Terminology

Confab has two layers of language:

• UI language used in the product and user-facing docs
• domain language used in code, APIs, and shared types

This page defines the preferred terms for documentation so the learn site stays consistent.

Use These Terms In User-Facing Docs

Decision

Use decision for the main collaborative object users create and work in.

Examples:

• Create a new decision.
• Open the decision and review the options.

Question

Use question when describing the prompts participants answer about options.

Examples:

• Add a question for each option.
• Ask participants to rate feasibility.

Response

Use response for the input participants submit.

Examples:

• Review incoming responses.
• Compare responses across options.

Workspace

Use workspace for the container that holds related decisions.

Option

Use option for each alternative under consideration.

Team

Use team or participants for the people involved in a specific decision.

Domain Mappings

When technical documentation needs to refer to the underlying model, use these mappings on first mention.

UI term	Domain term	When to use the domain term
Decision	Confab	API, shared types, backend implementation, data model
Question	Prompt	API or domain reference
Response	Opinion	API or domain reference
Decision role	ConfabRole	Permission model and backend reference
Workspace role	WorkspaceRole	Permission model and backend reference
Attribute template	AttributeDef	Shared schema or technical reference

Preferred style on first technical mention:

• Decision (Confab)
• Question (Prompt)
• Response (Opinion)

Terms To Avoid In User-Facing Copy

Avoid these unless the page is explicitly technical:

• Confab as the main noun for a decision workflow
• Prompt instead of question
• Opinion instead of response

Also avoid using respondent and responder interchangeably in the same page. Prefer responder in user-facing guidance unless quoting code or domain types directly.

Role Names

Use these role names in docs exactly as they appear in the product model:

• Owner
• Editor
• Responder
• Viewer

If you are explaining permissions in a technical page, you can note that these are decision roles represented by ConfabRole in the shared domain model.

Editorial Rule

If a page is aimed at users, default to product language.

If a page is aimed at developers or operators, introduce the product term first and then map it to the domain term when needed.