Glossary
The words below mean one thing each across Whorl. They are listed alphabetically.
Activity: The page that lists what needs your attention: mentions, Requests to you and updates on your work. See Activity.
Automation: A standing rule that wakes a Thread or Captain, or starts a new Thread, with a saved prompt on a schedule or when an event happens. See Automations.
Box: An app that lives in a Space, with its own code and a machine that stays on. See Boxes.
Calendar: Your events, from Outlook or from Whorl Calendar. See Calendar.
Captain: A named, lasting AI teammate for a whole Space, with a photo, its own email address and one shared conversation that never ends. See Captains.
Company Space: The Space every member of your company belongs to. See Spaces.
Connector: Whorl's link to one outside platform. Microsoft 365 comes first. People manage connectors on the Integrations settings page. See Microsoft 365.
Conversation: A chat or channel you take part in, such as a Teams chat. Not the same as a Thread. See Conversations.
Crew: The ordinary Threads a Captain starts for longer work. They sit under the Captain in the sidebar. See Captains.
Desk: A Captain's hidden background Thread, where its follow-ups, watches, routines and reviews wait and run. See Captains.
Digest: The pane beside a Thread or Captain that shows where its work stands: an overview, what needs you, tasks, what it made, usage and automations. See Threads.
Environment: The replaceable computer where a Thread's agent runs code and tools. Replacing it never loses the Thread or its files. See Environments.
File: A stored item in Files, such as a Word, PDF or Excel file, with every version kept. See Files.
Files: A Space's one tree of folders and files. Each Thread and Captain has its own folder there. See Files.
Huddle: A voice call, with optional camera and screen share, in a Thread, Captain, Note, Space or Conversation. See Huddles and meetings.
Mail: Your Outlook mailbox inside Whorl. See Mail.
MCP server: A connection that gives agents another service's tools. See Tools, MCP servers and connectors.
Note: A rich-text page that people and agents edit together, live, on the Notes page. Notes do not appear in Files. See Notes.
Personal Space: One person's permanently private Space. See Spaces.
Plugin: A versioned folder that bundles skills, tools, MCP server connections and a panel. See Plugins.
Portal: A signed-in live view of a service running in a Thread's Environment. See Portals.
Reminder: A Wait that posts a Note mentioning the people it names when it comes due. See Automations.
Request: Work a person hands to another person or a Captain, with an answer expected. Agents do not open Requests. They tag the person in the Thread. See Activity.
Run: One attempt by an agent to move a Thread or Captain forward.
Secret: A key or token stored encrypted. Tools read it by name, and nobody can see it again. See Secrets.
Shared Space: A Space with its own members and owners. See Spaces.
Skill: Reusable instructions for doing a task the same way each time. See Skills.
Space: The only container in Whorl, and the boundary of who can see what. There are three kinds: Company, Personal and Shared. See Spaces.
Subagent: A helper an agent starts inside its own Thread to do part of the work and return one answer. It shares the Thread's Environment. See Threads.
Task: A piece of work a Thread or Captain tracks in the open, with a status and an owner. Tasks show in the Digest. See Threads.
Thread: One lasting conversation with an agent, and the unit of work. See Threads.
Wait: A one-time "wake me when this happens" that an agent sets about its own work, always with a timeout. See Automations.