Coding agent workspace glossary

Definitions

Agent

Software that takes a goal, uses tools and performs several steps toward a result. In this glossary, the agent writes or changes code.

Agent artifact

A useful result made by an agent, such as a page, report, walkthrough, app, dashboard or scheduled job.

Agent configuration

A file that tells an agent which tools or MCP servers are available and how to start or reach them.

Agent-agnostic

Designed to work with more than one agent rather than requiring a single vendor's model or interface.

Always-on workspace

A workspace whose compute remains ready instead of sleeping when idle. It matters for low-latency access and unattended work.

Artifact hub

A place that preserves, presents and shares agent output so people can return after the creating session ends.

Artifact registry

A catalog that gives artifacts identities, versions, provenance and retention rules. It may store metadata, files or both.

Authentication

The process of proving who a user or service is before granting access to a workspace or artifact.

Authorization

The rules that decide what an authenticated person or service may view, change, run or share.

Bring your own agent

A commercial and technical model where you supply an existing agent subscription or key instead of buying the workspace vendor's agent.

Build step

A transformation that compiles, bundles or generates deployable files from source. Direct artifact publishing may not require one.

Checkpoint

A named snapshot of a workspace state that records a meaningful revision and provides a point to return to.

Checkout

A local or isolated working copy associated with a workspace revision, used to change files without confusing another line of work.

CLI

Command-line interface. A text-based program that a person or agent invokes in a terminal to manage work.

Cloud development environment

A remotely hosted coding environment with a repository, tools and compute that developers or agents can resume.

Comment loop

A feedback cycle where a reader comments on an artifact and the agent reads that feedback to make a revision.

Compute

CPU, memory and runtime capacity used to execute code. Compute may stop while files and data remain persistent.

Container

A process-isolation format that packages an application and dependencies while sharing more of the host than a virtual machine.

Custom domain

A domain name controlled by the artifact owner and connected to the published result, often through a DNS record.

CNAME

A DNS record that points one hostname to another hostname. Services commonly use it to connect a custom domain.

Database

A service that stores structured application records outside a single process, allowing state to survive restarts and serve multiple users.

Deploy pipeline

An automated sequence that takes repository changes through building, testing and release into a target environment.

Durable URL

An address intended to keep resolving to the artifact after the creating process, terminal or laptop is gone.

Ephemeral

Expected to disappear after a task, timeout or session. Ephemeral compute can still work with persistent files or data.

Export

A supported way to retrieve artifact files or data so the owner can inspect, back up or move them elsewhere.

Free tier

A product allowance available without a paid subscription. Its compute, storage, sharing and persistence limits must be checked separately.

Hosted workspace

A workspace whose compute and services run on infrastructure managed by a provider rather than only on the user's machine.

Identity

The stable name or identifier that lets people and systems refer to the same workspace, artifact, user or revision over time.

Invite-only share

An access mode where only explicitly invited people can open the artifact, usually after authentication.

Localhost

A network name for the current machine. A localhost preview is not reachable by another person without an additional sharing or publishing layer.

MCP

Model Context Protocol. A standard way for an agent client to discover and call tools exposed by another program.

MCP server

A program that exposes named tools or resources to an MCP-capable agent and returns structured results.

microVM

A small virtual machine intended to start quickly while providing a stronger machine boundary than ordinary process isolation.

Persistence

The property of state surviving beyond one execution. Files, runtime, data, identity and schedules can each have different persistence.

Postgres

A relational database commonly used by web applications to retain structured records, relationships and transactions.

Preview

A temporary or draft rendering used to inspect work before deciding how it should be published or released.

Provenance

A record of where an artifact came from, including the input, agent, source revision or process that produced it.

Public share

An artifact link that anyone who obtains it can open without being invited individually.

Publish

To make an artifact reachable to its intended audience. Publishing can be direct from files and does not always imply a production release.

Release

A deliberate point at which a revision is treated as ready for its target audience or environment, often with stronger controls than a preview.

Repository

A version-controlled collection of source files and history. It preserves code but does not automatically serve the resulting artifact.

Restore

To return a workspace or checkout to a previously recorded checkpoint or known state.

Runtime

The environment and process that execute an application. A static artifact can be served without a continuously running app process.

Sandbox

An isolated execution environment used to run code for a bounded task or session, often with controlled filesystem and network access.

Scheduled job

Code configured to run at a recurring time or interval without a person starting it manually.

Self-hostable core

Core software that can run on infrastructure the user controls. The phrase does not by itself state an open-source license.

Share URL

The browser address given to readers for an artifact, subject to its public, password or invitation access mode.

Sleeping sandbox

A sandbox whose compute stops while idle and starts again when needed, reducing inactive resource use at the cost of wake latency.

Static artifact

A page or bundle served as files without a continuously running application server or changing server-side state.

Version

An identifiable state of an artifact or its files, allowing people to distinguish what changed and which result they reviewed.

Viewer seat

A pricing unit for someone who consumes shared work but may not create or administer it. Rights vary by product.

Workspace

The durable place where an artifact stays, with its files, URL and optional database, access rules and scheduled jobs.

Workspace state

The files, data, settings, identity and runtime information required to return to a useful body of work.

How to use these terms

Use the terms to draw a lifecycle before choosing a product. Start with the agent, which edits files and calls tools. Put risky execution in a sandbox. Decide which result is the artifact and which layers it requires. A static report may need only files and a durable URL. An internal app may add a runtime, Postgres, authentication and a scheduled job. Place the result in a workspace when those pieces must survive the agent session. Choose a public share, password protection or an invite-only share based on the audience. Record a checkpoint when a revision has meaning, and verify export before treating the system as durable. This vocabulary prevents a common category error: buying isolated compute when the unmet need is lasting publication, or buying a publishing surface when the real requirement is a controlled code-execution primitive.

Frequently asked questions