Cloudgate glossary

Terms are in alphabetical order. Each heading is a link target: add # and the term in lower case with hyphens, for example /docs/glossary#wired-variable. For how the main terms fit together, read How Cloudgate fits together.

A

Access log

One line for each request a Server’s Traefik answers. The console’s Requests screen reads it.

Add-on

One more Server and one more Cloud Environment on a Hosted plan, for 5 USD a month.

Agent

A member of an Organization that is not a person: an AI tool acting through the MCP endpoint or the Gateway, with its own role, grant and keys.

Agent key

One of an Agent’s credentials. It works only at the MCP endpoint and the Gateway, never on the REST API or in the console.

AI model

An Application that serves one model through an Inference runtime and is reached only through the Gateway.

AI provider

An Organization’s setting for Cloudgate’s own AI features, such as Draft one with AI and Explain this log.

Application

A Service built from a source (a git repository, a Docker image or uploaded files) and run as a container.

Attached Organization

An Organization whose Hosted plan is paid for by another Organization, its Paying Organization.

Authorization lease

The renewable authorization a live connection (a log stream or a shell) holds, checked again on a clock so that losing access ends it.

B

Bought Server

A Server bought from Cloudgate in the console, billed monthly on the Hosted plan’s invoice. Hosted instance only.

Bucket

A Service that holds files other Services read and write, and runs nothing itself.

Build deployment

A Deployment that builds and releases one version of an Application or Compose stack.

Build host

The machine a build happens on: a dedicated build Server when one is set, otherwise the Server the Service runs on.

Business

The 35 USD a month Hosted plan, which adds SSO, SCIM, custom roles, forward auth and paying for other Organizations.

C

Cloud account

One Organization’s link to one AWS account or one Google Cloud project.

Cloud Environment

An Environment that deploys into a Cloud account. The Hosted plan counts these.

Cloud run

The OpenTofu plan and apply that creates or changes cloud resources for one Deployment.

Config branch

The branch an Environment reads a repository-kept Project config from. Empty means the repository’s default branch.

Config name

A Service’s fixed name in its Project config: lower-case letters, digits and hyphens, at most 63 characters.

Config version

A counter on a Project config that every Apply moves. A Plan sent from an older version is refused, so a working copy never undoes a teammate’s change.

Console-managed

A Service the Project config lists by name and kind only, because the config cannot describe it yet. It is changed in the console, and a Plan never changes or destroys it.

Cron service

A Service that runs a command on a timetable, in a fresh container each time.

D

Delete

Destroys a Service and Cloudgate’s record of it. Its volumes go only if you ask.

Deploy target

Where an Environment’s new Services are created: a Server, the platform host, or a Cloud account and a region.

Deployment

One attempt at one thing, such as a build, a backup run, a cron run or a Cloud run, with its own log, status and timings.

Deployment log

Cloudgate’s record of one Deployment: what it ran and what that printed.

Deployment parent

What a Deployment belongs to: an Application, a Compose stack, a schedule, a volume backup, a backup, a cloud database or an Environment network.

Dock

The panel along the bottom of the console that keeps shells and logs open while you move between pages.

Docked log

A log kept open in the Dock. The Dock holds up to four.

Docked shell

A shell kept open in the Dock. The Dock holds up to four.

Domain

A host, and optionally a path, that a Service answers on.

Drift

A change made by hand in a cloud’s own console that Cloudgate did not make. Applying a Plan puts Cloudgate’s version back.

E

Enterprise

A Hosted Organization billed by agreement with Octabyte. It counts as Business.

Enterprise license

The key that unlocks the licensed features on a self-hosted instance.

Environment

A named slice of a Project, such as production or staging, that owns the Services and its own variables.

Environment network

The private network and the one load balancer Cloudgate makes for an Environment in a Cloud account.

Error rate

The share of a Service’s requests that its Server’s Traefik answered with a 5xx error.

Error-rate threshold

A Service’s limit on its Error rate. Going over it opens an Incident.

Existing database

A database made outside Cloudgate that Cloudgate uses as given, and never changes or deletes.

F

Folder link

A folder’s record, in .cloudgate/link.json, of which Service the CLI deploys it to. A link that names no Service makes the folder a Project folder.

Free trial

The first 30 days of a Hosted plan. A card is needed to start it.

Frozen Organization

An Organization whose plan lapsed or was suspended. What runs keeps running, but it starts no new work.

G

Gateway

The one OpenAI-compatible address in front of every AI model, and the only place token spend is counted.

GPU reservation

How many whole GPUs each running copy of an Application holds.

GPU setup

What makes a Server a GPU Server. It restarts Docker, so every Service on that machine stops for a moment.

H

Host key

The SSH key a Server presents. Cloudgate trusts the first one it sees and refuses a different one later.

Hosted instance

The Cloudgate that Octabyte runs and sells, at cloudgate.octabyte.app.

Hosted mode

The setting that makes an Instance the Hosted instance, with plans and billing.

Hosted plan

Starter or Business, the monthly plans on the Hosted instance.

I

Incident

The stretch of time an Uptime check is down or an Error-rate threshold is breached.

Inference runtime

The program that serves an AI model: Ollama, vLLM or llama.cpp.

Infrastructure state

Cloudgate’s record of what it made in a Cloud account, kept encrypted in its own database.

Instance

One running Cloudgate, known by its address.

Instance organization

The first Organization on an Instance. Only its owners and admins configure the machine Cloudgate runs on.

L

Locked setting

A Native setting Cloudgate refuses, because Cloudgate depends on it or because it reaches beyond the Service.

M

Managed container

A container that Cloudgate can trace back to one of its Services by its labels.

Member

A person’s (or an Agent’s) membership in one Organization, with a role.

N

Native settings

The part of a Project config entry written for one deploy target: native.docker, native.aws or native.gcp.

O

Operator

A person who is an owner or admin of the Instance organization, acting on other Organizations on the Hosted instance. Separately, Operator is also an Agent role that may deploy, start, stop and cancel.

Output

A named secret value a Service hands to others, such as a database’s url, host or password.

P

Parentless deployment

A Deployment that belongs to nothing. Nothing creates one today; Cloudgate answers a request for its log with not found.

Paying Organization

An Organization that pays for other Organizations on its Business or Enterprise plan.

Pending setup

What a Template setup chose, waiting for its Plan to be applied. Unused ones are dropped after 30 days.

Personal key

A credential that acts as you, with everything you may do, for scripts, the CLI and the REST API.

Plan

One Environment’s list of what applying its Project config would create, change and destroy.

Preview deployment

A copy of a git-sourced Application built from another branch, on its own address.

Private web service

A Service that answers HTTP only to other Services, never to the internet.

Project

A named group of related Services, holding Environments and its own variables.

Project config

The one description of what a Project runs, kept in Cloudgate or as cloudgate.yaml in a repository.

Project folder

A folder linked to a whole Project, usually a monorepo’s root, holding a working copy of its Cloudgate-kept Project config as cloudgate.yaml. One cloudgate deploy there builds every app the config builds from a subfolder.

Proven domain

An email domain an Organization has proven it owns with a DNS record, so single sign-on can route people to it.

Pull-request preview

A Preview deployment opened for a GitHub pull request and removed when the pull request closes.

R

Remove containers

Removes a Compose stack’s containers and keeps everything else: its network, files, volumes and record.

Requested preview

A Preview deployment someone asked for, which expires on its own.

Rollback

Putting a Service back onto what an earlier Deployment produced.

Run record

A Deployment for a backup, a volume backup, a schedule or a cron run, rather than a build.

Runtime log

What a running Service writes.

S

Self-hosted instance

A Cloudgate you install and run yourself.

Server

A machine Cloudgate reaches over SSH and deploys Services onto.

Server markup

The percentage Octabyte adds to the provider’s price of a Bought Server.

Server threshold

A CPU or memory percentage for a Server. Crossing it sends a notification.

Service

Anything an Environment runs: an Application, a Compose stack or a Database.

Setup record

A Project’s note that some of its Services came from a Template.

Setup run

One run of a Server’s setup, which installs Docker, a Swarm and Traefik. It starts only when someone confirms it.

Shell tab

The tab that opens a shell in one of a Service’s own containers.

Size

How much CPU and memory a Service may use, from xsmall (0.25 CPU, 512 MB) to 2xlarge (8 CPU, 16 GB), or a custom pair.

Stack VM

The virtual machine a Compose stack runs on in a Cloud account.

Starter

The 15 USD a month Hosted plan, with 3 Servers and 3 Cloud Environments.

Stop

Leaves a Service with zero running containers and keeps everything else.

T

Template

A ready-made starting point for a Project’s Services, from the Template catalogue.

Template catalogue

The published list of Templates an Instance offers: by default the newest release of the public octabyte-io/cg-templates repository, read as one catalogue.zip.

Token spend

The tokens an AI model’s calls used, counted at the Gateway per model and per calling Agent.

Trace store

One Service’s own store of OpenTelemetry traces, on its Server.

Trusted origin

A web address single sign-on may sign people in from.

U

Uptime check

A request Cloudgate makes to a Service on an interval, recording up or down.

V

Volume lock

The rule that only one backup, restore or delete works on a Docker volume at a time.

W

Wired variable

A variable whose value is another Service’s Output, filled in at each deploy and never saved.

Worker

A Service that runs all the time with no Domain and no address of its own.

Words Cloudgate does not use

Cloudgate avoids these words because each one means something else, or several things. If you search for one of them, this is the word to look for instead.

Instead of	Cloudgate says
Team, workspace, tenant	Organization
App group	Project
Stage, namespace	Environment
App, workload	Application (or Service, for any kind)
Host, node, machine	Server
Release, build (for the record)	Deployment
Build log, log file	Deployment log
Container log	Runtime log
Request log, traffic log	Access log
Route, hostname, router	Domain
Diff, changeset	Plan
Manifest, blueprint, spec	Project config
Linked env, binding	Wired variable
Connection string, export	Output
Tier, instance type, limits	Size
Revert, undo	Rollback
Preview environment, ephemeral environment, PR deployment	Preview deployment
Health check, monitor	Uptime check (a health check is the container’s own HEALTHCHECK)
Outage, alert, downtime	Incident
Pause, halt	Stop
Tear down, reset	Remove containers
Remove, destroy	Delete
User, collaborator	Member
Bot, service account, integration	Agent
API key, token, personal access token	Personal key or Agent key
Provider, connection	Cloud account
One-click app, marketplace, recipe	Template
Monorepo link, workspace	Project folder
VPS, managed server	Bought Server
SaaS, cloud version	Hosted instance
On-prem, community edition	Self-hosted instance
Pro, subscription	Hosted plan (Starter, Business)
External database, imported database	Existing database
Terminal dock, drawer	Dock
Provisioning, setup log	Setup run

Related reading: Members and roles for the roles named here, Project config and Plans, Deployments and rollbacks, and the security overview for how keys and secrets are kept.

Questions

What is the difference between a Service and an Application?

A Service is anything an Environment runs: an Application, a Compose stack or a Database. An Application is the kind built from a source and run as a container.

Why does Cloudgate not say app or host?

Because each has several meanings. Cloudgate says Application for the thing it builds, Server for a machine it deploys onto, and Domain for the address a Service answers on.

Is an Operator an Agent role or a person?

Both words exist. An Agent with the Operator role may deploy, start, stop and cancel. Separately, an Operator on the Hosted instance is a person at Octabyte who can suspend an Organization; they never see inside its Projects.