Glossary
Plain definitions for every On Belay term. One source of truth, so the rest of the help center can stay short.
New to On Belay? Start with Core concepts for how these pieces fit together.
Approval request
A formal request raised when an action needs a human's go-ahead before it runs. Claude files one with the request_approval tool; org owners approve or deny it from the dashboard or Slack. Each request carries a risk level — low, medium, or high.
Audit log
The org's record of what happened — every governed action, who (or what) did it, and when. Actions are attributed to a user, a Service Identity, the system, or a legacy agent. Audit records persist even after the people or groups involved change.
Claude role
Plain-text instructions on a functional group that shape how Claude behaves for everyone in that team — its job, tone, and standing rules. Edited in the group's Claude Role tab; changes take effect on the next context call.
Custom agent
A configured task that Claude runs on your behalf — manually or on a schedule. An active agent runs as exactly one principal, and that principal's group memberships decide what the agent can touch. See Custom agents.
Enforcement mode
A per-group, per-integration setting that controls how the operation allowlist is applied. passthrough (the default) does not gate individual operations; enforce restricts the group to only the operations on its allowlist. See Functional groups & permissions.
Fieldset
A packaged capability that runs on top of On Belay's governance layer — like Merchandising or Customer Analytics. Every fieldset is included in your base plan, with no per-fieldset or usage charges. See Fieldsets.
Functional group
A team — Marketing, Engineering, Finance — and the core unit of On Belay. A group bundles a Claude role, a strategy, people guidelines, integration access, and members. People can belong to more than one group; Claude sees the combined context. See Functional groups & permissions.
Integration
A connection to a third-party tool, such as Shopify, HubSpot, Klaviyo, or Slack. Connected once at the org level, then granted to groups. See Integrations overview.
MCP
The Model Context Protocol — the open standard Claude uses to call On Belay's tools. On Belay runs an MCP server at https://app.onbelay.ai/api/mcp. See Connecting Claude (MCP).
Operation
A single named API action inside an integration — for example "list orders" or "create deal." Group access is set per operation, not just per integration.
Organization
Your company's account in On Belay. It holds your people, groups, integrations, custom agents, and billing. Everything is scoped to the org; one org never sees another's data.
People Guidelines
A text field on a functional group that tells Claude how to treat the people on that team. Loaded into context alongside the Claude role.
Principal
The identity an action runs as: a User (a real person) or a Service Identity (a non-human identity). A group member is one or the other; an active custom agent runs as one. The principal's group memberships gate what it can access. See Core concepts.
Proxy
The layer that makes integration calls safe. Claude's calls route through On Belay's proxy, which attaches the credential server-side and forwards the request. Claude never sees a raw API key, and credentials never leave On Belay.
Service Identity
A non-human principal scoped to your org, used for work that isn't tied to one person — most often a custom agent's identity. It can be a group member and an agent's run-as principal. Status is active or archived.
Strategy
A text field on a functional group that captures the team's goals and priorities, so Claude's suggestions tie back to what the team actually cares about.
Trial
The 14-day free trial every new organization starts on, with full access. Set things up and use them for real before choosing a plan. Signed-in admins can read Plans, trial & billing in the help center for what happens after.