Glossary

Essential terms and concepts in the Composio ecosystem

Glossary

This glossary provides clear definitions for key terms and concepts used throughout the Composio documentation. Understanding these terms will help you better navigate our platform and documentation.

A

Action

A specific operation or function within a tool that accomplishes a defined task. Actions are the fundamental building blocks of tool functionality in Composio. For example, sending an email or creating a GitHub issue would be actions.

A powerful feature of the find_actions_by_use_case method that enables sophisticated searching for multiple tools needed to accomplish complex tasks. This mode helps AI agents identify combinations of tools that might be required for multi-step operations.

API Key

A secure authentication token used to identify and authorize requests to the Composio API. Keep this key confidential as it grants access to your Composio resources.

Apps

Third-party services or platforms that Composio integrates with, such as GitHub, Gmail, Slack, or Notion. Each app provides specific functionality that can be accessed through Composio’s tools and actions.

C

Connection

An authenticated link between an entity (user) and a specific external service through an integration. Connections represent successful authorization to access a service on behalf of a user and store necessary credentials securely.

Custom Tools

User-defined tools created within the Composio platform that extend functionality beyond the pre-built tools. These can be created using the @action decorator in Python, createAction in JavaScript, or by uploading OpenAPI specifications.

E

Entity

A representation of a unique user or service account in the Composio ecosystem. An entity serves as a secure container that holds all the third-party service connections and permissions for a single user.

H

Hosted Tools

Pre-built, maintained tools that Composio provides out-of-the-box, giving developers instant access to thousands of actions across hundreds of integrated apps. These tools are regularly updated and managed by the Composio team.

I

Integration

A configuration object that defines how Composio connects to an external service. It encapsulates authentication methods, permission scopes, and API specifications that determine how an AI agent can interact with the service.

L

LLM (Large Language Model)

An artificial intelligence model trained on vast amounts of text data, capable of understanding and generating human-like text. Composio enhances LLMs with tool-calling capabilities, allowing them to perform real-world actions.

LLM Framework

A software framework designed to work with large language models. Composio provides seamless integration with popular frameworks including:

  • LangChain
  • Autogen
  • OpenAI
  • CrewAI

Local Tools

Tools that execute within a developer’s environment, such as file operations or custom business logic, without requiring external API calls. These tools run in isolated workspaces for security and consistency.

P

Postprocessing

A powerful feature that transforms tool outputs after execution but before returning results to the LLM. This enables data filtering, formatting, and optimization to reduce token usage and improve response quality.

Preprocessing

A handler that modifies or validates parameters before a tool call is executed. This improves reliability by ensuring correct input formatting and reduces LLM hallucination by validating parameters.

S

Schema Processing

A sophisticated handler that customizes how tools are presented to LLMs by modifying the tool schema, description, or parameters. This gives developers fine-grained control over how LLMs interact with tools.

T

Tool

A modular component in Composio that provides specific functionality through a defined interface. Tools can be:

  • Hosted (pre-built by Composio)
  • Local (run in your environment)
  • Custom (created by developers)

Tool Calling

The process where an LLM intelligently selects and uses appropriate tools to accomplish tasks. This includes:

  • Tool selection based on task requirements
  • Parameter preparation and validation
  • Result handling and processing

Tool Registry

A centralized repository where tools are registered, versioned, and managed within Composio. The registry ensures tool discoverability and version control.

Toolset

A collection of tools managed through the ComposioToolSet class in the SDK. Toolsets can combine multiple types of tools (hosted, local, and custom) into a unified interface.

Trigger

An event-based mechanism that monitors specific activities in connected apps and notifies your AI agents in real-time via webhooks or websockets. Triggers enable reactive automation based on external events.

U

An intuitive method in Composio for discovering tools based on the task you want to accomplish. This natural language search helps developers find relevant tools without knowing exact tool names or specifications.

W

Webhook

A real-time HTTP callback mechanism that delivers notifications about events in Composio to external systems. Webhooks enable asynchronous communication and event-driven architectures.

White-Labelling

The ability to customize Composio’s appearance, branding, and user interface elements to match your application’s look and feel, creating a seamless user experience.

Workspace

An isolated execution environment for local tools. Composio supports multiple workspace types:

  • Host: Direct machine execution
  • Docker: Containerized environments
  • E2B: Serverless execution
  • Fly.io: Edge computing deployment

Each workspace type offers different benefits for security, scalability, and deployment.

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