Reference
Glossary
Definitions of the core terms and concepts used throughout HelpStack. Each entry links to the guide or integration doc that covers it in depth.
Agent (role)#
A team member whose role is AGENT. Agents can handle conversations (reply, assign, change status, add notes) but have read-only access to settings. See ../guides/09-team-and-roles.md.
Agent tool#
A custom AI ability you define so the model can take actions beyond replying. A tool is either SERVER_SIDE (HelpStack calls your HTTPS endpoint) or CLIENT_SIDE (runs in the visitor's browser via the widget). Each tool has a name, a description the LLM reads to decide when to call it, and JSON-Schema parameters. Tools can be imported from an OpenAPI spec, and every call is logged. See ../guides/08-agent-tools.md.
AI provider#
A configured LLM connection — OpenAI, Anthropic, Azure OpenAI, or Ollama — with a model, temperature, and max-tokens setting. One provider is the org default; the system prompt is set per channel, not on the provider. See ../guides/07-ai-providers.md.
AI reply#
An AI-drafted reply to an inbound message. Its context includes recent conversation history, prior closed conversations with the same customer, attached knowledge-base groups (RAG), the channel system prompt, the customer identifier, and any agent tools. A drafted reply waits in the response queue for agent approval unless the channel is set to auto-approve. See ../guides/03-ai-replies.md.
Assignment#
The act of attaching a conversation to a specific user, making them responsible for it. Notification scope ASSIGNED_ONLY limits alerts to conversations assigned to you. See ../guides/02-conversations.md.
Auto-reply (channel mode)#
A per-channel setting controlling how the AI drafts replies on inbound messages. Modes: off (no automatic drafting), prepare (AI drafts automatically, agent approves before sending), and auto-approve (AI drafts and sends without agent review). See ../guides/03-ai-replies.md.
Channel#
A connected source of conversations. Types: EMAIL, FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, WHATSAPP, and WEBSITE_CHAT. (TELEGRAM exists in the schema but is not yet available in the UI.) See ../guides/04-channels.md.
Conversation#
A customer thread that groups messages within a channel. A conversation has a status (OPEN → PENDING → CLOSED), can be assigned to a user, carries internal notes, and has a detected language. See ../guides/02-conversations.md.
Default provider#
The single AI provider marked as the organization's default. It is used for AI replies and translation unless overridden. See ../guides/07-ai-providers.md.
FAQ#
A question-and-answer pair (Question ≤280 characters, Answer ≤2000 characters), defined org-wide or per WEBSITE_CHAT channel. FAQs appear as clickable chips in the widget greeting. They are distinct from the knowledge base: FAQs power the widget greeting, while the knowledge base grounds AI replies. See ../guides/06-faqs.md.
HMAC signature#
A cryptographic signature sent with incoming webhook payloads (for example from Facebook/Instagram/WhatsApp) that HelpStack verifies to confirm the request is authentic and unmodified. See ../integrations/webhooks.md.
Inbox#
The unified view of all conversations across every channel, where agents read, filter, assign, and reply. See ../guides/02-conversations.md.
Internal note#
A private comment added to a conversation for your team only. Notes are never sent to the customer. See ../guides/02-conversations.md.
Knowledge base#
A collection of articles used to ground AI replies through RAG. Articles are MANUAL, URL-scraped, or FILE-uploaded, and move through statuses PROCESSING → READY/ERROR. Articles are organized into groups that you attach to channels. See ../guides/05-knowledge-base.md.
Knowledge-base group#
A named set of knowledge-base articles. Attaching a group to a channel makes those articles available to the AI as RAG context for that channel's replies. See ../guides/05-knowledge-base.md.
Message#
A single message in a conversation. Direction is INBOUND (from the customer) or OUTBOUND (from you). A message may carry translatedContent and an AI-generated draft awaiting approval. See ../guides/02-conversations.md.
Notifications#
Alerts for the events NEW_CONVERSATION, NEW_MESSAGE, ASSIGNED, and STATUS_CHANGED, delivered via IN_APP, PUSH, EMAIL, SLACK, TEAMS, SMS, WEBHOOK, or DISCORD. Each event has a per-channel toggle and a scope (ALL or ASSIGNED_ONLY). See ../guides/10-notifications.md.
Organization#
The tenant root. Every piece of data — channels, conversations, users, providers — is scoped to an organization. Users belong to one organization with a role. See ../guides/01-getting-started.md.
RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation)#
The technique of retrieving relevant knowledge-base articles and supplying them to the LLM so AI replies are grounded in your own content rather than the model's general knowledge. See ../guides/05-knowledge-base.md.
ResponseQueue#
The queue holding AI-drafted replies awaiting agent approval. When a channel is set to auto-approve, drafts skip the queue and send automatically. See ../guides/03-ai-replies.md.
Role#
A user's permission level within an organization: OWNER (full access plus billing), ADMIN (full access minus billing actions), AGENT (handle conversations, read-only settings), or VIEWER (read-only conversations and analytics). A platform-level SUPERADMIN exists for HelpStack staff. See ../guides/09-team-and-roles.md.
Scope (ALL / ASSIGNED_ONLY)#
A notification setting that controls which conversations trigger alerts. ALL notifies on every matching event in the organization; ASSIGNED_ONLY notifies only for conversations assigned to you. See ../guides/10-notifications.md.
System prompt#
The per-channel instruction that shapes the AI's tone, persona, and rules when drafting replies for that channel. Set on the channel, not on the AI provider. See ../guides/03-ai-replies.md.
Top-up#
A one-time purchase of additional tokens, separate from a recurring plan. Like all billing actions, top-ups are OWNER-only. See ../guides/12-billing.md.
Translation#
Automatic language handling: HelpStack detects the customer's language, translates inbound messages into the agent's language and outbound messages into the customer's language. Short messages (fewer than 6 words) inherit the conversation language. Performed internally via OpenAI/Anthropic and/or Google Cloud Translation. See ../guides/02-conversations.md.
VisitorId#
A unique identifier the widget persists in the browser's localStorage to recognize a returning website visitor across sessions. See ../integrations/widget-embed.md.
Verify token#
A shared secret used during platform webhook setup (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp) to confirm HelpStack owns the endpoint when the provider sends a verification challenge. Set via environment variables such as FACEBOOK_VERIFY_TOKEN, WHATSAPP_VERIFY_TOKEN, and INSTAGRAM_VERIFY_TOKEN. See ../integrations/webhooks.md.
Widget#
The embeddable website chat, loaded with <script src="https://helpstack.eu/widget.js?id=CHANNEL_ID" async></script>. It persists a visitorId in localStorage, communicates in real time over Socket.IO, and exposes programmatic control via window.ChatWidget.{init, open, close, toggle}. There is no client-tool JS registration API. See ../integrations/widget-embed.md.