a standard way for editors and tools to get code intelligence such as definitions and diagnostics.
- MCP
- Model Context Protocol: a client-server protocol for exposing tools, resources, and prompts to AI applications. See protocols and adapters.
- MCP client
- The host-side component that maintains a connection to a specific MCP server.
- MCP server
- A program that provides tools, resources, or prompts to an AI host using the MCP protocol.
- Memory
- Stored information from prior interactions or project history that can be retrieved for future tasks.
- Model access
- The path used to call a model: subscription product, direct API, managed platform, aggregate provider, local endpoint, or local model runtime. See model access.
- Model platform
- A managed cloud surface that blends model access with deployment, enterprise identity, governance, evaluation, or model-catalog features. It is not just a provider API and not just a router. See managed model platforms.
- Model artifact
- The downloadable model file or checkpoint, such as weights or a quantized file. It is not the same thing as the runtime that serves it.
- Model card
- Documentation for a model, usually describing intended use, training notes, limitations, license, benchmarks, and safety considerations.
- Model weights
- The learned parameters of a model. Access to weights affects whether a model can be run locally, inspected, modified, or redistributed under its license.
- Inference endpoint
- An API address where a client sends model inputs and receives outputs. It can be hosted by a provider or exposed by local hosting software.
- Inference runtime
- Software that loads a model and performs inference, often exposing a CLI, server, or local API.
- Local endpoint
- An inference endpoint running on your own machine or local network, commonly used by local model hosts and development tools.
- Local hosting software
- A desktop app, CLI, or server that runs model artifacts locally and often exposes a local API for other tools to call. See local hosting and model artifacts.
- Open-source local tool
- A tool whose important runtime code can be inspected and run locally. It may still call hosted model APIs unless paired with local models.
- OpenClaw
- A local-first personal AI assistant project with a Gateway, many channels, skills, toolsets, routing, and sandbox options according to its public README. See the persistent-platform stretch goal.
- Orchestration
- Coordination of multi-step, multi-agent, scheduled, or long-running workflows.
- Persistent agent
- A long-running agent system with memory, scheduling, tool access, and interfaces beyond a single chat session.
- Prompt
- A reusable instruction or template. In MCP, prompts are user-controlled server-provided templates.
- Provider API
- A hosted model API exposed by a direct provider or aggregator for programmatic use by applications, tools, and agents.
- Deployment plane
- The part of a managed platform that lets users deploy, version, govern, and operate model endpoints rather than only calling a shared public API.
- Quantization
- A compression technique that represents model weights with fewer bits, usually reducing memory needs while changing speed, quality, or compatibility tradeoffs.
- Protocol adapter
- A wrapper that exposes an existing capability through a protocol-shaped interface, such as turning a CLI into a tool a host can discover and call.
- Resource
- Contextual data exposed to the model or host, such as a file, database schema, log, or API response.
- Sandbox
- A constrained execution environment where an agent can run commands with controlled access and reduced risk.
- Skill
- A packaged unit of procedural knowledge that tells an agent how and when to perform a kind of task. See skills.
- Source-available
- Software where source code is visible but the license is not the same as an open-source license. Read the license before assuming fork, hosting, or commercial rights.
- Subscription
- A paid product access model, usually tied to a human-facing app or assistant surface. It is not automatically the same thing as API access.
- Tool
- An executable capability the agent can invoke, from a simple shell command to a typed remote API.
- Wrapper
- A layer that adapts one interface into another, such as wrapping a CLI as an MCP server or adding an AI loop around shell commands. See wrappers.
Tiny examples
Terms in context
Protocol
MCP is a protocol because it gives hosts and servers a shared way to describe and call capabilities.
Skill
A code-review skill is not the review itself. It is the reusable procedure for doing one well.