Glossary
Short definitions of the terms used across the guides
Each term has a short definition and a link to the guide or reference page that covers it in more detail
C
Cache
A cache is a local copy of Fluxer data that the client keeps up to date from gateway events, so a lookup needs no request. Caching is off until it is enabled in the client options, and each lookup returns a frozen snapshot. See Configuration for every cache category and History and cache for the message cache
Channel
A channel is a place where messages are sent: A text or voice channel in a community, or a direct conversation. Most message methods take a channel ID. See Messages
Collector
A collector gathers future messages or reactions that pass a filter, up to a count or a time limit, and then returns them together. Register it before sending the prompt it waits for, so a fast reply is not missed. See Events and collectors
Command Router
A command router reads each new message, finds the prefix command it names, converts its arguments and runs that command. Create one with commands, or pass a commands option to run. See Commands
Cooldown
A cooldown stops a command from running again too soon for the same user, channel or community. Set it with the command's cooldown option. See Commands
D
Duration Options
Options whose names end in Ms, such as timeout and duration, are measured in milliseconds. For example, 30_000 means 30 seconds
E
Effect
Effect is a TypeScript library for describing work, its expected errors and the services it needs. The optional @neontechspace/ entry point returns Effects instead of Promises. Bots do not need it. See First Effect bot
Embed
An embed is a card attached to a message, with a title, description, fields, images and a color. Pass embeds in a message's embeds array. See Messages
Event
An event is a notification that Fluxer sends through the gateway, such as message for a new message or guild for a member joining. The SDK checks and converts each event before passing it to handlers. See Events and collectors
Exit
An Exit is Effect's record of how a program ended: Either its value, or a Cause that describes why it failed or was interrupted. Passing exit to describe prints that reason. See the Effect bot guide
F
Finalizer
A finalizer is a cleanup action that Effect runs and waits for when work ends, whether it succeeded, failed or was interrupted. The Effect entry point uses finalizers to close clients, subscriptions and collectors. See Effect workflows
Fixture
A fixture is a ready-made Fluxer payload, such as a message or a member, for tests. A test client's fixtures builders return them. See Testing
Frozen Snapshot
A frozen snapshot is a read-only copy of Fluxer data that does not change when the data changes on Fluxer. Messages, members and cache lookups are snapshots, so read or fetch again for current data. See History and cache
G
Gateway
The gateway is the live WebSocket connection that carries events from Fluxer to the bot. The client opens it with connect() or run(), and run opens it automatically. Sending messages and most other actions use REST requests instead. See Core concepts
Gateway Gap
A gateway gap is a period when the connection may have missed events, such as while it recovers from a lost connection. A collector stops with an error after a gap, because replies may have been missed. A collector given a guild ID stops only when that community's shard recovers, and one without a guild ID stops when any shard does. See Reliability
Guard
A guard is a check that runs before a command and can deny it with a reason. The exported guards include guild, dm, owner and require. See Commands
Guild
A guild in the API is a community in Fluxer. The app says community, while API fields and SDK names such as guild and guilds say guild. A community has its own channels, members and roles, and a bot is added to one through its installation link. See Create a bot and Communities and permissions
H
Handler
A handler is a function that the SDK calls for each event of one type. Register it with client or the events option of run. A handler that throws, or returns an Err, is reported and keeps receiving later events. See Events and collectors
I
ID
An ID is the unique number Fluxer gives each user, community, channel, message and role. The SDK keeps IDs as decimal strings, such as "1234567890123456789", because JavaScript numbers lose precision for values this large. A canonical ID has no sign, surrounding whitespace or leading zeroes. See snowflake
Identify
Identify is the gateway command that logs a shard in and starts a new session. Fluxer limits how often a bot may identify, so the SDK spaces the Identify commands of several shards. See Sharding
Intent
The SDK sends no gateway intents when it connects. To ask Fluxer not to send event types the bot does not use, set the client's gateway option. See Configuration
L
Log Level
Each SDK log record has a level. From least to most severe: Trace and Debug for detail that is off by default, Info for normal milestones such as readiness, Warn for problems the bot survives, such as a dropped event, and Error and Fatal for failures, such as a failed handler. See Logging
M
Member
A member is a user's membership in one community, including the roles the user holds there. The same user is a separate member in each community. See Communities and permissions
MFA
MFA means multi-factor authentication. A community can require it for moderation actions, such as banning a member. Fluxer then refuses those actions from a bot unless the bot owns the community or the account that owns its application has MFA enabled. See Communities that require two-factor authentication
Middleware
Middleware is a function that wraps every later handler or command and decides whether to continue by calling next. Add event middleware with client, and command middleware with the command router's use option. See Commands and the client reference
O
OAuth
OAuth lets a person approve an application's access to their account through a consent page, after which the application exchanges the returned code for tokens. A client created with oauth builds the consent URL and makes the exchange. See Webhooks and OAuth
P
PKCE
PKCE is an OAuth safeguard: The application creates a secret verifier and sends only its hash when the consent flow starts, then proves it started the flow by sending the verifier when it exchanges the code. The oauth helper creates the pair. See Webhooks and OAuth
Prefix Command
A prefix command is a message that starts with a chosen prefix, such as !ping with prefix !. A command router matches the name after the prefix and runs that command. See Commands
R
Rate Limit
A rate limit caps how many requests Fluxer accepts in a period. Fluxer answers HTTP 429 when a limit is reached. The SDK then waits for the delay Fluxer names and sends the request again when its body can be reused, logging long waits. A request fails at once instead when that wait would pass its deadline. An unknown uppercase provider code remains in details, including when the deadline prevents that wait. See Troubleshooting
REST
REST is Fluxer's HTTP API for reading and changing resources, such as sending a message or fetching a community. REST requests work without the gateway connection. HTTP 204 is a successful response without a value. For a route without an SDK method, use client with a path after /v1. The method rejects a /v1 prefix and token-authenticated webhook paths even when unreserved route letters are percent-encoded. These checks remain case-sensitive. Discovery and request transport causes retain only safe facts, not raw error text. See the client reference
Result
A Result holds either a success or an expected failure. Check is: If it is true, read error, otherwise read value. The or function returns the value or throws the error. See Reliability
ResultAsync
A ResultAsync is a Result that is still being computed. Default API requests return one, start when called and give a Result when awaited. See Reliability
Resume
A resume continues an existing session after a lost connection, and Fluxer then sends the events the bot missed. When a session cannot be resumed, the SDK starts a new one with Identify. See Reliability
Role
A role is a named set of permissions in a community. A member can hold several roles, and their permissions combine. See Communities and permissions
Role Hierarchy
The role hierarchy is the ordering of a community's roles. It limits which members and roles a bot can manage. The hierarchy helpers compare roles and members that the bot already has, and members fetches the data for a member hierarchy check, using the bot or a moderator given as actor. See Communities and permissions
S
Session
A session is one gateway login of a shard. It starts with Identify and continues with a resume after a short connection loss. See Sharding
Shard
A shard is one gateway connection that carries events for part of a bot's communities. Most bots need only one. Setting sharding: "auto" picks the number of shards when the bot connects. See Sharding
Snowflake
A snowflake is the format of Fluxer IDs: A 64-bit number that also records when the object was created. The snowflakes helper reads the creation time from an ID. See the snowflakes reference
Subscription
A subscription delivers one event type to one handler through its own queue. The client method returns one, and run creates one per handler. Its close() method stops the delivery, and wait waits until it has stopped. See Events and collectors
Supervisor
A supervisor runs a bot's shards in several child Node.js processes. A supervisor created with supervisor starts each child with its shard assignment, watches its state, restarts it after a crash and shuts every child down together. See Sharding
T
Test Client
A test client is a real client connected to an in-memory Fluxer instead of the network. The create and create functions create one, and a test uses it to deliver events and check the requests the bot sent. See Testing
U
Uncertain Write
An uncertain write is a request that may have succeeded even though the SDK did not receive a clear result, for example when the connection dropped after sending. Check the current state on Fluxer before repeating it, or the action can happen twice. See Reliability
W
Webhook
An incoming webhook has a URL with its own token that posts messages to one channel, without a bot account or gateway connection. Use create to send through it. See Webhooks and OAuth