Glossary
The words used across StackTether, explained in plain language. Terms are in alphabetical order.
- 2FA (two-factor authentication)
- Signing in with two things: something you know (your password) and something you have (a six-digit code from an authenticator app on your phone). StackTether requires 2FA for every user. The codes follow the TOTP standard.
- AAL2
- "Authenticator assurance level 2": a session that has passed both the password and the 2FA check. StackTether's database only returns tenant data to AAL2 sessions.
- AI app
- An assistant such as Claude, ChatGPT, Perplexity or Grok. In StackTether, each AI app has an on/off switch per MSP and can be allowed or blocked per person.
- API user (read-only)
- A separate account in a vendor system used only by software, not a person. A read-only API user can look records up but not change them. StackTether recommends one dedicated read-only API user per vendor; the support guides show how to create one.
- Audit log
- The record of every AI tool call: who, when, which tool and app, the outcome, and which record IDs were read. It never holds record content.
- Call budget
- A limit on how many tool calls or vendor requests can happen in a time window, per tech and per MSP. It stops runaway AI loops from hammering your PSA.
- Connector
- The word most AI apps use for an outside service you add to them. You add StackTether to your AI app as a custom connector, using StackTether's connector address.
- Consent (OAuth approval)
- The StackTether page where a tech approves an AI app by name, after signing in with 2FA. Approvals expire and can be revoked.
- Edition
- A version of StackTether for one industry, built on the same secure core: the MSP edition today, an insurance edition later.
- Kill switch
- A single control that stops all AI access for an MSP at once.
- MCP (Model Context Protocol)
- An open standard that lets AI apps call outside tools and data sources. A remote MCP server, like StackTether, runs in the cloud at one web address that AI apps connect to.
- MSP (managed service provider)
- A company that runs IT for other businesses for a recurring fee: help desk, devices, security, backup and cloud services.
- OAuth 2.1
- The sign-in standard AI apps use to connect to StackTether. The app gets short-lived tokens for one person, without ever seeing that person's password. PKCE is a part of it that stops a stolen sign-in code from being used by someone else.
- PHI (protected health information)
- Health information about a patient that US law (HIPAA) protects. MSPs with medical or dental clients may find it in tickets. StackTether does not store record content, but the AI app receives the answers.
- Primary and secondary PSA
- An MSP can connect two PSAs. Searches ask the primary first, then the secondary; each record ID shows its source, such as
autotask:orbms:. - Prompt injection
- Text hidden in data (for example, inside a ticket) that tries to give an AI new instructions. StackTether marks vendor text as data, not instructions, and every tool is read-only.
- PSA (professional services automation)
- The system an MSP runs its service desk on: tickets, clients, contacts, time entries, projects and contracts. Examples: Kaseya BMS, Autotask PSA, ConnectWise PSA and HaloPSA.
- Read-only
- Able to look at data but not change it. Every StackTether tool is read-only.
- RLS (Row Level Security)
- A database feature that filters every query, so a user only ever gets rows that belong to their own tenant. StackTether uses it on every table that holds tenant data.
- RMM (remote monitoring and management)
- Software that watches and manages client devices: online status, alerts, patching and scripts. Examples: NinjaOne and Datto RMM, both coming soon to StackTether.
- SOC 2
- An independent audit report on a service company's security controls. StackTether does not have one today.
- Tenant
- One customer business on a shared platform, with its own users, settings and data kept apart from every other tenant. On StackTether, each MSP is a tenant.
- Tool
- A small, named action an AI app can call through MCP, such as
psa_search_tickets. StackTether's tool names are vendor-neutral, so they work the same on every PSA. - Vault
- Encrypted storage for secrets. StackTether keeps vendor API credentials in Supabase Vault and never shows them again after saving.