# Glossary (/references/glossary)



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    **Target Audience:** Developers & Non technical users
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### TL;DR [#tldr]

Exhaustive definitions of the building blocks, security protocols, and data structures within the Toucan.ai ecosystem.

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### 1. Identity & Governance [#1-identity--governance]

* **Organization**: A secure group of users with shared access to databases, content, and permissions.
* **Workspace**: The collaborative environment within an organization where analytics content is managed.
* **Admin**: User role with full access to all features, including user and data management.
* **Maker**: User role that can create and modify charts and dashboards but cannot manage organization settings.
* **Explorer**: Read-only access to shared content; can interact with filters but cannot create content.

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### 2. Embedding & Security [#2-embedding--security]

* **API Key**: A secret credential issued by Toucan.ai required to sign and generate tokens server-side.
* **Token**: A server-side generated credential used for authenticating embedded visualizations.
* **Attributes**: Custom metadata (e.g., department, customer ID) included in a token to enforce row-level security.
* **Distinct Id**: A unique identifier within a token that scopes analytics and permissions to a specific user session.
* **Row-Level Security (RLS)**: Attribute-based rules that restrict data access at the row level, automatically enforced in every query.

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    **Critical Security Requirement:** API Keys are secret credentials. They must be used server-side only and never exposed in client-side code.
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### 3. Data [#3-data]

* **Database**: The external storage where raw data lives (SQL databases or data warehouses).
* **Table**: Structured data within a database consisting of records (rows) and attributes (columns).

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### 4. Content & Creation [#4-content--creation]

* **Chart**: A visual representation of data built from datasets and semantic definitions.
* **Dashboard**: A collection of charts and filters organized to answer specific business questions.
* **Filter**: A component that refines dashboard data by applying criteria to one or more charts.
* **AI-Assisted Creation**: The use of natural language to generate charts and queries based on the semantic layer.
* **Manual Creation**: Direct configuration of charts and dashboards for full control over metrics and layout.
* **Embedded Analytics**: Integration of analytics features directly into a host application.
* **Internal Analytics**: The use of the Toucan.ai interface for internal team data exploration.

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### 5. General Settings [#5-general-settings]

* **Variable**: A dynamic placeholder defined once and reused across configuration settings (e.g., database connections). At runtime, Toucan AI resolves the variable to inject context-specific values, such as customer or environment details.