Glossary
Definitions for the main Next.js template, workspace, API access, and documentation terms.
SectionGeneral / Glossary
PurposeTemplate user documentation
Glossary
This glossary defines terms used by the template and its documentation. It is not a product-domain dictionary: after creating your own application, you can extend or replace it with terms from your domain.
Application and routing
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Template | The starter Next.js project with auth, workspaces, localization, API keys, documentation, and quality checks. |
| App Router | Next.js routing where pages, layouts, and route handlers live under src/app. |
| Public route | A route that can be opened without signing in, such as /, /auth/login, /docs, or /api/v1. |
| Protected route | A route that requires a valid Better Auth session. |
| Proxy | src/proxy.ts, which checks the public/protected route boundary before a page renders. |
| Feature Slice | The project structure where business logic for a feature lives under src/features/{feature}. |
| Server action | A server-side mutation that validates input, checks access, changes data, and refreshes cache state. |
| Application shell | The protected layout and navigation structure used by signed-in application pages. |
| Dashboard | The starter protected overview page that demonstrates the shell and should be replaced with product-specific content. |
Accounts and authentication
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Better Auth | The auth library used for users, sessions, OAuth providers, organizations, teams, and API keys. |
| Session | A confirmed sign-in for a user. Sessions allow protected routes and server actions to identify the actor. |
| OAuth provider | An external sign-in provider such as Google, GitHub, GitLab, VK, or Yandex. Only fully configured providers appear in the UI. |
| Connected account | A link between the current user and an OAuth provider on the account settings page. |
| Local automation auth | A local-only mode for Playwright and browser automation. It creates temporary users outside production only when explicitly enabled. |
| Danger zone | The account section for destructive actions such as deleting the current user account. |
Workspaces
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Workspace | The user-facing name for an application workspace. In the template, a workspace is backed by a Better Auth Organization. |
| Organization | The Better Auth model that stores workspace members, roles, teams, invitations, and API keys. |
| Organization key | The URL segment in /w/:organizationKey/.... It can be an organization slug or id. |
| Active workspace | The workspace selected in the user's current session. /dashboard redirects to it or to a deterministic fallback. |
| Member | A user who belongs to a workspace and has one of the built-in roles. |
| Role | A set of member permissions. The template includes owner, admin, and member. |
| Invitation | A request to join a workspace. Invitees can accept or reject it after signing in. |
| Team | An explicit subgroup inside a workspace. New workspaces do not create an automatic team; zero teams is a valid state. |
| Team-targeted invitation | An invitation that joins the accepted user to the workspace and to one selected team. |
| Allowed email domains | A workspace setting that allows invitations only for configured email domains and warns about existing out-of-policy members. |
| Zero-workspace onboarding | The experience shown to users with no accessible workspaces. It keeps workspace creation and personal invitation review available. |
| Workspace settings | Dedicated section pages for workspace details, users, invitations, teams, roles, and workspace API keys. |
API and integrations
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| API key | A key for machine access to /api/v1. Browser cookies are not accepted for these routes. |
| API v1 | The starter external API surface authenticated by API keys and returned through stable JSON envelopes. |
| Personal API key | A user-owned key. It acts as the owner and can read workspace data only while that user remains a workspace member. |
| Organization API key | A workspace-owned key. It acts as one organization and is managed from workspace settings. |
| Permission preset | A reusable group of API key scopes. Product teams can extend presets with their own permissions. |
| Scope | A concrete API key permission checked before a route handler returns data. |
| Rate limit | A request-frequency limit applied to an API key. |
| JSON envelope | The common API response shape: { data: ... } for success and { error: { code, message } } for handled errors. |
Localization, cache, and documentation
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
PUBLIC_DEFAULT_LOCALE | The environment variable that sets the default app and documentation locale. If unsupported, the template falls back to en. |
| Locale variant | A documentation file with a locale suffix, such as index.en.md or index.ru.md. |
| Fallback language marker | The documentation UI marker shown when the page content is not available in the selected interface locale. |
| Cache Components | The Next.js caching mode used by the template for server rendering and cached data access. |
| Remote cache | Optional Redis/Valkey storage for Cache Components and ISR, enabled with REMOTE_CACHING_ENABLED=true. |
| OpenSpec | Requirements under openspec/specs that describe user-visible behavior and drive E2E coverage. |
| OpenSpec-backed E2E | Playwright scenarios under e2e/specs/<capability> that mirror an OpenSpec capability. |
| Settings shell | The shared layout pattern used by account and workspace settings pages. |
Related pages
- Template documentation - overview of the available sections.
- Quick start - first local setup flow.
- Workspace - workspace model and user-facing flows.
- API access - API keys and
/api/v1. - For developers - extension workflow for teams using the template.
- Releases - published change history.