name: Terapi Vocabulary
description: >-
  Core vocabulary and taxonomy for Terapi, the open-source embedded integration
  platform. Covers iPaaS concepts, integration patterns, authentication flows,
  and platform-specific terminology.
created: '2026-05-03'
modified: '2026-05-03'
terms:
  - term: Embedded iPaaS
    definition: >-
      An integration platform embedded directly into a SaaS product, enabling
      the product to offer native third-party integrations to its customers.
      Unlike standalone iPaaS tools, embedded iPaaS is invisible to end-users.
    tags:
      - Core Concepts
      - Integration Platform

  - term: Connection
    definition: >-
      An authenticated link between an end-user account and a third-party service.
      Connections persist credentials securely and track authentication state.
      Each connection is identified by a connection_id you define.
    tags:
      - Core Concepts
      - Authentication

  - term: Integration
    definition: >-
      A provider configuration that defines how to connect to a specific
      third-party service (e.g., GitHub, Salesforce, Slack). An integration
      holds OAuth credentials and defines available syncs and actions.
    tags:
      - Core Concepts
      - Configuration

  - term: Provider
    definition: >-
      A third-party service that Terapi can connect to (e.g., github, salesforce,
      stripe, hubspot). Terapi maintains a catalog of supported providers with
      pre-built authentication and connector logic.
    tags:
      - Core Concepts
      - Connectors

  - term: Provider Config Key
    definition: >-
      Your application's unique identifier for an integration configuration.
      Allows multiple configurations for the same provider (e.g., github-prod
      and github-sandbox).
    tags:
      - Configuration
      - Core Concepts

  - term: Sync
    definition: >-
      A recurring data fetch operation that pulls data from a connected
      third-party service and makes it available in your application. Syncs
      run on a schedule and track last sync time and record count.
    tags:
      - Data Synchronization
      - Core Concepts

  - term: Action
    definition: >-
      A write operation triggered on a connected third-party service. Actions
      are discrete, named operations like create-issue, send-message, or
      update-record. Actions run synchronously and return results.
    tags:
      - Core Concepts
      - Write Operations

  - term: OAuth 2.0
    definition: >-
      The primary authentication protocol used by most modern SaaS APIs.
      Terapi handles the full OAuth flow (authorization, token exchange,
      token refresh) transparently for connected users.
    tags:
      - Authentication
      - Protocols

  - term: Token Refresh
    definition: >-
      The automatic process of obtaining a new access token when the current
      one expires. Terapi handles token refresh transparently so your
      application always has valid credentials.
    tags:
      - Authentication
      - OAuth 2.0

  - term: Secret Key
    definition: >-
      The authentication credential used by your application server to call
      the Terapi API. Passed as a Bearer token in the Authorization header.
      Never expose the secret key to clients.
    tags:
      - Authentication
      - Security

  - term: Connector
    definition: >-
      The integration logic that knows how to authenticate with and talk to
      a specific third-party provider. Terapi provides hundreds of pre-built
      connectors and allows custom connectors via TypeScript functions.
    tags:
      - Connectors
      - Core Concepts

  - term: Unified API
    definition: >-
      A standardized API interface that normalizes data from multiple providers
      into a consistent schema. Terapi's unified APIs reduce integration
      complexity when connecting to similar categories of services.
    tags:
      - API Design
      - Data Normalization

  - term: Webhook
    definition: >-
      Real-time event notifications pushed from Terapi to your application
      when a sync completes, a connection is established, or an error occurs.
    tags:
      - Events
      - Real-Time

  - term: Self-Hosted
    definition: >-
      Terapi deployment mode where the platform runs on your own infrastructure.
      Useful for data privacy, compliance requirements, or custom scaling needs.
      Alternatively, use Terapi Cloud.
    tags:
      - Deployment
      - Infrastructure

  - term: Metadata
    definition: >-
      Custom key-value data stored with a Terapi connection. Use metadata to
      associate connections with your application's users, tenants, or other
      business entities.
    tags:
      - Data Model
      - Connections