Glossary
Coldtea uses a small vocabulary. These are the terms you will see across the app and docs.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Agent | A CLI coding agent launched in a Coldtea terminal pane. Coldtea hosts the process; the agent still owns its own behavior. |
| Annotation | A comment attached to a terminal line, editor selection, or other visible workspace context. Use it for precise feedback. |
| Brew | An agent session in Coldtea. A brew can be quick local work or linked to a task. |
| Composer | The prompt surface for starting or guiding agent work in the active pane. |
| Diff | The actual file changes made in the project or worktree. Review the diff before trusting an agent summary. |
| Embedded editor | Coldtea's in-app code editor surface for reading files, selections, and changes near the terminal. |
| Implementation plan | A stored plan for task-linked work. Plans help reviewers understand the route before or after implementation. |
| Local API | Coldtea's localhost API used for desktop-to-agent coordination. It is not a public integration endpoint. |
| Matcha QA | Coldtea's QA surface and agent-assisted testing flow, available where configured. |
| MCP | Model Context Protocol. Coldtea uses MCP to expose task, terminal, label, and QA tools to launched agents where available. |
| Pane | A visible workspace surface, such as a terminal, editor, task view, QA view, or browser/review surface. |
| Project | A local Git repository opened in Coldtea. Most terminals, editors, and worktrees start from a project. |
| Session log | A task-linked note about what happened in an agent session: changes, checks, failures, and remaining work. |
| Tab | A lane of work inside the workspace. Tabs help keep the base project, worktrees, and task sessions apart. |
| Task | The team-facing unit of work. A task can hold the description, state, labels, assignee, plans, logs, and review context. |
| TeaHouse | The Coldtea team boundary for members, teams, task boards, integrations, and shared settings. |
| Worktree | A separate Git working directory tied to the same repository. It separates Git edits, not machine permissions. |
Easy mix-ups
| Do not confuse | Difference |
|---|---|
| Task and brew | A task is the durable record. A brew is the agent session doing work. |
| Pane and tab | A pane is one surface. A tab is a lane that can contain panes. |
| Worktree and sandbox | A worktree isolates Git checkout state. It does not isolate credentials, network, or local services. |
| GitHub integration and local Git | The integration supports Coldtea workflows. Your terminal still uses normal Git credentials and remotes. |
| TeaHouse access and provider access | TeaHouse membership controls Coldtea surfaces. GitHub, Linear, and other providers still enforce their own permissions. |
Next: core concepts or teams and security.