Glossary
Short answer: the words StackTether uses in the portal and these guides, in plain language.
- AI access
- The admin page where an MSP chooses which AI apps may connect and sets AI safeguards. See AI access.
- AI app
- An assistant such as Claude, ChatGPT or Perplexity that connects to StackTether to read your PSA.
- API user
- A user in a vendor's system made only for an integration, with no screen login. StackTether needs one per vendor, with view-only rights.
- Approval
- Your OK on the consent page that lets one AI app act as you. Lasts 30 days for cloud apps and 7 for local apps.
- Audit log
- The admin-only record of every AI tool call: who, which tool and app, outcome, record IDs, IP address and time. Never content.
- Call budget
- The number of tool calls or PSA requests allowed per minute or hour. See Call budgets.
- Cloud app / local app
- A cloud app calls StackTether from the AI vendor's servers. A local app runs on a tech's own computer (Claude Code, VS Code, Cursor desktop).
- Connector, connector address
- What AI apps call StackTether once added. The address is
https://app.stacktether.com/api/mcp. - Connection
- One saved set of vendor credentials on Connections, for example your Autotask PSA.
- Consent page
- The StackTether page that opens when an AI app connects, showing the app, where it sends you back to and who it acts as, with Approve and Deny.
- Fresh 2FA code (step-up)
- A code typed at the moment of a sensitive action, in addition to the one used at sign-in.
- Kill switch
- Disconnect all AI apps now: ends every AI connection in your MSP at once.
- MCP (Model Context Protocol)
- The open standard AI apps use to call outside tools. StackTether is a remote MCP server.
- MSP
- Managed service provider. Each MSP is one separate account (tenant) on StackTether.
- Primary admin
- The one admin other admins cannot change, pause, reset or delete.
- Primary and secondary PSA
- Up to two PSA connections; tools ask the primary first. See Primary and secondary PSA.
- PSA
- Professional services automation: the ticketing, CRM and time system an MSP runs on, such as Kaseya BMS or Autotask.
- Read-only
- Can search and view, never create, change or delete. Every StackTether tool is read-only today.
- Record ID
- The number of a record, such as a ticket number. With two PSAs, IDs carry a prefix like
bms:orautotask:. - Tool
- One action an AI app can call, such as
psa_search_tickets. See Tools reference. - Travel override
- Extra countries for one member's local apps for a set number of days.
- Vendor access
- The per-person switch that lets that person's AI apps use a connection. Off by default.
- Watch mode
- A safeguard that only counts what it would have blocked, until an admin clicks Enforce.