Quick reference for technical terms used throughout this course. Don't worry about memorizing these now - refer back as needed.
A specialized AI personality with domain expertise (e.g., frontend, security). Defined in .agent.md files with YAML frontmatter containing at minimum a description field.
Application Programming Interface. A way for programs to communicate with each other.
Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment. Automated testing and deployment pipelines.
Command Line Interface. A text-based way to interact with software (like this tool!).
The amount of text an AI can consider at once. Like a desk that can only hold so much. When you add files, conversation history, and system prompts, they all take up space in this window.
A Python construct using the with statement that automatically handles setup and cleanup (like opening and closing files). Example: with open("file.txt") as f: ensures the file is closed even if an error occurs.
A commit message format that follows a standardized structure: type(scope): description. Common types include feat (new feature), fix (bug fix), docs (documentation), refactor, and test. Example: feat(auth): add password reset flow.
A Python decorator (@dataclass) that automatically generates __init__, __repr__, and other methods for classes that primarily store data. Used in the book app to define the Book class with fields like title, author, year, and read.
Metadata at the top of a Markdown file enclosed in --- delimiters. Used in agent and skill files to define properties like description and name in YAML format.
A pattern using wildcards to match file paths (e.g., *.py matches all Python files, *.js matches all JavaScript files).
JSON Web Token. A secure way to transmit authentication information between systems.
Model Context Protocol. A standard for connecting AI assistants to external data sources.
A Node.js tool that runs npm packages without installing them globally. Used in MCP server configurations to launch servers (e.g., npx @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem).
Open Web Application Security Project. An organization that publishes security best practices and maintains the "OWASP Top 10" list of most critical web application security risks.
Python Enhancement Proposal 8. The official style guide for Python code, covering naming conventions (snake_case for functions, PascalCase for classes), indentation (4 spaces), and code layout. Following PEP 8 makes Python code consistent and readable.
A script that runs automatically before each git commit. Can be used to run Copilot security reviews or code quality checks before code is committed.
A popular Python testing framework known for its simple syntax, powerful fixtures, and rich plugin ecosystem. Used throughout this course for testing the book app. Tests are run with python -m pytest tests/.
Running Copilot with -p flag for single commands without interaction.
Restrictions on how many requests you can make to an API within a time period. Copilot may temporarily limit responses if you exceed your plan's usage quota.
A conversation with Copilot that maintains context and can be resumed later.
A folder with instructions that Copilot automatically loads when relevant to your prompt. Defined in SKILL.md files with YAML frontmatter.
Commands starting with / that control Copilot (e.g., /help, /clear, /model).
A unit of text that AI models process. Roughly 4 characters or 0.75 words. Used to measure both input (your prompts and context) and output (AI responses).
Python annotations that indicate the expected types of function parameters and return values (e.g., def add_book(title: str, year: int) -> Book:). They don't enforce types at runtime but help with code clarity, IDE support, and static analysis tools like mypy.
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Standards published by W3C for making web content accessible to people with disabilities. WCAG 2.1 AA is a common compliance target.
YAML Ain't Markup Language. A human-readable data format used for configuration. In this course, YAML appears in agent and skill frontmatter (the --- delimited block at the top of .agent.md and SKILL.md files).