reference
Plain-language definitions for terms you'll see in Pane's docs and in AI development tools in general. If something in our docs doesn't make sense, it should be here.
When one AI agent manages other agents for you. It picks up tasks, creates workspaces, starts agents, checks on them, and reports what needs your attention.
Read more →A tool that works with any AI agent, not just one. You're not locked into Claude Code, Codex, or any provider. If it runs in a terminal, it works.
Read more →A desktop tool that helps you run multiple AI coding agents in parallel. It handles workspace isolation, switching between agents, and git workflow.
Read more →When one AI agent coordinates others: breaking work into tasks, delegating to specialized agents, and combining results. Like a tech lead managing a team.
Read more →A secret key that proves you're allowed to connect to something. Generated automatically. Treat it like a password.
Command Line Interface. A program you control by typing commands in a terminal. Agents love CLIs because they're already typing commands all day.
Read more →The device you're sitting in front of. It shows the UI and sends your input to the host machine where the work actually happens.
Read more →A background program that runs quietly on your machine, doing work when asked. Pane's daemon manages your sessions and terminals behind the scenes.
Read more →A separate copy of your repository on its own branch. Each worktree shares the same git history but has its own files, so agents can work in parallel.
Read more →The machine that does the actual work: runs your code, agents, terminals, and git repos. Your code always stays on the host.
Read more →A network address (127.0.0.1) that only your own machine can reach. When something listens on loopback, nothing outside your machine can connect to it.
A standard that lets AI agents connect to external tools like GitHub, Linear, Jira, and Slack through one shared format.
Read more →An agent that coordinates other agents instead of doing the work itself. It decides what needs doing, assigns it, and checks that it got done.
Read more →In the Pane app, a pane is an isolated workspace for one task. Each pane can have its own git worktree, branch, and running agents.
A pane is a workspace (one task, one branch). A panel is a tab inside that workspace (one agent, one tool). Create panes for different features, panels for different tools on the same feature.
Read more →A tab inside a pane. Each panel runs its own terminal, agent, or tool. You can have multiple panels in the same pane.
A virtual terminal that lets programs run and control command-line tools as if they were in a real terminal window.
Secure Shell. A way to securely connect to another machine and run commands on it over the network.
A VPN service that creates a private network between your devices. Pane uses it for easy remote connections without opening ports.
Each agent gets its own folder, branch, and file copies. They can all work at the same time without overwriting each other.
Read more →Windows Subsystem for Linux. It lets you run a full Linux environment inside Windows, so you can use Linux tools without a separate machine.
Missing a term?
If you run into a word in our docs that doesn't make sense, let us know at github.com/dcouple/Pane. We'll add it here.
Last updated June 24, 2026