Glossary¶
Quick reference for terms used across the vibe coding trail and the GitHub Copilot series.
Agent mode¶
The mode in GitHub Copilot where the AI acts autonomously - it reads files, writes code, runs commands, and fixes errors, continuing until the task is done. You describe the goal; the agent figures out the steps.
API (Application Programming Interface)¶
A defined way for two pieces of software to talk to each other. When your app needs to send data to a server, or get data back, it does so through an API. You do not usually need to build APIs by hand - the vibe coding skills generate them for you.
App Registration¶
An entry in AFRY's identity system (Microsoft Entra ID) that represents your application. It is what allows your app to use "Sign in with AFRY" - the identity system needs to know your app exists before it will issue login tokens to it. Managed by AFRY IT admins.
Authentication (Auth)¶
The process of verifying who a user is - typically by asking them to sign in. In the vibe coding trail, authentication is handled by Microsoft Entra ID (AFRY's identity platform), so users sign in with their existing AFRY credentials.
Azure¶
Microsoft's cloud platform. Azure provides the servers, storage, databases, and networking that your deployed app runs on. AFRY uses Azure as its standard cloud environment. See also: Resource group, SWA, Azure Functions, Cosmos DB.
Azure CLI (az)¶
A command-line tool that lets you manage Azure resources from a terminal. The command is az. The vibe coding skills use it to create and configure Azure services on your behalf. You install it once and log in with az login.
Azure AI Foundry¶
Microsoft's platform for building and deploying AI models on Azure. When the vibe coding trail connects your app to a language model, it uses an Azure OpenAI resource provisioned through Foundry.
Azure Functions¶
A way to run small pieces of server-side code in Azure without managing a full server. When your app needs a backend - for example, to talk to a database or call an AI model - Azure Functions is how the vibe coding skills add one.
Branch¶
A separate line of development in a Git repository. Creating a branch lets you work on a new feature or change without touching the main version of the project. When you are done, you merge the branch back in.
CI/CD (Continuous Integration / Continuous Deployment)¶
An automated pipeline that builds and deploys your app every time you push code to GitHub. Once set up, you never manually deploy again - every push to the main branch triggers a fresh deployment automatically.
Commit¶
A saved snapshot of your project at a specific point in time, with a short message describing what changed. Commits are the building blocks of Git history.
Cosmos DB¶
Microsoft Azure's cloud database service. In the vibe coding trail, it is the database that stores your app's shared data. Managed entirely by Azure - you never set up or maintain a server yourself.
Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory / Azure AD)¶
AFRY's identity platform, managed by Microsoft. It is the system behind "Sign in with your AFRY account". When you add authentication to your app, Entra ID is what checks credentials and issues login tokens.
Git¶
The version control tool installed on your computer. It tracks every change you make to your project files, lets you roll back to any earlier state, and coordinates work when multiple people contribute to the same project.
GitHub¶
The cloud platform that hosts Git repositories. GitHub adds collaboration features (pull requests, code review, issue tracking) and automation (GitHub Actions). AFRY's code lives in GitHub under several organisations.
GitHub Actions¶
An automation system built into GitHub. It runs workflows - scripts that build, test, and deploy your app - triggered automatically whenever you push code. The vibe coding deploy skill sets up a GitHub Actions workflow so your app redeploys on every push.
GitHub CLI (gh)¶
A command-line tool for automating GitHub platform actions from a terminal. The command is gh. Used by the vibe coding deploy skill to create repositories, set secrets, and trigger deployments. Install it once and log in with gh auth login.
GitHub Enterprise Managed Users (EMU)¶
AFRY's GitHub setup. Your GitHub account is created and managed by AFRY through Entra ID - not a personal account. EMU accounts are scoped to AFRY's enterprise and cannot access or publish content outside it.
LLM (Large Language Model)¶
The type of AI model that powers GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, and similar tools. An LLM can understand text and generate text - explaining things, writing code, summarising documents, answering questions. In the vibe coding trail, the final step connects your app to an LLM via Azure OpenAI.
MCP (Model Context Protocol)¶
A protocol that lets Copilot call external tools and services during a conversation. An MCP server exposes a set of tools - for example, looking up a colleague's profile, uploading a file, or querying a database. Once configured, Copilot can use those tools automatically in Agent mode.
MCP tools¶
See MCP (Model Context Protocol).
Node.js¶
A runtime that lets JavaScript run outside a browser - on your computer or on a server. Many tools in the vibe coding stack (Vite, npm packages, Azure Functions) require Node.js to be installed.
npm¶
The package manager that comes with Node.js. Used to install the libraries your app depends on (npm install) and to run development scripts (npm run dev).
Pull request (PR)¶
A request to merge changes from one branch into another in a GitHub repository. Pull requests are where code review happens - team members can comment, suggest changes, and approve before the code is merged.
Python¶
A programming language widely used for scripting, data analysis, and automation. Some Copilot tools and MCP servers require Python to be installed.
React¶
The JavaScript library used to build the user interface of your vibe coding app. You do not write React code manually - the vibe-create-web-app skill generates it for you. React makes it easy to build interactive web pages.
Repository (repo)¶
A project folder managed by Git, with its full change history stored alongside the files. Your vibe coding project lives in a repository hosted on GitHub.
Resource¶
A single Azure service - for example, a Static Web App, a database, a Functions app, or a storage account. Resources live inside a resource group.
Resource group¶
A container in Azure that groups related resources together. All the Azure services for a single project - the web app, the database, the functions - typically live in the same resource group. You need a resource group before you can deploy anything to Azure. Request one from AFRY IT admins.
Skill¶
A markdown file that gives Copilot a set of specialised instructions for a specific task. Skills are on-demand - you invoke one by mentioning its name in a prompt. The vibe coding skills (vibe-create-web-app, vibe-deploy-app, etc.) are examples. They live in the Brave Copilot repository.
SWA (Azure Static Web App)¶
The Azure service that hosts the front end of your vibe coding app. It serves your web pages from a global CDN (content delivery network), meaning pages load fast regardless of where your users are. It also has built-in support for authentication and for linking to an Azure Functions backend.
Tailwind CSS¶
A toolkit for styling web pages, used by the vibe-create-web-app skill. Instead of writing stylesheets, you add short class names to your HTML elements and Tailwind handles the visual result.
Terminal¶
A text-based window where you type commands and see output. In VS Code, open it with Ctrl+ . The vibe coding trail uses the terminal to run install and start commands, and Copilot uses it to run Git and Azure CLI commands on your behalf.
Token (AI)¶
The unit of text that AI models process. Roughly, a token is about three-quarters of a word. Models charge by token - both input (what you send) and output (what they generate). Longer conversations and more complex tasks use more tokens.
Vibe coding¶
A way of building software by describing what you want in plain language and letting an AI assistant do the coding. No prior programming experience required - the skill is in describing the outcome clearly.
Vite¶
A fast development server and build tool for web apps. When you run npm run dev, Vite starts a local server so you can preview your app in a browser while you build it. It also compiles and bundles your app for deployment.