Glossary
Plain-English definitions of the words you meet when you connect an AI agent to your WhatsApp, Instagram, LinkedIn, Messenger, X or email accounts. Each entry starts with one sentence you can quote, then explains what it means for your business and how it works in Spaces.
Setting up an AI agent to answer customers brings a lot of new words at once. Some are technical, such as MCP and API keys. Some come from the platforms, such as the WhatsApp 24-hour window or LinkedIn InMail. Others describe how an account is kept safe, such as warm-up, pacing and daily limits.
You do not need to learn them all before you start. Look up a word when you meet it, and follow the related terms if you want to go deeper. Where we have a longer guide on the blog, each entry links to it.
#
- 24-hour window (Customer service window)
- The 24-hour window is the period after a customer's last message in which a business on the WhatsApp Business Platform can send free-form replies; after it closes, only approved templates can be sent until the customer writes again.
A
- AI agent
- An AI agent is an AI model, such as ChatGPT, Claude or Grok, that can take actions with tools you give it, like reading a message and sending a reply, rather than only chatting.
- API (Application programming interface)
- An API, or application programming interface, is a set of rules that lets one piece of software ask another to do something, such as send a message or list your conversations.
- API key
- An API key is a long secret code that proves to a service that a request comes from you, so it works like a password for software rather than for people.
C
- Card-free trial (No-card trial)
- A card-free trial lets you try a paid product without entering a card, so nothing is charged unless you choose to add one when the trial ends.
- Checkpoint (Security check, Verification code)
- A checkpoint is a security check a platform asks for before it lets an account carry on, such as a code sent by text or email, or a fresh sign-in.
- Comment-to-DM (Private reply)
- Comment-to-DM is answering a comment on your post with a private message to the person who wrote it, so details such as prices or bookings move out of public view.
- Connected account
- A connected account is one of your own messaging accounts, such as your WhatsApp number or Instagram profile, that you have linked to a service so an AI agent can read and reply to its conversations.
- Connection request (LinkedIn invitation)
- A connection request is a LinkedIn invitation asking someone to join your network, which, once accepted, lets you message them directly.
D
- Daily limit (Daily cap, Sending limit)
- A daily limit is the most messages, or new conversations, an account is allowed to send in one day before sending stops until the next day.
H
- Hand-over (Human handover, Handoff)
- A hand-over is when an AI agent stops replying in a conversation and passes it to a person, because the customer needs judgement, care or a decision the AI should not make.
I
- InMail
- InMail is a LinkedIn message you can send to someone you are not connected to, using InMail credits from your LinkedIn plan.
- Instagram message requests (Message requests folder)
- Instagram message requests are a separate folder where first messages from people you do not follow usually land, instead of your main inbox.
L
- Linked device
- A linked device is a computer, browser or service connected to your WhatsApp account from your phone, which can read and send messages from your number.
M
- MCP (Model Context Protocol)
- MCP, the Model Context Protocol, is an open standard that lets an AI agent connect to an outside service and use its tools, a bit like a universal plug between AI apps and the services they work with.
- MCP server
- An MCP server is the web address a service publishes so AI agents can find and use its tools through the Model Context Protocol.
- Message template (WhatsApp template, HSM)
- A message template is a pre-written WhatsApp message, approved by Meta, that a business on the WhatsApp Business Platform must use to start a conversation or write outside the 24-hour window.
N
- New conversation (New chat, New thread)
- A new conversation is a message you send to someone who has not written to you in that chat yet, as opposed to a reply in a conversation the other person started.
P
- Pacing (Message pacing)
- Message pacing means leaving a gap between messages and capping how many go out in an hour and a day, so an account sends at a speed a person could.
Q
- QR code linking
- QR code linking is connecting a WhatsApp account to another device or service by scanning a code on screen with the phone that holds the number.
R
- Routine (Automation)
- A routine is a rule that runs on its own, on a schedule or when something happens, such as sending a set reply when a message with a keyword arrives.
S
- Scheduled message
- A scheduled message is a message written now and sent automatically at a set local time later, such as an appointment reminder for the morning before.
W
- Warm-up (Account warm-up)
- Warm-up means starting a new or newly connected account with only a few new conversations a day and increasing slowly over a few weeks, so the platform sees normal behaviour rather than a sudden burst.
- Webhook
- A webhook is a message one service sends automatically to another's web address the moment something happens, such as a new customer message arriving.
- WhatsApp Business app
- The WhatsApp Business app is the free WhatsApp app for small businesses, which works like normal WhatsApp on your phone with extras such as a business profile, quick replies and away messages.
- WhatsApp Business Platform (WhatsApp Business API, WhatsApp Cloud API)
- The WhatsApp Business Platform is Meta's service for software to send and receive WhatsApp messages at scale, with approved templates, a 24-hour reply window and per-message fees.
- Workflow (Follow-up sequence, Sequence)
- A workflow is a short series of messages sent with a delay between each one, which stops as soon as the person replies.
FAQ
Who is this glossary for?
Business owners and their teams who want an AI agent to answer customer messages, without a technical background.
What is the most important term to understand first?
Start with AI agent, then connected account and daily limit. Together they explain what the agent does, which accounts it works on and how they are kept safer.
Are the Spaces details on these pages current?
They come from the same product reference the Spaces docs use, and the glossary was last reviewed on 2026-11-09. Limits are taken directly from the limits pages.
Where can I find the exact sending limits?
On the limits page, which lists every channel, with a page for each one.
Can I suggest a term?
Yes. Email hello@spacesos.com with the word you met and where you saw it.
Useful next: Sending limits by channel, How Spaces keeps accounts safe, AI agents that work with Spaces, Channels you can connect, Guides on the blog.