Glossary
The words you'll meet in the console and in this guide. Nothing here is about running the platform — that vocabulary (licences, instances, platform plans) lives in the operator reference.
A
Application (App) A deployed service — a container running your code. Each app is built from a Git repository and runs within a project. A project can hold several.
API key A token your scripts and CI jobs use instead of signing in. Scoped to your organization, created under Settings → API keys. See Teams & access.
B
Build minutes Time spent building an image from your source: pulling code, installing dependencies, compiling, packaging the container. Counted per billing period and capped by your plan. See Plans & usage.
Buildpacks A build method based on Cloud Native Buildpacks: it detects your application type and produces a container image. Heroku, Paketo and Google providers are supported. See Build methods.
C
Custom domain A domain you own, pointed at your app — as opposed to the free subdomain every app gets. Certificates are issued automatically. See Domains & SSL.
D
Deployment One attempt to build and release a version of your app. Each has its own logs and status, and you can roll back to an earlier one. See Deployments.
Dockerfile A build method where you supply your own Dockerfile, for full control over how the image is built.
E
Environment A named copy of a project's configuration — typically production and staging — each with its own variables and its own apps.
Environment variable Configuration passed to your app, either at build time or at run time; the two are not interchangeable. See Environment variables.
N
Nixpacks The default build method. It detects your language and framework and builds an image with no configuration from you.
O
Organization Your workspace on this platform. It groups projects, applications, team members and billing, and it is what your plan applies to.
P
Payment Gateway A service you can add to a project so your own application can take payments — mobile money and cards. Available when your plan includes it. See Payment Gateway.
Plan The subscription your organization has on this platform — what you can create and how much of it. Set and priced by whoever runs the platform. See Plans & usage.
Project A grouping of related applications, databases and resources inside your organization. Each project runs in its own isolated namespace.
S
Stack Several services deployed and managed together from one definition — an app plus its database and cache, say. See Stacks.
T
Template A ready-made application or stack you can deploy in one step and then modify. See Templates.