> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.cobalt.peoplereign.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Glossary

> Every Cobalt term in one place.

# Glossary

The core concepts an administrator works with, defined briefly. For how they fit
together, see [How Cobalt works](/concepts/how-cobalt-works).

<Note>
  Cobalt's primitive nouns are capitalized as proper concepts — Agent, Skillset,
  Skill, Channel, Integration. Sensitivity values are lowercase:
  `standard` and `elevated`.
</Note>

### Agent

The thing employees talk to. An Agent has an identity (name, role, personality,
safety boundaries, languages) and a set of tools it can use. Everything else you
configure attaches to an Agent.

### Skillset

A self-contained domain of custom capability that an Agent owns — a small chapter
of related work. A Skillset groups Skills and their configurations, and carries
a sensitivity. Use one only when an [Integration](#integration) can't do the job.

### Skill

A single playbook within a Skillset: plain-language instructions for one job,
optionally including shell or `curl`. A Skill has a name, a "use when / skip when"
description, a content body, and a *requires confirmation* flag for actions that
change data.

### Skillset configuration

The credentials a Skillset's Skills need — named variables like a URL and an API
key. Values are encrypted and injected at run time as environment variables
(`<CONFIGURATION_NAME>_<KEY>`, upper-snake-cased). Secrets never appear in Skill
text or in anything the agent says. Add one from the Skillset with **Add
configuration**.

### Integration

A Cobalt-built connector to an external system (service desk, HRIS, identity
provider, file store, collaboration tool). An Integration turns that system's
capabilities into tools, with guardrails and audit built in. This is the
**primary** way an Agent gains capability. Most integrations are curated
**apps** from the catalog; you can also bring your own
[**MCP Server**](/integrations/mcp-server) — any MCP-compliant server you host
or trust, whose tools are discovered at connect time.

### Tool

A single capability the Agent can invoke — a search, a lookup, an action. Tools
come from Integrations, from Skillsets, or are built in. How a tool may behave is
governed by rules and hooks.

### Hook

A policy gate that runs at the moment a tool is called. A Hook can require
confirmation, check an argument against an allowlist, rewrite a call, or deny it —
with audit logging.

### Custom knowledge

Reference material that doesn't live in a connected system — an uploaded PDF or
FAQ — organized into collections the Agent can search and cite. For content that
*does* live in a connected system, prefer an Integration.

### Channel

How employees reach an Agent: the web widget, Slack, and more. One Agent can
serve many Channels. An Agent with no Channel is invisible.

### Specialist

An internal helper scoped to a Skillset's domain that handles multi-step work.
Specialists are generated automatically from a Skillset's Skills — there's nothing
to configure directly. To change one, edit the underlying Skills.

### Identity Rule

A mapping from an inbound identity (an email, a Slack ID, a header) to a known
person, so the Agent can act on their behalf and apply the right policy. Rules are
evaluated in order; the first match wins.

### Tenant

Your organization's isolated space in Cobalt — every object belongs to exactly
one Tenant, and isolation is enforced at the data layer — one Tenant can never
see another's data.

### Sensitivity

A Skillset is `standard` (default) or `elevated`. Setting `elevated` — for PHI,
compensation, credentials, or security operations — routes work only to models
covered by a Business Associate Agreement, tightens PII handling and retention,
and isolates memory under a separate key.

### Conversation

An ordered exchange between one or more users, the Agent, and (where used) a human
during handoff. Conversations are what you review in
[Conversations & tracing](/operate/conversations-and-tracing).

### Preview

An internal test surface for trying an Agent before connecting a real Channel.
Preview conversations don't reach employees and don't count against usage.

### Credit

The unit Cobalt meters usage in. One credit covers one end-user turn — an
employee asks, the agent works and answers. Console activity (building,
configuring, Preview) never consumes credits. See
[Billing & usage](/operate/billing-and-usage).