# Glossary

> The words used in these docs, in simple terms, with a link to the page that explains each one.

Last updated: 2026-10-30. Source: https://docs.smartchat.marketing/en/glossary/

## Keys and permissions

| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| API key | A secret text that lets your software call the API. It starts with `sc_live_`. See [Authentication](https://docs.smartchat.marketing/en/authentication/). |
| Permission | One right of a key, for example `contacts:read`. Also called scope in OpenAPI. See [Permissions](https://docs.smartchat.marketing/en/api/permissions/). |
| Level | A group of permissions chosen when a key is created. **Read** reads and changes nothing (one exception: a contact export). **Draft** adds creating and changing drafts; nothing reaches other people. **All** means everything except deleting and the plan. |
| Own checkbox | A permission that you tick on its own in the app because it reaches other people or reveals secrets, for example `newsletters:send`. The level All includes these permissions. |
| OAuth | The way an AI assistant gets access after you agree on a consent page. See [MCP](https://docs.smartchat.marketing/en/mcp/). |
| MCP | Model Context Protocol. A standard way for AI assistants to use tools. |
| Tool | One action that an AI assistant can use through MCP. See the [tool list](https://docs.smartchat.marketing/en/mcp/tools/). |

## Contacts and messages

| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Contact | A person you can write to on WhatsApp. Has a phone number, optionally a name, an email and tags. |
| Opt-in (`optin_whatsapp`) | The yes of a contact to receive WhatsApp messages from you. Values: `none`, `pending`, `confirmed`, `opted_out`. See [Consent and the 24-hour window](https://docs.smartchat.marketing/en/concepts/consent-and-24h-window/). |
| Contact status (`status`) | The kind of a contact: `confirmed`, `unconfirmed`, `opted_out`, `automation` or `support`. |
| Purpose (`purpose`) | Why a contact was created: `marketing`, `automation` or `service`. |
| Tag | A short label on a contact, for example `vip`. The `origin` of a tag says who set it: the system, a person or the AI. |
| Conversation | All messages with one contact on one channel. A conversation starts when a contact writes to you. |
| 24-hour window | The 24 hours after a contact wrote to you, in which free text is allowed. |
| Template | A message text that WhatsApp has approved. Needed for messages outside the window. |
| Send | One message that you ask the API to send, with a status such as `queued`, `sent` or `read`. See [Sending safely](https://docs.smartchat.marketing/en/security/). |
| Newsletter | A message to many confirmed contacts, sent as an approved template. |
| Preview (of a newsletter) | A look at who would receive the newsletter, how many are excluded and why. It sends nothing. |
| Plan (`plan_id`) | The result of a preview call for actions with a large effect. You send the `plan_id` in a second call to do the action. It is valid for a short time and only once. See [Drafts and activation](https://docs.smartchat.marketing/en/concepts/drafts-and-activation/). |
| Draft | A version that does nothing and reaches nobody yet. |
| Automation | A set of steps that SmartChat runs when something happens. |
| Landing page | The public web page of the business, built from blocks. A key can edit its draft and, with an extra permission, make it live. |
| Business profile | The public WhatsApp profile of the business (name, description, address and so on). |

## Technical words

| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Webhook | A web address of yours that SmartChat calls when an event happens. |
| Endpoint | One webhook address you registered. (In REST, "endpoint" can also mean a path of the API.) |
| Event | Something that happened, for example `contact.created`. |
| Delivery | One try to send an event to an endpoint. |
| Idempotency key | A unique value that makes a repeated call safe. See [Idempotency](https://docs.smartchat.marketing/en/concepts/idempotency/). |
| Cursor | An opaque text that points to the next page of a list. See [Pagination](https://docs.smartchat.marketing/en/concepts/pagination/). |
| Request ID | The ID of one call (`req_...`). Support uses it to find the call. |
| Untrusted text | Text from outside (contacts, messages). Data, never instructions. See [Untrusted content](https://docs.smartchat.marketing/en/concepts/untrusted-content/). |

## All values of the main fields

| Field | Values | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| optin_whatsapp | `none`, `pending`, `confirmed`, `opted_out` | WhatsApp opt-in state of a contact. |
| send status | `queued`, `sent`, `delivered`, `read`, `failed`, `skipped` | State of a single send. |
| template status | `draft`, `pending`, `approved`, `rejected`, `paused` | State of a message template. |
| newsletter status | `draft`, `scheduled`, `sending`, `paused`, `completed`, `canceled`, `failed` | State of a newsletter. |
| automation status | `draft`, `active`, `paused` | State of an automation. A new automation without a status is a draft. |
| conversation status | `open`, `closed` | State of a conversation. |
| acquisition | `landing_page`, `import`, `api`, `manual`, `automation`, `service` | Where a contact came from. |
| contact status (`status`) | `confirmed`, `unconfirmed`, `opted_out`, `automation`, `support` | Kind of a contact. `confirmed` and `unconfirmed` say if the opt-in is done, `opted_out` is a contact who unsubscribed. |
| purpose | `marketing`, `automation`, `service` | Why a contact was created: for marketing, for an automation or for service messages. |
| tag origin (`origin`) | `system`, `manual`, `ai` | Who set a tag: the system, a person, or the AI. |