Reference

Bot-Building Glossary

Short, plain-English definitions for the terms used throughout BotBuild Notes.

How to use this page

If a guide uses a term you do not recognize, find it here first. The examples show how the term appears in a real bot project rather than only giving a dictionary definition.

API
Application Programming Interface. A documented way for programs to request data or actions from another service.Example: A bot uses a broker API to read positions or place a demo order.
Endpoint
A specific API URL or path that performs one job.Example: /api/health can report service health while /api/submit accepts a form submission.
HTTP request
A message sent to a web server using a method such as GET or POST.Example: TradingView can send a POST request to a webhook URL.
Webhook
An HTTP request sent automatically when an event occurs.Example: An alert fires and sends JSON to your Worker.
JSON
A text format for structured data using objects, arrays, strings, numbers, booleans and null.Example: {"symbol":"BTCUSD","action":"buy"}
REST API
A common style of HTTP API built around resources, URLs, methods and responses.Example: GET positions, POST order, DELETE cancellation.
WebSocket
A persistent two-way connection used for continuous updates.Example: Streaming prices without repeatedly polling an HTTP endpoint.
Polling
Repeatedly asking a service whether something changed.Example: Requesting open positions every few seconds.
Authentication
Proving who or what is making a request.Example: API token, session token, signature or shared secret.
Authorization
Determining what an authenticated caller is allowed to do.Example: A read-only key may read prices but not place orders.
API key / token
A credential used by software to authenticate or authorize requests.Example: Store it as a secret, not in public JavaScript.
Secret
Sensitive configuration that should not be exposed publicly.Example: Broker password, Turnstile secret key, webhook signing secret.
Environment variable
A value supplied to a process outside the source code.Example: BROKER_API_KEY can be read by Python without hard-coding it.
Cloudflare Worker
Serverless JavaScript/TypeScript code that runs on Cloudflare when requests or scheduled events arrive.Example: Validate a public webhook before forwarding it.
VPS
Virtual Private Server: a virtual computer running in a data center.Example: Run a Python service 24/7 with systemd.
systemd
A Linux service manager used to start, stop, restart and supervise processes.Example: Restart a Python bot after a VPS reboot.
Docker
A container system that packages an application with its runtime and dependencies.Example: Run the same service image across development and VPS environments.
State
Information a bot remembers between events or restarts.Example: Processed event IDs, last signal time, open workflow status.
SQLite
A small relational database stored in a file and accessed without a separate database server.Example: Store event IDs and decisions for a single VPS bot.
D1
Cloudflare’s serverless SQL database built on SQLite semantics.Example: Store moderated community submissions for a Worker.
Idempotency
Designing an operation so repeating the same request does not create an unintended duplicate effect.Example: Reject an event_id that was already processed.
Rate limit
A limit on how many requests are allowed in a time window.Example: An API may return HTTP 429 when the limit is exceeded.
Backoff
Waiting progressively longer before retrying a temporary failure.Example: 1s, 2s, 4s instead of hammering the API.
Timeout
The maximum time a program waits for an operation before giving up.Example: A broker request may time out even though the remote server later completes it.
Heartbeat
A periodic signal that proves a service is still running.Example: Update a timestamp every minute.
Health check
An endpoint or test reporting whether a service is operational.Example: /api/health returns {"ok":true}.
Broker adapter
A small layer translating your internal order/position model into one broker’s specific API format.Example: Strategy calls place_order(); the adapter handles broker-specific fields.
Demo / paper trading
A simulated or non-live environment used to test behavior without normal live-market financial exposure.Example: Test authentication and order lifecycle before live mode.
Backtest
Running a strategy against historical data.Example: Useful for historical behavior, but not proof of future performance.
Expert Advisor (EA)
A program that runs inside MetaTrader to automate analysis or trading logic.Example: An MQL5 EA can process ticks and submit MT5 orders.
MQL4 / MQL5
Programming languages used for MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 respectively.Example: Write Expert Advisors, indicators and scripts.
Pine Script
TradingView’s language for indicators and strategies.Example: Create an alert condition that later sends a webhook.
Turnstile
Cloudflare’s human/bot verification service for web forms and other interactions.Example: Verify the browser token on the Worker using Siteverify.
CORS
Browser rules controlling which origins may call a web API from frontend JavaScript.Example: Allow souhpatjavri.org to call community-api.souhpatjavri.org.