# Glossary (/guides/glossary)



This page is a reference: short definitions of the terms used in these docs,
in alphabetical order. Terms from the retired `af` CLI (IPFS sites, IPNS, ENS,
Filecoin, Arweave, functions) are covered in [What changed from af](/legacy).

### Access token [#access-token]

A personal access token (PAT) that authenticates as you without a browser.
Used by CI, scripts, agents, and the SDK. Created with `acc pat create`, passed
as `AF_TOKEN`. See [Create and use access tokens](/guides/api-keys).

### Active project [#active-project]

The project the CLI acts on. Shown by `acc whoami`, changed with
`acc projects switch`, overridden by `AF_PROJECT_ID`.

### Admin [#admin]

An organization role that can deploy and manage members but not billing. See
[Roles](/guides/account-model#roles).

### Attestation [#attestation]

Cryptographic proof, produced by the hardware, of exactly what code a
confidential service is running. Fetch and verify it with `acc attest`.

### Auto stop [#auto-stop]

A spend control that stops a service after a fixed runtime (`--stop-hours`,
`--stop-days`). The projected cost is reserved from your balance up front.

### Bid [#bid]

A provider's offer to run your deployment at a price. A new deployment waits
for bids, then the platform selects one.

### Budget cap [#budget-cap]

A spend control that stops a service when its total (`--budget-total`) or
monthly (`--budget-monthly`) spend reaches the cap.

### Confidential compute [#confidential-compute]

Running a service inside a trusted execution environment (TEE) so that nobody,
including the provider, can read its memory. Enabled with `--confidential`.

### Credits [#credits]

Prepaid US dollars in an organization's wallet, spent as services run. Topped
up by card or stablecoin. See [How billing works](/guides/how-billing-works).

### Custom domain [#custom-domain]

Your own domain name pointed at a service instead of the default
`<slug>-app.alternatefutures.ai` URL. Not available yet; the guide for the
retired sites flow is [archived](/legacy/custom-domains).

### Deployment [#deployment]

One release of a service. Redeploying creates a new deployment; the previous
one is closed. Listed with `acc deployments`.

### Docker image [#docker-image]

A packaged application that a service runs, named like `nginx:1.27`. Use a
versioned tag; providers cache images by tag.

### Environment variable [#environment-variable]

A configuration value passed to a running service, such as an API key. Set
with `--env KEY=VALUE` or `acc services env set`.

### GPU [#gpu]

A graphics processor attached to a service for inference or training, chosen
by model and count (`--gpu-model h100 --gpu-count 1`). Billed by the hour.

### Member [#member]

An organization role that can deploy and view. A member can be limited to
selected projects.

### Organization [#organization]

The owner of billing, credits, and members. Every account has a personal
organization; teams are additional organizations. See
[Accounts, organizations, and projects](/guides/account-model).

### Owner [#owner]

The organization role with full control, including billing and deleting the
organization.

### Pay as you go [#pay-as-you-go]

The default spend control: no cap, pay for what you use.

### Project [#project]

A workspace that groups related services inside an organization. See
[Manage projects](/guides/projects).

### Provider [#provider]

An independent operator that runs your workloads. The platform picks one for
each deployment based on region, resources, and price.

### Region [#region]

Where a service runs: `us-east`, `us-west`, `eu`, `asia`, or Any (cheapest
available). `acc regions` shows availability and pricing.

### Seat [#seat]

The unit a subscription is priced in, one per person in the organization.

### Service [#service]

One deployed thing: a container from a Docker image, a template instance, or an
empty server. Holds region, resources, environment variables, spend controls,
and a URL. Managed with `acc services`.

### Service link [#service-link]

A connection between two services in the same project that exposes the
target's address to the source as environment variables. Created with
`acc services link`.

### Slug [#slug]

The short name in a service's URL, `https://<slug>-app.alternatefutures.ai`.

### Spend control [#spend-control]

A per-service limit, enforced by the platform: pay as you go, budget cap, or
auto stop.

### Subscription [#subscription]

The monthly or yearly plan an organization pays per seat. It sets the markup
applied to usage. See [How billing works](/guides/how-billing-works).

### Suspended [#suspended]

A service paused because the organization's credits ran low. It resumes
automatically after a topup.

### TEE [#tee]

Trusted execution environment: a hardware-isolated part of a processor whose
memory the host cannot read. The basis of confidential compute.

### Template [#template]

A ready-made service definition (an AI agent, a database, an inference server)
that you deploy with a few settings. Browse with `acc templates list`.

### Trial [#trial]

The first 14 days of a new account, with deploys allowed and no card required.

### Wallet [#wallet]

Two meanings: the organization's **credit wallet** that pays for usage, and an
**Ethereum wallet** you can sign in with instead of an email.