# Glossary

> Plain-language definitions of the terms used across InfraNest.

Source: https://infranest.io/docs/glossary
Last updated: 2026-08-30

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This glossary explains the key terms you'll see throughout InfraNest, written for anyone — no technical background needed.

## Overview

- InfraNest uses a set of consistent terms across the app, from how your account is organized to how monitoring and alerts work.
- Knowing these terms will help you navigate menus, understand notifications, and make sense of settings without guessing.
- This page is a reference — come back anytime you see an unfamiliar word.

## Key terms

1. **Organization (workspace)** — Your tenant in InfraNest. Everything — domains, servers, members, billing — is scoped to an organization. You can belong to more than one.
2. **Integration / provider credential** — A connection to an external service, such as Hetzner, Cloudflare, or TransIP. Once connected, your resources sync in from that provider.
3. **DNS zone** — A domain's DNS namespace. **Records** (A, CNAME, MX, TXT, and so on) live inside a zone.
4. **Domain vs contact** — A domain is a registered name. A **contact** is a reusable set of registrant, admin, or tech details that gets attached to domains.
5. **Drop-catch / watched domain** — Monitoring an expiring domain so you can register it the moment it becomes available again.
6. **Dynamic IP** — A way to keep a DNS record or firewall rule automatically in sync with a changing IP address, such as a home or VPN connection.
7. **Monitor (check)** — A periodic health check on one of your services. A failing monitor can open an **incident**.
8. **Maintenance window** — A planned period where alerts are paused and your status page shows "maintenance" instead of an outage.
9. **Status page** — A public page that shows the health of your services to your users or subscribers.
10. **Alert destination** — Where your alerts get delivered: email, Telegram, Slack, Teams, Discord, or a webhook.
11. **Certificate inventory** — The SSL/TLS certificates InfraNest has discovered for your domains. These are found automatically, not added manually.
12. **Snapshot vs backup** — A snapshot is a point-in-time copy of a server's disk that you take yourself. Backups are automated copies made by your provider.
13. **API token** — A credential used to access the API, scoped by **abilities** (`read` or `write` for each resource).
14. **Webhook** — An automatic message sent over the internet. **Inbound** webhooks are sent to InfraNest (and signed for security); **outbound** webhooks are sent from InfraNest to your own endpoint when something happens.
15. **Entitlement / plan limit** — What's included in your subscription plan. Features outside your plan show an "Upgrade" badge.
16. **Trial** — A period with full features and no credit card required. If you don't upgrade before it ends, your account converts to Free.

> [!NOTE]
> Some terms, like monitor and incident, or domain and contact, are closely related but not interchangeable — check the specific definition above if you're unsure.

> [!TIP]
> If you see an "Upgrade" badge next to a feature, it means that feature is outside your current plan's entitlement — check your plan settings for details.