AI app building glossary
The words you meet when you build an app with AI, explained in plain language for people who do not write code. Each term starts with a one-line answer, then goes a little deeper.
A
- AI agent
- An AI agent is an AI system that works toward a goal on its own: it plans steps, uses tools such as a browser, a terminal or a database, checks the results, and keeps going until the job is done.
- AI app builder
- An AI app builder is a tool that creates a working application from a description you type. It writes the code, sets up the data, shows a live preview and lets you publish the result.
- AI website builder
- An AI website builder is a tool that creates a website from a short description, writing the pages, text and layout for you, and lets you edit it by asking for changes.
- API
- An API (application programming interface) is a defined way for one piece of software to ask another for data or to do something, such as "get this customer's orders" or "charge this card".
- Authentication
- Authentication is how an app checks who someone is before letting them in, for example with a password, a code sent by email, or "Sign in with Google".
B
- Backend
- The backend is the behind-the-scenes part of an app that users never see: the server code that applies the rules, talks to the database, keeps secrets and connects to other services.
C
- Capacitor
- Capacitor is an open-source tool that packages a web app as an Android and iPhone app, so the same code can be installed from the app stores and use phone features such as the camera and notifications.
- Client portal
- A client portal is a private, logged-in area of a website where a business shares things with each of its clients, such as files, project updates, invoices and messages.
- Custom domain
- A custom domain is your own web address, such as yourbusiness.com, used for your site or app instead of the default address a platform gives you.
D
- Database
- A database is an organised store of information that an app can save to, search and update, such as customers, bookings, orders or messages.
- Deployment
- Deployment is the step of putting a version of your app live on a server so real users can reach it. Each time you change the app and publish again, you deploy a new version.
- DNS (Domain Name System)
- DNS (the Domain Name System) is the internet's address book. It turns a name people can remember, like example.com, into the numeric address of the server that should answer.
E
- Environment variables and secrets
- Environment variables are settings an app reads from where it runs rather than from its code, such as a database address. Secrets are the sensitive ones, like API keys and passwords, which must never be shown to users or committed to code.
F
- Frontend
- The frontend is the part of an app that people see and interact with: the pages, buttons, forms, text and layout, running in a web browser or on a phone.
- Full-stack
- Full-stack means every layer of an application together: the frontend people see and click, the backend that runs the logic, and the database that stores the information.
H
- Hosting
- Hosting means running your website or app on computers that are always connected to the internet, so anyone can open it at a web address.
I
- Internal tool
- An internal tool is software a company makes for its own team rather than for customers, such as an admin panel, an approval workflow, an inventory tracker or a support dashboard.
L
- LLM (large language model)
- An LLM (large language model) is an AI model trained on very large amounts of text so it can understand and write language, including code. Claude, GPT and Gemini are LLMs.
- Low-code
- Low-code is a way of building software mostly with visual tools and ready-made components, while letting developers add code for the parts the tools cannot do.
M
- MCP (Model Context Protocol)
- MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard that lets AI assistants such as Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor connect to outside tools and data, so they can look things up and take actions instead of only chatting.
- MVP (minimum viable product)
- An MVP (minimum viable product) is the smallest version of a product that real people can use, built to learn whether the idea solves a real problem before you invest more.
N
- Native app
- A native app is an app built specifically for one platform, such as iOS or Android, using that platform's own languages and interface components, and installed from its app store.
- No-code
- No-code is a way of building apps, websites and automations with visual tools, such as drag-and-drop editors and settings panels, instead of writing programming code.
P
- Postgres (PostgreSQL)
- Postgres, short for PostgreSQL, is a free, open-source relational database. It stores an app's data in tables, is queried with SQL, and is used by everything from side projects to very large companies.
- Prompt engineering
- Prompt engineering is the practice of writing instructions for an AI model so that it gives you reliable, useful results, by being clear about the goal, the context, the constraints and the format you want.
- Prompt-to-app
- Prompt-to-app is a way of building software where you describe the app you want in plain language and an AI tool turns that description into a working app, with screens, data and logic.
- PWA (progressive web app)
- A PWA (progressive web app) is a website built so it can be installed on a phone or computer and used like an app: it gets an icon, opens full screen, and can work partly offline.
R
- Row-level security
- Row-level security (RLS) is a database feature that decides, row by row, which records each user is allowed to read or change, so a customer only ever sees their own orders even if the app asks for more.
- RTL (right-to-left)
- RTL (right-to-left) describes languages written from right to left, such as Arabic, Hebrew, Persian and Urdu, and the way apps and websites mirror their layout to suit them.
S
- SaaS (software as a service)
- SaaS (software as a service) is software you use through the internet and usually pay for by subscription, instead of buying and installing it on your own computer.
- SSL (SSL/TLS certificates and HTTPS)
- SSL, now properly called TLS, is the encryption that protects traffic between a browser and a website. A site with a valid certificate loads over HTTPS and shows a padlock.
T
- TestFlight
- TestFlight is Apple's service for sending test versions of an iPhone or iPad app to testers before it goes on the App Store. Testers install the TestFlight app and get your builds through it.
- Text-to-app
- Text-to-app means turning a written description into a working application with AI. It is another name for prompt-to-app: the text is the instruction, and the app is the output.
V
- Vibe coding
- Vibe coding is building software by telling an AI what you want, trying the result, and asking for changes, without reading or writing most of the code yourself.