--- title: Glossary slug: glossary type: explanation plugin: huxx-connect summary: Definitions for every term HuxxConnect uses, from API and endpoint to encryption tier and sync mode, with links to the pages where each one matters. keywords: [glossary, terminology, definitions] version_added: 1.2.5 version_updated: 1.2.5 level: beginner related: [what-is-an-api, how-huxxconnect-works] --- This page defines every term HuxxConnect uses in its admin screens and documentation. Each entry links to the pages where the term does real work. When another docs page links a term, it lands on the matching heading here. ## API An API (Application Programming Interface) is a service on the web that hands out data or performs actions when software asks for them. In HuxxConnect, an API is a saved configuration: the service's base URL plus the credentials and defaults needed to talk to it. You create an API once, then attach any number of endpoints to it. Used in: [What is an API?](/docs/connect/explanation/what-is-an-api/), [Your First API Connection](/docs/connect/tutorial/your-first-api-connection/) ## endpoint An endpoint is one specific address within an API that returns one kind of data — for example, `/products` on DummyJSON. In HuxxConnect, an endpoint belongs to an API and adds its own path, HTTP method, parameters, and cache settings. You call endpoints by their IDs from shortcodes and PHP. Used in: [Your First API Connection](/docs/connect/tutorial/your-first-api-connection/), [Use Path Variables](/docs/connect/how-to/use-path-variables/) ## request A request is a single message your site sends to an endpoint: the HTTP method, the full URL, and any headers and body. HuxxConnect builds the request for you from the API and endpoint configuration plus anything you pass at display time. Used in: [How HuxxConnect Works](/docs/connect/explanation/how-huxxconnect-works/), [Debug API Requests](/docs/connect/how-to/debug-api-requests/) ## response A response is what the API sends back after a request — usually JSON, which HuxxConnect parses into data your site can display. A failed request produces an error response instead, which HuxxConnect logs and, by default, hides from site visitors. Used in: [How HuxxConnect Works](/docs/connect/explanation/how-huxxconnect-works/), [Display Data with Shortcodes](/docs/connect/how-to/display-data-with-shortcodes/) ## credentials Credentials are the secret values — tokens, keys, passwords — that prove your site is allowed to use an API. HuxxConnect encrypts credentials with AES-256-GCM before storing them, and masks them in logs and admin screens. Used in: [Understanding Authentication](/docs/connect/explanation/understanding-authentication/), [Store Credentials Outside the Database](/docs/connect/how-to/store-credentials-outside-the-database/) ## Bearer token Bearer token is an authentication type where a single token is sent in the request's `Authorization` header as `Bearer `. It is the most common style for modern APIs. Used in: [Authenticate with a Bearer Token](/docs/connect/how-to/authenticate-with-a-bearer-token/), [Authentication Types](/docs/connect/reference/authentication-types/) ## API key API key is an authentication type where a single secret string is sent with each request, either in a header or as a query parameter. HuxxConnect lets you set both the parameter name and the location (header or query). Used in: [Authenticate with an API Key](/docs/connect/how-to/authenticate-with-an-api-key/), [Authentication Types](/docs/connect/reference/authentication-types/) ## Basic Auth Basic Auth is an authentication type where a username and password travel with each request in the `Authorization` header, encoded together. Older APIs and many self-hosted services use it. Used in: [Authenticate with Basic Auth](/docs/connect/how-to/authenticate-with-basic-auth/), [Authentication Types](/docs/connect/reference/authentication-types/) ## base64 Base64 is a way of writing any data using only letters, digits, and a few symbols so it can travel safely inside text such as an HTTP header. It is an encoding, not encryption: anyone who sees a base64 value can decode it back to the original. Basic Auth uses it to package the username and password. Used in: [Understanding Authentication](/docs/connect/explanation/understanding-authentication/), [Authenticate with Basic Auth](/docs/connect/how-to/authenticate-with-basic-auth/) ## parameters Parameters are the extra values attached to a request, in one of three places: query parameters (in the URL), header parameters, and body parameters. You configure defaults on the API or endpoint, and can override them at display time. Used in: [Send Query, Header, and Body Parameters](/docs/connect/how-to/send-query-header-and-body-parameters/) ## path variable A path variable is a slot in an endpoint's path — indexed like `{0}`, or named like `{post_id}` — that HuxxConnect fills with a real value when the request is built. They let one endpoint serve many records, such as `/products/{0}` for any product ID. Used in: [Use Path Variables](/docs/connect/how-to/use-path-variables/) ## body format Body format is an endpoint setting that decides how body parameters are stored and edited: `key_value` (a list of name/value pairs, the default) or `nested_json` (a JSON structure sent exactly as written). Pick nested JSON when the API expects nested objects. Used in: [Choose a Body Format](/docs/connect/how-to/choose-a-body-format/) ## cache duration (TTL) Cache duration (TTL, time to live) is the number of seconds a successful response is stored and reused before HuxxConnect contacts the API again. It applies to GET requests; a value of 0 disables caching for the endpoint. Used in: [Cache Endpoint Responses](/docs/connect/how-to/cache-endpoint-responses/) ## stale-cache fallback Stale-cache fallback serves an older cached copy of a response when a fresh request fails, instead of showing visitors nothing. The stale copy is kept for a separate, longer period than the normal cache duration. Used in: [Cache Endpoint Responses](/docs/connect/how-to/cache-endpoint-responses/) ## shortcode attribute A shortcode attribute is a `name="value"` option written inside a shortcode, such as `api_id="demo_api"` in `[huxx_api api_id="demo_api" endpoint_id="get_products"]`. Attributes select the API and endpoint and control how the result is filtered and displayed. Used in: [Display Data with Shortcodes](/docs/connect/how-to/display-data-with-shortcodes/), [Shortcodes](/docs/connect/reference/shortcodes/) ## encryption tier The encryption tier decides where the key that encrypts your credentials lives: Standard stores it in the database, Advanced reads it from a constant in `wp-config.php`, and Locked derives it from your site's WordPress salts. Higher tiers separate the key from the encrypted data, so a database copy alone cannot reveal credentials. Used in: [Encryption Tiers](/docs/connect/explanation/encryption-tiers/), [Choose an Encryption Tier](/docs/connect/how-to/choose-an-encryption-tier/) ## Environment Lock Environment Lock is a protection that ties credential access to the environment where credentials were saved. It trips when the encryption key or the WordPress salts change — which typically happens when a site is copied — and it matters most on the Standard tier, where the encryption key travels with the database. When it trips, HuxxConnect locks credential access until you unlock it with an authorized domain, a migration passphrase, a `wp-config.php` challenge, or Remote Unlock (Pro). On the Locked tier, credentials are inherently non-portable (the key derives from the salts), so the lock auto-clears and you re-enter credentials. Used in: [Environment Lock](/docs/connect/explanation/environment-lock/), [Configure Environment Lock](/docs/connect/how-to/configure-environment-lock/) ## authorized domain An authorized domain is a domain name on the Environment Lock allow-list. When the site runs on an authorized domain, credentials unlock automatically after an environment change — useful for staging and development copies you trust. Used in: [Configure Environment Lock](/docs/connect/how-to/configure-environment-lock/), [Move a Locked Site](/docs/connect/how-to/move-a-locked-site/) ## migration passphrase A migration passphrase is a one-time code you generate before moving a Locked site, then enter on the new environment to unlock credentials. It expires 72 hours after it is generated. Used in: [Move a Locked Site](/docs/connect/how-to/move-a-locked-site/) ## sync Sync (Pro) is a job you run manually or on a schedule that pulls data from an API endpoint and turns each item into a WordPress post. Displaying data shows it live; syncing stores it in WordPress. Used in: [Sync API Data to Posts](/docs/connect/tutorial/sync-api-data-to-posts/), [Map API Fields to Posts](/docs/connect/how-to/map-api-fields-to-posts/) ## sync mode Sync mode (Pro) controls what a sync is allowed to do to posts: `full_sync` (create, update, and delete), `no_delete` (create and update), `update_only`, or `create_only`. It is the safety dial that decides how much the API is trusted to reshape your content. Used in: [Choose Sync Mode and Matching](/docs/connect/how-to/choose-sync-mode-and-matching/) ## match-by key The match-by key (Pro) is the field a sync uses to adopt posts that already existed before the sync ran, so it updates them instead of creating duplicates. It can be the Post Title, Post Slug, Post ID, or a custom field (meta). Matching is optional and off by default — separately from it, a sync always recognizes items it created itself by a stored unique key. Used in: [Choose Sync Mode and Matching](/docs/connect/how-to/choose-sync-mode-and-matching/) ## compatibility bridge The compatibility bridge is an opt-in feature that keeps existing WPGetAPI code working after you switch to HuxxConnect: calls to `wpgetapi_endpoint()` and the `[wpgetapi_endpoint]` shortcode are answered by your HuxxConnect configuration. It buys time to update templates at your own pace. Used in: [Keep WPGetAPI Code Working](/docs/connect/how-to/keep-wpgetapi-code-working/), [WPGetAPI Compatibility](/docs/connect/reference/wpgetapi-compatibility/) ## migrator The migrator is the built-in tool that copies an existing WPGetAPI setup — APIs, endpoints, and their settings — into HuxxConnect configurations. It converts formats automatically, so you review the result rather than re-typing it. Used in: [Migrate from WPGetAPI](/docs/connect/how-to/migrate-from-wpgetapi/), [WPGetAPI Migration Paths](/docs/connect/explanation/wpgetapi-migration-paths/)