Glossary

A plain-English dictionary of the technical terms that show up in these docs and inside Appsanic. If you've never coded, this is for you. If you have, skip it.

Entries are alphabetical. Most have a real-world analogy because that's how human brains actually understand things.

Account Access

A per-service switch on a connector's dashboard page, off until you turn it on. With it on, the AI can do real work inside your account - create database tables in Supabase, products in Stripe, sending domains in Resend - through server-side tools that never expose your admin keys. Everything it does is recorded in the Activity feed. Think of it as giving a contractor a key to one room, with a camera in the room.

Activity feed

The running log at the bottom of a connector's dashboard page. Every action the AI takes with that connection: what it did, when, and whether it worked, with secrets stripped out. Your receipt trail.

API

A way for two pieces of software to talk to each other. Think of it like a waiter at a restaurant: your app says "I'd like the list of users, please," the waiter walks the order to the kitchen, and a few moments later the food arrives. You don't see the kitchen. You just know what to ask for and what to expect back.

When you read "we'll call the Stripe API," it means your app will send Stripe a request and Stripe will send something back.

APNs (Apple Push Notification service)

Apple's relay for sending push notifications to iPhones and iPads. When your app sends a push, it actually hands it to Expo, which hands it to APNs, which delivers it to the device. You rarely talk to APNs directly. It's the layer underneath.

App Store

Apple's marketplace for iPhone and iPad apps. Users find and install your app here. Apple reviews every app before it's allowed in.

The Google equivalent is the Play Store.

Authentication (auth)

The part of an app that figures out who you are. Sign-up, sign-in, log out, password reset, "sign in with Google." Anywhere your app needs to know which user is on the other end of a tap.

Backend

The part of the app users never see. The kitchen of the restaurant: where data is stored, where users sign in, where payments are processed. Runs on a computer somewhere on the internet.

Build

The process of turning your code into the actual app file that runs on a phone. Same idea as baking a cake from a recipe: the recipe (code) is one thing, the cake (the running app) is another.

Bundle ID (iOS) / Package name (Android)

A unique reverse-domain identifier for your app. com.yourname.yourapp. The App Store and Play Store both use it to recognise which app a new build belongs to. You pick it once and it sticks for the life of the app; the stores won't let you change it later.

Cache

A copy of something kept somewhere fast, so we don't have to fetch the original every time. The reason a website loads faster the second time you visit. Most apps have caches everywhere. For images, for screens, for data.

CDN (Content Delivery Network)

A network of computers spread around the world that hold copies of your app's static files (images, fonts, code) close to your users. Someone in Tokyo loads from a Tokyo server; someone in London loads from a London server. The result is everything feels fast everywhere.

Client

A device or app that talks to a server. Your iPhone running Appsanic is a client. The browser tab you have open is a client. The opposite of a server.

Component

A reusable piece of an app's interface. A button, a profile card, a search bar, a tab bar. Apps are built by stacking and combining components like LEGO bricks. Same component, used everywhere it's needed.

Connector

A managed link between your Appsanic account and an outside service. Hooking up Stripe so you can take payments is "connecting Stripe"; hooking up Mapbox for maps is "connecting Mapbox". You connect a service once, in the dashboard, and every project in your account can use it - like introducing two friends once instead of re-introducing them at every party. Appsanic has a catalogue of sixteen, and any keys you save are encrypted before they're stored.

Cookie

A small piece of information a website asks the browser to remember. The reason you stay signed in between visits, or the reason a site remembers your dark-mode preference. Apps on phones use a similar idea but call it different names.

CORS

A browser security rule: "code from website A can't quietly call website B unless website B has explicitly said it's OK." Comes up a lot when something works in one place but not another. The cause is almost always a CORS setting on the server side.

Database

A filing cabinet for everything your app needs to remember. User accounts, posts, messages, orders, prices. When your app needs to remember something between sessions or between users, it lives in the database.

Deploy

Pushing your app's code to a real server so other people can use it. The opposite of running it on your own laptop where only you can see it. "We deployed the new version" means the new version is live for everyone.

DNS

The phone book of the internet. Translates a name a human can type (appsanic.com) into the number a computer needs (192.0.2.1) to actually reach the right server.

EAS (Expo Application Services)

Expo's cloud build and submission pipeline. EAS compiles your app into the binary that Apple and Google accept, signs it with your developer credentials, and uploads it to the stores. Appsanic talks to EAS on your behalf. You don't need a Mac, a beefy laptop, or any local build tooling.

Endpoint

A single URL on a backend that does one thing. /api/sign-in is one endpoint. /api/products is another. A whole API is a list of endpoints. Each one is a single item on the menu.

Environment variable (env var)

A named value, like an API key or a service URL, stored outside the code rather than typed into it. Different values are used for development versus production, and the secret ones never land in the public version of your code. Apps read env vars when they start.

Expo

A toolkit that makes building mobile apps with React Native much easier. Handles the painful "how do I get this on my actual phone" parts. Appsanic uses Expo by default. The free Expo Go app on your phone is what shows you the live preview.

FCM (Firebase Cloud Messaging)

Google's relay for sending push notifications to Android devices. The Android counterpart to APNs. Same idea: Expo hands the push to FCM, FCM delivers it to the phone. You configure it once by uploading a google-services.json file the agent generates.

Framework

A toolkit that handles the boring, repetitive parts of building software so you can focus on what makes your app unique. React Native is the framework Appsanic uses for mobile apps. Without a framework, you'd be writing every screen, every animation, every button from scratch.

Frontend

The part users actually see and tap. Buttons, screens, animations, the colours, the layout. The dining room of the restaurant. On a mobile app, the frontend is what runs on the phone.

Git

A system for tracking every change to a codebase, by who, when, and why. Like Google Doc version history, but for code. Lets multiple people work on the same code without overwriting each other.

GitHub

A website that hosts git repositories. Where teams collaborate on code, review changes, and discuss issues. Appsanic can push your app's code to your own GitHub account in one click. Your code, your repo, no lock-in.

HTTPS

A secure way to send data over the internet. The padlock icon in the browser bar. Modern apps always use HTTPS so passwords, payment details, and personal data can't be intercepted.

JavaScript

The most common programming language for apps and websites. Inside Appsanic, your app's code is written in TypeScript, which is JavaScript with extra safety checks layered on top.

JSON

A simple text format for sending data between apps. Looks like { "name": "Alex", "age": 28 }. Almost every API speaks JSON. You'll see the word a lot but rarely have to look at any directly.

JWT (JSON Web Token)

A specific kind of token. The information inside is signed so the server can confirm it hasn't been tampered with. After you sign in, your app holds a JWT and sends it with every request to prove it's still you.

MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication)

When sign-in requires more than just a password. Usually a code from your phone or an authenticator app. Same idea as 2FA. Stronger security, especially for accounts that handle money or sensitive data.

Migration

A controlled change to the database's structure. "Add a phone_number column to users" is a migration. Tracking migrations means everyone's database can evolve in lockstep with the code.

NativeWind (not used by Appsanic)

The mobile cousin of Tailwind CSS - it lets you style React Native screens with short utility classes (bg-white, px-6, text-lg) like you would on the web. You may see it mentioned elsewhere, but Appsanic does not use it. The agent styles apps with StyleSheet.create plus a central theme.ts design-token file instead. See Editing Exported Code.

OAuth

How "Sign in with Google" (or GitHub, or Apple) works under the hood. Your password never leaves Google. Google just tells your app, "yes, this is the same person who has a Google account." Trusted, secure, no new password for users to remember.

Over-the-air update (OTA)

A way to push JavaScript and asset updates to an already-installed app over the air, without forcing users through the App Store again or waiting for store review. Useful for fixing bugs or tweaking copy quickly. The mechanism is Expo's built-in OTA system (EAS Update). OTA updates aren't available through Appsanic yet — it's on the roadmap. Today the path is to export your project to GitHub and, after a one-time expo-updates setup, run eas update yourself from the exported repo (and eas update:rollback to roll one back).

Postgres

The specific database engine that powers Supabase. One of the most trusted databases in the world. Where your app's data physically lives.

Push notification

A short message that pops up on a phone even when the app is closed. The "ping" you hear when WhatsApp gets a new message. A core way for apps to bring users back.

React Native

The framework Appsanic uses to build apps. Lets one codebase produce both an iPhone app and an Android app. No need to maintain two separate apps. The "Native" part means the result feels like a real, fast iOS / Android app, not a website pretending to be one.

Relay

A tiny piece of server code that sits between your app and a service whose key must stay secret (OpenAI, Twilio, and friends). The app talks to the relay; the relay holds the key and talks to the service. Like a concierge who keeps the master key - guests ask the concierge, they never get the key itself. Because the key is never bundled into the app, nobody can fish it out. With Supabase connected, the agent can deploy the relay for you as an Edge Function.

Repo (repository)

A folder containing all the code for an app, plus its full change history. Usually lives on GitHub. "The repo" almost always means the GitHub project for an app.

RLS (Row Level Security)

A database feature where each row of a table automatically filters by who's asking. User A can only see their own posts, even if a bug in the app would have tried to show them user B's. Supabase uses RLS heavily so security is enforced by the database itself, not just by the app.

SDK (Software Development Kit)

A "kit" of pre-built tools from a service. The Stripe SDK is the official toolkit Stripe gives you for talking to Stripe from your app. SDKs save you from reinventing the wheel.

Schema

The blueprint of a database. Which tables exist (users, posts, orders), what columns each one has, and what type of data each column holds (text, number, date). The schema is set up first, and the data fills it in over time.

Server

A computer connected to the internet that other devices send requests to. Backends run on servers. When a phone "calls home," it's calling a server.

Single Sign-On (SSO)

Sign in once with one trusted account. Usually your work account. And quietly gain access to many apps without re-authenticating each time. Common in larger companies.

Stack

The set of technologies an app is built with. Like the ingredients list. Apps from Appsanic use the React Native + Expo + Supabase stack by default.

State

What an app currently "knows." Whether the user is signed in, what's in their cart, whether the menu is open, which tab is active. State changes constantly as the user uses the app, and the screen redraws when it does.

Supabase

A backend service that gives an app a database, user sign-in, and file storage out of the box. Like having a backend you don't have to build. Appsanic uses Supabase by default for new apps.

TestFlight

Apple's beta-testing program. After your iOS build is uploaded to App Store Connect, you can invite real people to try it before you submit for full App Store review. Up to 100 internal testers without review, up to 10,000 external testers after a one-time beta review.

Token

A short string of letters and numbers that acts like a temporary key. After you sign in, your app receives a token and sends it along with every request to prove it's still you. Tokens expire so a stolen one can't be used forever. JWT is one specific kind of token.

TypeScript

JavaScript with an extra layer that catches typos and broken connections in your code before the app runs. Apps from Appsanic are written in TypeScript by default. The phrase "the agent wrote TypeScript" just means "the code is the safer kind of JavaScript."

URL

A web address. https://appsanic.com/docs/glossary is a URL. APIs use URLs to address each endpoint.

Webhook

A way for one service to ping another service the moment something happens. Like a doorbell. When a Stripe payment succeeds, Stripe pings your app's doorbell and your app reacts (sends a receipt, unlocks a feature, etc.).

Zustand

A small library that holds the "shared brain" of your app. Which user is logged in, what's in the cart, which tab is open, the list of comments on the current post. Components subscribe to the slices they care about and re-draw when those slices change. The agent uses Zustand for shared state by default, with one store file per feature (auth-store.ts, comments-store.ts, etc.).

If you ran into a term that's not on this list and want it added, mention it in the contact form and we'll add a definition.