Glossary
Every AI-app term, in plain English.
Every abbreviation, buzzword, and technical term you'll hear while building an AI app — explained so a non-techie gets it the first time. Bookmark this page.
A
- AI Builder
- A tool like Lovable, Base44, Bolt, or v0 that turns your prompts into a working app without you writing code by hand.
- API— Application Programming Interface
- The way two apps talk to each other over the internet. When your app 'checks the weather,' it's calling a weather API.
- Lesson 13 — What is an API?
- App Store
- Apple's and Google's marketplaces for phone apps. You only need them if you're shipping a native mobile app — most AI apps ship as a website or PWA instead.
- Lesson 19 — App stores
- Auth / Authentication
- The login system. Proves the person clicking around is who they say they are (usually with email + password or Google sign-in).
- Lesson 08 — Login & sign-up
B
- Backend
- The parts of your app users don't see — the database, the server functions, the login logic. Opposite of frontend.
- Browserbase
- A service that lets your app control a real web browser in the cloud — useful when you need to log into another site on the user's behalf.
- Lesson 20 — Browserbase
- Bug
- Something in your app that doesn't work the way it should. Not a virus — just a mistake in the code the AI wrote.
C
- CDN— Content Delivery Network
- A network of servers around the world that serves your app fast to users everywhere. Cloudflare is a CDN. You don't usually configure this — your builder handles it.
- Component
- A reusable chunk of UI — like a button, card, or header. Your app is built out of components glued together.
- Connector
- A saved connection to another service (Google, Slack, Stripe, OpenAI) so your app can use it without you pasting API keys everywhere.
- Lesson 12 — Connectors
- Credits
- The units your AI builder charges you per prompt. Bigger, vaguer prompts burn more credits. Small, specific prompts save credits.
- CRUD— Create · Read · Update · Delete
- The four things any app does with data. If your app lets users add, view, edit, and delete something — that's CRUD.
- CSS— Cascading Style Sheets
- The code that makes your app look the way it does — colors, spacing, fonts. Your AI builder writes this for you.
D
- Database
- Where your app stores information (users, orders, saved ideas). Think of it as a spreadsheet with rules.
- Lesson 10 — Databases in plain English
- Deploy / Publish
- Pushing your app live so real users can visit it at a real web address. Your builder does this in one click.
- Lesson 22 — Publishing checklist
- DNS— Domain Name System
- The 'phone book of the internet.' Points yourdomain.com at the server that runs your app. You set this up once when you buy a domain.
- Domain
- Your app's web address (like mikeknowsaiapps.com). Buy it BEFORE you lock in your app name — see the brand lesson.
- Lesson 03 — Brand & domain
E
- Edge Function
- A small piece of backend code that runs close to the user for speed. Used for webhooks, cron jobs, and public APIs.
- Env Var / Environment Variable
- A named secret (like an API key) your app reads at runtime. Kept out of the code so nobody can see it.
F
- Favicon
- The tiny square icon in the browser tab and on phone home screens. Must be a square PNG with a transparent background. Beginners forget this.
- Lesson 04 — First prompt
- Frontend
- Everything the user sees and clicks — pages, buttons, forms. Opposite of backend.
G
- Google Search Console
- A free Google tool that shows you which searches bring people to your site. Hook it up so you know what's working.
- Lesson 12 — Connectors & GSC
H
- HIPAA— Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
- US law about handling patient health information. Only matters if your app stores medical data.
- Lesson 21 — HIPAA
- HTML— HyperText Markup Language
- The skeleton of every web page. Your builder writes this for you.
- HTTPS
- A secure web address (starts with https://). Required — your builder gives you HTTPS automatically.
I
- IDE— Integrated Development Environment
- Where old-school developers write code (VS Code, etc.). You don't need one — your AI builder is your IDE.
J
- JSON— JavaScript Object Notation
- A common format for sending data between apps. Looks like a nested list of key: value pairs.
- JWT— JSON Web Token
- A signed string your app uses to remember who's logged in. You don't build these — auth handles it.
L
- Landing Page
- The page a new visitor lands on. Its job: get them to sign up or buy in under 10 seconds.
- Lesson 06 — Landing pages
- LLM— Large Language Model
- The AI brain behind ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini. It reads and writes text. Your AI builder uses an LLM to turn your prompts into code.
M
- MCP— Model Context Protocol
- A standard way to give an AI access to your data or tools. Useful when you want your app's AI features to reach outside itself.
- Lesson 14 — MCP basics
- Meta Tags
- Hidden text on every page that tells Google and social sites your title, description, and share image. Critical for SEO.
O
- Onboarding
- The first-time-user flow. Should welcome, orient, and get the user to their first win in under 60 seconds.
- Lesson 07 — Onboarding
P
- PNG / JPG
- Two image formats. PNG supports transparent backgrounds (use for logos + favicons). JPG doesn't (use for photos only).
- Prompt
- Any message you send to the AI. In your builder, each prompt should be small, specific, and about one thing.
- Prompt Order
- The sequence of prompts you send. The right order prevents bugs and saves credits. Wrong order = spaghetti.
- Lesson 24 — Prompt order recap
- PWA— Progressive Web App
- A website that installs like an app on a phone. Cheaper and faster than a real app store app — usually the right answer.
- Lesson 18 — PWA vs real apps
R
- React
- The most popular way to build modern web apps. Your AI builder writes React under the hood — you don't need to learn it.
- RLS— Row-Level Security
- The database rule that says 'only the owner can see their own data.' Turn this on before you publish or every user can read every other user's info.
- Lesson 11 — Security
S
- SaaS— Software as a Service
- An app people pay for monthly instead of buying once. Netflix is SaaS. Most AI apps are SaaS.
- SEO— Search Engine Optimization
- Everything you do so Google shows your app when people search. Title tags, descriptions, real content, fast pages.
- Server Function
- A piece of backend code your app runs when it needs to do something private (charge a card, send an email, read secret data).
- SPA— Single-Page Application
- A website that swaps content without a full page reload. Feels app-like. Most AI-built apps are SPAs.
- SSL / TLS
- The encryption behind the padlock in your browser. Required for any modern app. Your builder handles it.
- SSR— Server-Side Rendering
- Building the page on the server before sending it to the browser. Better for SEO and first-load speed.
- Stripe
- The most common way to accept payments online. Your builder connects to it with a few clicks.
- Lesson 15 — Payments & Stripe
T
- TypeScript
- JavaScript with type-checking bolted on. Catches bugs before they ship. Your builder uses it — you don't have to.
U
- URL— Uniform Resource Locator
- A web address (like https://mikeknowsaiapps.com/learning).
- UX / UI— User Experience · User Interface
- UI = how it looks. UX = how it feels to use. Both matter — pretty apps that are confusing still fail.
W
- Webhook
- A URL another service pings when something happens (a payment succeeded, an email bounced). Your app listens and reacts.
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