Introduction
This glossary defines the key terms and concepts used across Novu documentation, the Dashboard, and the API. Terms are grouped by topic and listed alphabetically within each section. For deeper guides, see the Core Concepts pages. If you need help with a term not listed here, reach out to our support team or join the Novu community.Core lifecycle
Event / Trigger
An API request (typically toPOST /v1/events/trigger) that starts a workflow for one or more recipients. A trigger includes a workflowId, a to field (subscriber, topic, or broadcast target), and optional payload, context, actor, and overrides.
Novu bills one event per subscriber resolved from the trigger, even if a notification is later filtered by preferences or step conditions. See Trigger and Notification event.
Job
A unit of work created for each workflow step during execution. Jobs move through statuses such asPENDING, QUEUED, RUNNING, COMPLETED, FAILED, DELAYED, MERGED, SKIPPED, and CANCELED. See Trigger.
Message
The rendered output delivered on a channel—for example, an email body, SMS text, push notification, or in-app item. A single notification can produce multiple messages across different channel steps. See Notification event.Notification
The container that tracks one trigger execution for one subscriber. It holds the trigger payload, subscriber details, jobs, messages, and delivery status for that execution. One trigger to one subscriber creates one notification. See Notification event.Payload
Dynamic JSON data passed at trigger time. Payload values personalize templates ({{payload.*}}), drive step conditions, and configure action steps such as digest grouping keys. Payload is distinct from controls, which are dashboard-editable step settings in Framework workflows.
Step
A node in a workflow. Steps are either channel steps (in_app, email, sms, push, chat) that deliver messages, or action steps (delay, digest, throttle, http_request, custom) that control execution flow. See Add and configure steps.
Workflow
An environment-scoped orchestration definition that determines what to send, when, and on which channels. Workflows are identified by an immutableidentifier used in API triggers, composed of ordered steps, and can include a payload schema, channel preferences, and tags. See Workflows.
Recipients and targeting
Actor
A subscriber referenced at trigger time or in in-app message templates—not necessarily the notification recipient.- Trigger actor: Optional field on a trigger representing who performed an action (for example, who commented on a post). Powers template variables like
{{actor.firstName}}. When triggering to a topic, the actor can be excluded from the fan-out. - Display actor: In-app message configuration that controls the avatar or icon shown on a notification.
subscriberId is not the same as the recipient’s subscriberId.
Broadcast
A trigger mode that sends a workflow to all subscribers in an environment, instead of targeting specific subscribers or topics.Subscriber
An entity designated to receive notifications, uniquely identified bysubscriberId within an environment. Subscribers can be created ahead of time or just-in-time when a workflow is triggered. They store profile data, channel endpoints, timezone, and preferences. Subscribers are notification recipients—they are not the same as team members, who access the Dashboard. See Subscribers.
Subscription
A topic-level, condition-based opt-in layer. Subscribers on a topic can define rules evaluated against the trigger payload before delivery—for example, only notify when a price threshold is met. See Subscription.Topic
A named group of subscribers used to fan out a workflow with a single trigger. The topic is referenced by its immutabletopicKey in the trigger to field. Novu creates one billed event per topic subscriber. See Topics.
Delivery
Channel
A communication medium used to deliver notifications: in-app (Inbox), email, SMS, push, or chat. Channel steps require valid subscriber channel data and an active integration, except for in-app, which is handled internally by Novu.Credential
Encrypted authentication and configuration values stored on an integration—for example, API keys, OAuth tokens, and sender addresses.Inbox
Novu’s in-app notification UI and client SDK component (<Inbox />). The Inbox delivers in_app channel messages, unread counts, preferences, tabs, snooze, and delivery schedules. It is not a third-party provider. See Inbox.
Integration
An environment-scoped, configured connection to a third-party provider. Integrations store credentials, active/primary flags, and channel settings required for external channel delivery. The in-app channel does not require a third-party integration. See Integrations.Layout
An HTML wrapper used to structure email notifications. Layouts can be shared across workflows and published between environments. See Email layouts.Provider
A third-party service responsible for delivering notifications on a channel—for example, SendGrid for email, Twilio for SMS, or Firebase Cloud Messaging for push. An integration is your configured instance of a provider. See the full list in Integrations.Workflow logic
Controls
Dashboard-editable fields defined by JSON Schema or Zod in Novu Framework workflows. Controls let non-technical users change step content, styling, or behavior without code changes. Controls are distinct from trigger payload.Delay step
An action step that pauses workflow execution for a fixed duration, until a scheduled time, or until a dynamic payload value. See Delay step.Digest step
An action step that batches multiple trigger events into one downstream execution per digest window. Supports regular, backoff, and timed digest modes, with optional grouping beyondsubscriberId. See Digest step.
HTTP step
An action step that calls an external API during workflow execution. Response fields are available to later steps via{{steps.<stepId>.<field>}}. See HTTP step.
Step conditions
Rule-based logic that determines whether a step runs or is skipped, based on subscriber data, payload, context, or previous step results. Formerly called step filters. See Step conditions.Throttle step
An action step that limits how many times a workflow may continue within a time window. When the limit is reached, downstream steps are skipped. See Throttle step.Preferences and control
Critical workflow
A workflow marked as critical whose channel preferences are not shown to subscribers. Critical notifications bypass normal opt-out, though delivery schedules may still apply to some channels.Preference
Rules that control whether notifications are sent on a channel. Novu supports workflow channel preferences, subscriber global preferences, subscriber per-workflow preferences, and subscription-scoped preferences. See Preferences.Trigger overrides
Per-trigger customizations that override default template content or integration settings at the workflow or step level. See Trigger overrides.Multi-tenancy
Context
Multi-dimensional metadata passed at trigger time as{ type: id | { id, data } }—for example, tenant, app, or region. Context data is available in templates ({{context.tenant.data.name}}), step conditions, Inbox filtering, and Activity Feed search. You can pass up to five contexts per trigger. See Manage contexts.
Tenant
A legacy multi-tenancy approach using environment-scoped tenant entities and subscriber ID prefixing. For new implementations, prefer contexts. See Multi-tenancy.Environments and account
Application identifier
The public, environment-scoped key used by client SDKs and the Inbox to connect to Novu. Safe to expose in frontend code. Each environment has its own application identifier.Environment
An isolated scope for workflows, subscribers, integrations, and other Novu data. By default, Novu provides Development and Production environments. Team and Enterprise plans also support custom environments such as staging or QA. Environment-specific resources (not shared between environments):- Activity feed
- API keys (application identifier and secret key)
- Integrations
- Subscribers
- Topics
- Webhooks
Organization
The top-level Novu account that owns environments, workflows, and team access. Managed through the Novu Dashboard.Publish
The process of promoting changes to workflows, layouts, and translations from the Development environment to Production or custom environments. Subscribers, integrations, and topics are environment-specific and are not published. See Environments.Team member
A person with access to the Novu Dashboard to manage workflows, integrations, and settings. Team members have roles within an organization. They are not the same as subscribers, who receive notifications.Observability
Activity Feed
The Dashboard observability surface for an environment, including workflow runs, API request traces, and agent conversations. See Monitor and debug workflow.Transaction ID
A unique identifier (transactionId) for one trigger execution. Used for tracing across the Activity Feed, logs, and APIs. Can be supplied at trigger time for idempotency or cancellation.
Workflow run
A single execution of a workflow for one subscriber, visible in the Activity Feed with trigger payload, context, status, and per-step execution details.Code-first workflows and agents
ACI (Agent Communication Infrastructure)
Novu’s two-way agent messaging layer across channels such as Slack, Teams, WhatsApp, email, and Telegram. ACI handles inbound channel events, conversation history, and delivery—separate from the agent brain that decides how an agent responds. See What is ACI and Inbound Email.Inbound Email
Novu feature for receiving mail on verified domains and routing messages to agents or webhook endpoints viaemail.received. Not the same as Email Activity Tracking (outbound provider delivery events). See Inbound Email.
Agent brain
The system that decides how an agent responds. It can be powered by an LLM, custom code, a rules engine, a human-in-the-loop workflow, or a combination of systems. The agent brain is separate from message delivery, which is handled by ACI.Bridge / Bridge endpoint
An HTTP endpoint in your application that Novu Cloud calls for Novu Framework workflow discovery, preview, and execution. Dashboard-built workflows use Novu’s shared bridge endpoint instead.Novu Framework
The code-first SDK (@novu/framework) for defining workflows in TypeScript with typed payload and controls schemas. See Novu Framework.