AI, in plain English
AI terms, explained like we're across the table.
Plain-English definitions of the AI and agent terms you keep hearing, written for business owners, not engineers.
145 terms
AI Fundamentals
AI Fundamentals Artificial Intelligence Software that can handle work that used to require a person, from reading and writing to judgment calls. AI Fundamentals Evals and Testing Repeatable checks that tell you whether a model, prompt, workflow, or code change got better. AI Fundamentals Fine-Tuning Fine-tuning trains an existing model on examples so a pattern becomes part of how that model behaves. AI Fundamentals Hallucination When AI gives a plausible answer that is not actually true. AI Fundamentals Inference The moment a model uses what it learned and what you gave it to produce an answer. AI Fundamentals Input and Output Tokens Input tokens are what the model reads, and output tokens are what it writes back. AI Fundamentals Large Language Model An AI system trained to read and write language by predicting what should come next. AI Fundamentals Model The trained engine that turns input into an answer, recommendation, or action plan. AI Fundamentals Model Tier A rough level of model capability, speed, and cost, used to match the model to the job. AI Fundamentals Prompt The instruction or request you give an AI so it knows what work to do. AI Fundamentals Reasoning The extra work a model does to break a problem into steps before it answers or acts. AI Fundamentals Streaming When an AI response appears piece by piece instead of waiting for the whole answer to finish. AI Fundamentals Temperature A setting that changes how predictable or varied a model's answers are. AI Fundamentals Token A small chunk of text that an AI model reads, writes, counts, and often bills against.
How Benali Works
How Benali Works Capture Getting a thought, task, or commitment out of your head and into a trusted place. How Benali Works Core Activity The smallest named piece of work that is still useful to map, teach, and improve. How Benali Works Delegation Routing Deciding who or what should own a piece of work before the work starts moving. How Benali Works Function A stable area of work the company must handle, no matter who owns it today. How Benali Works GTD A work method for getting commitments out of your head and into a trusted system you review. How Benali Works Handoff The point where work moves from one person, role, function, or outside party to another. How Benali Works Inbox A temporary holding place for unprocessed captures before you decide how to act on them. How Benali Works Make Work Visible Turning what's in people's heads into maps, notes, workflows, and decisions AI can use. How Benali Works Next Action The next visible thing someone can do to move a commitment forward. How Benali Works Operator The person responsible for judgment, direction, approval, and ownership while AI helps with execution. How Benali Works OpsMap Benali's visual map of how work actually moves through a company before AI gets connected to it. How Benali Works Ownership Clear responsibility for deciding, moving, and finishing a piece of work. How Benali Works Phase A bounded stage of work that keeps scope, context, and handoffs manageable. How Benali Works Practice A repeated way of working that is important enough to name, teach, and reinforce. How Benali Works Process A sequence of actions that produces a specific outcome. How Benali Works Rule A written constraint that carries a decision forward so future work does not drift. How Benali Works Signal A defined observation the system watches for and surfaces when it matters. How Benali Works Someday Maybe Where you keep ideas that are worth saving but are not current commitments. How Benali Works SOP A written procedure that tells someone how repeatable work should be done the expected way. How Benali Works Source The raw material a system processes, such as a transcript, bookmark, email, or document. How Benali Works Subfunction A narrower slice of a business function that can often map to a focused owner or agent. How Benali Works System The approach you use to get an outcome, made up of people, tools, rules, and processes. How Benali Works Waiting On A tracked commitment that cannot move until someone else responds, approves, or delivers something. How Benali Works Work Architecture The deliberate design of how work moves through a company. How Benali Works WorkDesk The place where your AI tools, files, rules, sources, and workflows live. How Benali Works Workflow The ordered path work follows from input to useful output.
Prompting & Context
Prompting & Context Compaction The summary step that lets a long AI session keep going after context gets crowded. Prompting & Context Context The information the AI can see right now while it works. Prompting & Context Context Window The limit on how much information the AI can keep in view in one session. Prompting & Context Interview Prompting When AI asks you questions to fill in missing context before it starts work. Prompting & Context Project Instructions Personalized rules you give an AI about how to behave inside a project. Prompting & Context Project Knowledge The reference material attached to a project so the AI starts with useful context. Prompting & Context Project Memory Saved context an AI tool can bring into later conversations in the same project. Prompting & Context Prompt Caching Reusing repeated context so an AI doesn't reprocess the same material every time. Prompting & Context Prompt Framework A repeatable shape for giving AI the context it needs for all questions and tasks. Prompting & Context Session One continuous working conversation with an AI tool. Prompting & Context System Prompt Higher-level instruction that shapes how an AI should behave before the user asks anything.
Agentic AI
Agentic AI Agent AI with a job, tools, and enough room to make decisions while it works. Agentic AI Agent Loop The repeat cycle where an agent decides, uses a tool, reads the result, and chooses the next step. Agentic AI Agentic AI AI doing work inside tools, not just talking about work. Agentic AI Automation A repeatable path that runs once the rules are set. Agentic AI Autonomy Ladder How you give an agent more freedom only after it earns trust. Agentic AI Computer Use AI operating a screen by clicking, typing, reading, and navigating like a person. Agentic AI Function Calling A structured way for a model to ask software to run a specific action with specific inputs. Agentic AI Human in the Loop A person reviews, approves, or supplies judgment before the work continues. Agentic AI Multi-Agent System A multi-agent system uses multiple agents to handle different parts of a larger job and report back. Agentic AI Orchestration How work gets routed across agents, tools, phases, and review points so the whole job gets done. Agentic AI Orchestrator An orchestrator breaks work apart, assigns pieces to people or agents, and integrates the results. Agentic AI Subagent A focused agent used by a main agent or human to handle one part of a larger job. Agentic AI Tool Something outside the model that an agent can use to read, write, search, calculate, or act. Agentic AI Tool Call One specific moment when an AI asks a tool to do something and then reads the result.
Working With Agents
Working With Agents Claude Code A command-line agent harness that can read files, run tools, edit code, and do work on your machine. Working With Agents CLI and Terminal Text-based controls that let you or an agent run exact commands on a computer. Working With Agents Codex OpenAI's coding agent for inspecting, editing, testing, and reviewing work in a shared workspace. Working With Agents Connector A connector lets an AI tool read from or act inside another app with approved access. Working With Agents Cross-Model Review When one model checks another model's work before a human makes the final call. Working With Agents Harness The product shell around a model that gives it tools, files, permissions, and a way to work. Working With Agents Hook A rule that runs automatically when a specific event happens. Working With Agents MCP (Model Context Protocol) A shared protocol that lets AI tools connect to outside tools and data sources in a standard way. Working With Agents Plugin A packaged add-on that gives an agent a bundle of skills, connectors, or tool abilities. Working With Agents Skill A saved instruction file that teaches an agent how to run a repeatable workflow. Working With Agents Slash Command A short typed shortcut that expands into a saved prompt, skill, or workflow. Working With Agents Tooling The practical setup of tools, scripts, CLIs, and conventions that makes agent work reliable.
APIs & Integrations
APIs & Integrations API The official counter where one piece of software asks another system to do something. APIs & Integrations API Key The secret credential software uses to prove it is allowed to use an API. APIs & Integrations CORS A browser safety rule that controls when frontend code can read responses from another website's API. APIs & Integrations Endpoint One specific API address that handles one specific kind of request. APIs & Integrations Environment Variable A configuration value kept outside the main code so each runtime can supply the right setting. APIs & Integrations HTTP Method The verb in a web request, telling a server whether you want to read, create, update, or delete. APIs & Integrations Integration A working connection between tools so data or actions can move between them. APIs & Integrations Rate Limit A cap on how often you can ask a system for something in a given window of time. APIs & Integrations REST API A common way software asks another system for data or action through predictable web requests. APIs & Integrations SDK A packaged toolkit that makes an API easier to use from code. APIs & Integrations Webhook An automatic message one system sends to another system when something happens.
Data & Knowledge
Data & Knowledge Data Information a system can read, store, compare, or use to make a decision. Data & Knowledge Database A structured place where software can store information and find it again reliably. Data & Knowledge Embedding A numerical representation of meaning that lets software compare ideas by similarity. Data & Knowledge JSON A plain-text format software uses to pass structured data in a predictable shape. Data & Knowledge Knowledge Base A connected body of reference material that people or AI can search and reuse. Data & Knowledge Log A timestamped record of what happened so you can inspect it later. Data & Knowledge Markdown Plain text with simple marks for headings, links, lists, and emphasis. Data & Knowledge RAG A pattern where AI looks up relevant material before answering instead of relying only on memory. Data & Knowledge Schema The agreed shape that says what fields data should have and what belongs in each field. Data & Knowledge Second Brain A trusted place outside your head for thoughts, sources, projects, reminders, and reusable context. Data & Knowledge Structured Data Information arranged in a predictable shape so people, software, and AI can reuse it reliably. Data & Knowledge Trace A trace follows one request step by step so you can see where it slowed, failed, or changed. Data & Knowledge Transcript Processing Transcript processing turns raw meeting text into usable notes, actions, signals, and project context. Data & Knowledge Vault A folder of notes and files that acts as a working knowledge base. Data & Knowledge Vector Database A vector database stores meaning representations so software can search by similarity instead of exact words. Data & Knowledge Wikilink A note link that connects one idea or record to another inside the same vault. Data & Knowledge YAML and Frontmatter Structured metadata at the top of a note or file that tells software what the file is about.
Code & Repos
Code & Repos Branch A separate line of work where changes can happen before they touch the main version. Code & Repos Codebase The full set of files that make up a software project. Code & Repos Commit A named snapshot of changes in a repository's history. Code & Repos Dependency Outside code your project relies on so you do not have to build that piece yourself. Code & Repos Git A version-control system that tracks changes to files so work can be reviewed, merged, or restored later. Code & Repos GitHub A hosted place for repositories where people and agents can share, review, and manage code. Code & Repos Merge Conflict A merge conflict happens when two changes touch the same part of a file and Git needs a person to choose the final version. Code & Repos Patch A focused change to a codebase, usually to fix a bug or adjust behavior. Code & Repos Pull Request A proposed change that waits for review before it becomes part of the main work. Code & Repos README The front-door note that tells a reader what a repository is and how to work with it. Code & Repos Repository The versioned project folder where code, instructions, history, and agent work live together.
Web & Infrastructure
Web & Infrastructure Cache A saved copy kept nearby so a system does not redo the same slow or expensive work every time. Web & Infrastructure CDN A network that serves website files from locations closer to visitors so pages load faster. Web & Infrastructure CI/CD The automated path that checks, builds, and can ship code after a change is made. Web & Infrastructure Cloud Rented computing and storage running on someone else's infrastructure. Web & Infrastructure Container A portable package that carries an app and the pieces it needs to run the same way somewhere else. Web & Infrastructure Cron and Scheduling Cron and scheduling run a task automatically at a chosen time or repeated interval. Web & Infrastructure Deployment Putting software somewhere real users or teammates can actually reach it. Web & Infrastructure DNS The internet lookup system that points a domain name to the server that should answer for it. Web & Infrastructure Frontend and Backend The frontend is what people see and use, and the backend is the hidden system that does the work. Web & Infrastructure Headless Headless software does the work without showing you the normal screen. Web & Infrastructure Latency The delay between asking a system for something and seeing the result come back. Web & Infrastructure Localhost A private version of a site or app running on your own machine. Web & Infrastructure Queue A line where jobs wait their turn so a system can process work without dropping it. Web & Infrastructure Rollback A rollback returns a live system to the last known-good version after a bad change. Web & Infrastructure Runtime The environment that actually runs a program after the code has been written. Web & Infrastructure Server A computer that stays available to run software or respond when other computers ask for something. Web & Infrastructure Serverless Running code only when needed without managing the server yourself. Web & Infrastructure Staging and Production Staging is the rehearsal environment for testing changes, and production is the live environment people actually use.
Security & Safety
Security & Safety Authentication The process of proving who or what is trying to use an account, system, or API. Security & Safety Dangerous Permission Skip Dangerous permission skip tells an agent to stop asking before most actions, which makes it fast and risky. Security & Safety Encryption Encryption scrambles information so only someone with the right key can turn it back into readable data. Security & Safety Guardrails Rules, checks, and limits that keep an agent or system from doing the wrong thing. Security & Safety OAuth and Agent Identity OAuth lets an agent act with limited account access without giving it your main password. Security & Safety Permission Scope The exact slice of access an agent gets, not a blank check to touch everything. Security & Safety Permissions The access a person, system, or agent has to read, change, delete, or send something. Security & Safety Prompt Injection When text inside a file, page, or tool result tries to trick an AI into ignoring its real instructions. Security & Safety Sandbox A contained place where an agent or program can work without touching the real system directly. Security & Safety Secret A sensitive value, like a password or API key, that gives access and must be kept out of normal files and chats. Security & Safety Supply Chain Risk The danger that outside code, plugins, packages, or skills bring unsafe behavior into your system.
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