AI Agent Glossary

Key terms and definitions for the AI agent ecosystem — from agent definitions and MCP servers to prompt engineering and versioning.

hub

Core Concepts

2 terms

Agent Definition

A Markdown file with YAML frontmatter that defines an AI agent's persona, capabilities, workflow, and rules.

AI Agent

A reusable set of instructions that gives an AI tool a specific persona, expertise, and workflow.

verified

Standards & Protocols

3 terms

Agent Skills

An open specification for portable AI tool capabilities that work across 40+ AI coding assistants.

Model Context Protocol (MCP)

An open standard that lets AI assistants connect to external tools, data sources, and services through a unified protocol.

Semantic Versioning (SemVer)

A versioning scheme using MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH format that communicates the nature of changes between releases.

extension

Integrations

1 term

MCP Server

A server that implements the Model Context Protocol, giving AI assistants access to external tools, databases, and APIs.

psychology

Techniques

1 term

Prompt Engineering

The practice of designing and refining instructions given to AI models to get accurate, useful, and consistent outputs.

data_object

Formats

1 term

YAML Frontmatter

A block of YAML metadata at the top of a Markdown file, delimited by triple dashes (---), used to store structured data like title, description, and version.