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Glossary
The terms used across the whole site. Documentation, the website, the product interface, and command-line help all follow this list.
Products and roles
| Term |
Meaning |
| NocoBase Core |
The open-source foundation for building and running business systems, a set of npm packages |
| NocoBase Studio |
The workspace where people lead an agent team to build apps, available in the commercial editions |
| NocoBase Solution |
A line of open-source business apps built on NocoBase, such as NocoCRM and NocoITAM. Individual apps are called Solution apps |
| Agent |
The general term for an AI worker: a coding tool plus a model, for example "Claude · Opus 5.5". Written in lowercase in running text |
| Coding tool |
Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Cursor, and so on |
| Business agent |
An agent that handles business work inside an app, within its permissions. Connected by the Agents plugin. Called "AI employee" in NocoBase 2 |
| Development agent |
An agent that writes the app's code. Used only where it needs to be contrasted with a business agent. Everywhere else, just say agent |
Core
| Term |
Meaning |
| App |
A code repository created from a NocoBase template. Once deployed, it is a business system. You own it |
| Template |
The starting point for creating an app: the default template and the examples template |
| Plugin |
An @nocobase/app-plugin-* package registered in the app. It brings server-side capabilities, pages, UI components, skills, or commands |
| Plugin lists |
The three files in the app where plugins are registered: server/plugins.ts, client/plugins.ts, and cli/plugins.ts |
| Foundation library |
A package the app uses directly without registering it, such as record lifecycle or the database |
| UI library |
The business components NocoBase publishes. Installing one copies it into the app's source, and it belongs to the app from then on. A single item is called a component or a block |
| Skill |
Instructions (SKILL.md) that teach an agent how to do something. Skills shipped with packages are synced to the app's .agents/skills/ |
| Capability |
A kind of functionality Core provides, grouped into the 13 categories of App foundation |
| System settings |
The admin entry point in the app: user management, roles and permissions, workflow management, app foundation, and so on |
| App foundation |
A page that ships with the default template. It shows which Core capabilities the app uses and which packages provide them |
| Record lifecycle |
A record's state is stored in its own field, and the transitions between states are declared in code. Every NocoBase 3 workflow is built on it |
| Workflow parameter |
A value administrators can adjust in Workflow management, such as approvers or amount thresholds |
| Permission set |
A bundle of page, action, and data scope grants, assigned to a role or a person. Shown as "role" in the interface |
| Data scope |
Which records an action can apply to, for example "orders the user is responsible for" |
| Migration |
A code file that changes the database structure. Migrations run in order, and a migration that has run is never edited |
config.yml |
The app's deployment configuration: database, storage, secrets, background jobs, and so on. It is not committed to the code repository |
Studio
| Term |
Meaning |
| Issue |
The basic unit of delivered work in Studio. Not "ticket" or "request form" |
| Issue owner |
The person responsible for an issue's outcome. Always a person |
| Coordinator agent |
The single system agent that splits work into steps, assigns them, asks questions, and hands over for acceptance. It does not write code. |
| Worker agent |
An agent on the agent team that carries out the steps the coordinator agent assigns |
| My agent |
Your own coding tool, such as Claude Code or Codex. Once connected to Studio, it talks requests through with you in My sessions |
| Agent team |
All the agents the team has enabled |
| Runtime |
A machine that runs nocobase-runner, either a shared runtime or a personal one |
| My issues, My sessions |
The two ways to follow work: by issue, and by session |
| Project memory |
What agents note down while working. It is stored in the code repository, and agents read and write it themselves |
| Knowledge base |
Material that people write and upload. Agents can only read it |
| Delivery report |
What the coordinator agent submits when an issue moves to In review |
| Backlog / In progress / Blocked / In review / Done / Cancelled |
The six fixed issue statuses. In review means delivered and waiting for the issue owner to accept |
For the full Studio vocabulary, see Studio's Core concepts.
Conventions
- Names, buttons, and menus in the interface are written in bold, exactly as they appear in the English interface. Paths are written as A › B.
- Names in code (package names, file names, commands) use code formatting, and appear only where needed.
