Glossary — Atomic

Building

1 Message box · 2 Preview and Canvas · 3 Canvas · 4 Screen menu · 5 Apply and Publish · 6 Version history

App: One project in Atomic: its screens, backend, versions, settings and published releases.
Workspace: A group of apps and the builders who work on them. See workspaces.
Build: The work Atomic does for one request, ending in a checked version. Also called a turn.
Build and Plan: The two modes for a request: Build changes the app; Plan only suggests.
Template: A complete app to start from, with screens, a backend configuration and sample data. See templates.
Verified: A version that passed Atomic’s checks. Only verified versions can be published.
Version: A verified checkpoint of the app’s source. See versions.
Credit: The unit Atomic uses to count AI work. See usage and credits.

Canvas: The board where every screen runs on sample data, ready to select and edit. See the canvas.
Screen: One page of the app, with its address and the people who can open it.
State: A view of a screen you would otherwise click to reach, such as an open dialog.
Sample data: Believable records and an account per role that the canvas and preview run on. Sample accounts are never published; sample records become the published app’s starting records, unless a template was started without them.
Play screen: Using a screen on the canvas instead of selecting parts of it.
Draft: A change made on the canvas that has not been applied yet.
Annotation: A comment on an element, optionally asking Atomic for a change. See annotations.
Tweaks: Theme-wide changes to colors, corners, spacing and font.
Apply: Accepts every draft as a new version and connects the screens to the app’s backend.

Owner: The person an app or workspace belongs to.
Collaborator: Someone invited to build one app in Atomic, as an editor or admin. See collaborators.
App user: Someone who uses the finished app. App users never see Atomic.
Role: A kind of app user, such as owner, staff or agent, that decides which screens they can open.
Member: An app user without another role. Members see shared records and their own.
Staff: Every role other than member. Staff see and change every record.
Access mode: How people enter the finished app: public with no login, open sign-up, or invite only. See who can use your app.
Sample account: An account for trying a role on the canvas and in the preview. Never published.

Preview: The app as its users will get it, with a disposable backend, before you publish.
Publish: Serving a verified version at the app’s public address. See publishing.
Deployment: One publication of the app, kept in its deployment history.
Rollback: Serving an earlier deployment again, without touching source or data. See deployments.
Custom domain: Your own subdomain serving a published app. See custom domains.
Atom: The open-source backend from Abstract Machines that every app’s accounts, roles and data run on.