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MCP, agent loop, orchestrator, sub-agent, grounding, guardrails the dozen terms that came out of nowhere and now define how AI is built.
Open standard enabling AI agents to connect tools, APIs, and data sources through a unified interface.
e.g. Claude connects to GitHub via MCP to read and write code autonomously.
The continuous reasoning cycle an AI agent runs sensing input, forming a plan, executing actions, then observing results.
e.g. An agent reads an error log, plans a fix, runs the code, and checks if tests pass.
The ability of an AI model to call external functions APIs, code runners, browsers to act on the real world.
e.g. Agent calls a weather API mid-conversation to answer 'Should I fly to NYC tomorrow?'
The top-level agent that breaks goals into subtasks and delegates them to specialized sub-agents.
e.g. A coding orchestrator dispatches a test agent, a lint agent, and a deploy agent in parallel.
A focused AI agent that executes one specific task within a larger multi-agent pipeline.
e.g. A 'summarizer' subagent condenses 50 research papers before the main agent synthesizes insights.
How agents retain and retrieve information in-context (temporary) or via external stores (persistent).
e.g. Agent recalls your coding style from a previous session stored in a vector database.
Connecting AI outputs to verified external data sources to reduce hallucination and improve accuracy.
e.g. Agent cites live stock prices from Bloomberg API instead of generating numbers from training data.
Rules and constraints that prevent agents from taking harmful, unauthorized, or out-of-scope actions.
e.g. Agent is blocked from deleting production databases even if instructed to 'clean everything up.'
Isolated environment where agents run code without risk of affecting the host system or production.
e.g. Claude Code runs user scripts in a Docker container before applying changes to the actual repo.
A design pattern where agents pause and request human confirmation before executing high-stakes actions.
e.g. Agent drafts a client email but waits for your approval before hitting send.
The maximum amount of text an agent can read and reason over in a single interaction its attention span.
e.g. A 200K token window lets an agent read an entire codebase before writing a single line.
A system where multiple specialized AI agents collaborate, each handling different tasks to solve complex goals faster and more reliably.
e.g. One agent researches, one writes, one fact-checks all coordinated by an orchestrator.
The GenAI vocabulary already shifted.If you’re building agents in 2026, these are the dozen terms you need to know. For deeper definitions, see our full AI & software glossary.
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