Glossary

This page defines every term you will meet in HEAT documentation, one or two sentences each. Each entry links to the page where the term is explained in full.

Canonical pages

Term	One line	Canonical page
Arbex	Sandboxed JavaScript run by the system-arbex-js node template.	`/developers/arbex`
Channel	One named dataset inside a realm. Widgets bind to channels by id.	`/developers/dashboards/dataservice#channels`
Control Centre	The operator and administrator web portal, formerly called Cluster Manager.	`/administrators/control-centre`
Data service payload	The $heat-dataservice JSON envelope a dashboard node publishes and the dashboard reads.	`/developers/dashboards/dataservice`
Data source	A registered storage or database location that nodes read from and write to.	`/concepts/data-sources`
Dimension	The dashboard-facing result a session publishes. What a user opens in the HEAT dashboard.	`/concepts/dimensions`
Entity	A tracked thing in capture data. Its entity state is the time-ordered record of its components.	`/glossary#entity`
Feature	A capability registered by uploading a .heat manifest. Bundles runner types and node templates.	`/administrators/control-centre/features`
Glossary	Plain-English definitions of every HEAT term.	`/glossary`
HEAT Auth	HEAT's built-in identity service for users, roles and tokens.	`/administrators/control-centre/identity`
HEAT Capture	The capture application that streams simulator and headset data to HEAT.	`/developers/session-templates/capture-pipelines`
HEAT dashboard	The web application where instructors and trainees read session results.	`/users`
HEAT v2 API	The supported external HTTP API for sessions, uploads, dashboard data and tokens.	`/developers/apis/v2-api`
heatx	HEAT's storage format that bundles many small uploads into one object.	`/glossary#heatx`
Ingest	A managed upload URL bound to a project, a session template and an input node.	`/concepts/ingests`
Input node	The node template every upload-driven session template starts with.	`/developers/node-templates/input-node`
Layout	The JSON that says how a dimension is rendered: rows of widgets bound to channels.	`/developers/dashboards/layout`
Node instance	One configured node inside a session template or a running session.	`/concepts/node-instances`
Node output	One stored result of processing a node instance. Reprocessing appends a new output.	`/concepts/node-instances#outputs`
Node template	A reusable kind of processing step, implemented by a runner.	`/concepts/node-templates`
Project	A container for session templates and sessions. Every session belongs to exactly one project.	`/concepts/projects`
Realm	A namespace for channels within one dimension, used to compare runs or trainees side by side.	`/developers/dashboards/dataservice#realms`
Runner	A deployed container that executes one or more node templates by claiming tasks.	`/concepts/runners`
Session	One run of a session template over one batch of data.	`/concepts/sessions`
Session retention	Template configuration that controls how long a session and its outputs are kept.	`/developers/session-templates/session-retention`
Session template	The blueprint: a graph of named nodes that turns uploaded data into a dashboard.	`/concepts/session-templates`
System dashboards (statics)	Platform-owned dashboards backed by hidden sessions that refresh on a schedule.	`/concepts/statics`
Task	One unit of work a runner claims for one node instance.	`/concepts/runners#tasks`
Widget	One visual block in a layout row, rendered by a named dashboard component.	`/developers/dashboards`

All terms

Administrator

One of the four HEAT Auth roles. An Administrator sees every session dashboard, manages dashboard users and changes their roles. Learn more: Signing in and roles and HEAT Auth.

After action review (AAR)

The review of a training run after it ends. In HEAT the after action review is read in the HEAT dashboard. Each session publishes one or more session dashboards built from the recorded data, and reports summarise many sessions in one file. Learn more: Reading a session dashboard and Reports API.

Aggregation node

A node whose node template has the type Aggregation. It combines the outputs of several upstream nodes into one result. Dashboard nodes are aggregation nodes. Learn more: Node template.

Arbex

The sandboxed JavaScript environment behind the system-arbex-js node template. A script receives parent outputs and returns JSON, often a data service payload and a layout. Learn more: Arbex.

Bulk analytics

A platform pipeline that loads many tabular node outputs into the HEAT Bulk Analytics DB, a PostgreSQL database, and queries them with read-only SQL. It runs on the platform’s built-in runner. Learn more: Bulk analytics.

Channel

One named dataset inside a realm, such as a heart rate series. A layout binds widgets to channels by id. Learn more: Channel.

Channel shape

The structure of a channel’s data. The platform shapes are series, timestamps, value, events and ranges. Learn more: Channel shapes.

Connector

Whatever carries data from a simulator, a sensor or another tool into HEAT. HEAT has several kinds. A capture module reads one kind of source inside HEAT Capture. A capture plugin runs inside a simulator. An ingest is a managed upload URL. A custom publisher is your own program built on HEAT ProtoLib. Learn more: Connecting a simulator or sensor.

Control Centre

The HEAT Control Centre (formerly Cluster Manager) is the web portal where administrators operate an environment. Its URLs still use /main and /admin. Learn more: Control Centre.

Data service

The $heat-dataservice JSON envelope that a dashboard node publishes and the Next dashboard reads. It holds realms, groups and channels. Learn more: Data service payload.

Data source

A registered storage or database location that nodes read from and write to. HEAT ships an in-cluster object store and administrators can register external ones. Learn more: Data source.

Developer

One of the four HEAT Auth roles. A Developer sees everything an Administrator sees in the dashboard, plus system dashboards meant for people who build data flows. Learn more: Signing in and roles.

Dimension

The dashboard-facing result a session publishes. It is what a user opens in the HEAT dashboard at /sessions/<dimensionId>. Users pages call it a session dashboard. Learn more: Dimension.

Dimension users

The people attached to a dimension, each with an external user id, a role and a group. A Trainee only sees dimensions where they are a dimension user. Learn more: Dimensions and dashboards.

Entity

In HEAT Capture data, an entity is a tracked thing such as a vehicle, a person or a headset. Its entity state is the time-ordered record of the entity’s components, for example position and dynamics. Learn more: hydrate-protobuf-v2.

Feature

A capability registered by uploading a .heat manifest. A feature bundles runner types and the node templates they implement. Learn more: Feature.

Group

A label on channels that organises them in channel pickers. Groups do not partition data. Realms do. Learn more: Groups.

HEAT Auth

HEAT’s built-in identity service. It holds users, roles and profile fields, and issues the tokens that the dashboard and the v2 API accept. Learn more: HEAT Auth.

HEAT Capture

The capture application that records simulator and headset data as protobuf frames and sends them to HEAT. Learn more: HEAT Capture.

HEAT dashboard

The web application where instructors and trainees read session dashboards, reports and system dashboards. Learn more: HEAT dashboard.

heat-runtime

The Python library that runners use inside the cluster. It claims tasks, reads inputs, resolves data sources and stores outputs. Learn more: Building runners.

heatx

HEAT’s storage format that bundles many small uploads into one object in storage. A runner reads one slice of a heatx object by offset and length instead of downloading the whole object. Learn more: Building runners.

Ingest

A managed upload URL bound to a project, a session template and an input node. Posting data to it creates a session or extends one. Learn more: Ingest.

Input node

The node template every upload-driven session template starts with. Uploaded data lands here as the first node output of the session. Learn more: Input node.

Insight

An informal word for any result a session produces for a reader. Prefer the concrete term, such as channel, widget or dimension, when you can. Learn more: How HEAT works.

Instructor

One of the four HEAT Auth roles. An Instructor sees every session dashboard and the reports pages. Learn more: Signing in and roles.

Layout

The JSON that says how a dimension is drawn. It is rows of widgets, each bound to channels by id. Learn more: Layout.

Legacy dashboard

The older dashboard generation. A Legacy dimension carries fixed JSON shapes per widget and is kept for existing session templates. Learn more: Legacy dashboard components.

Manifest (.heat)

A JSON file that registers a feature with an environment. It lists the runner types and node templates the feature provides. Learn more: Feature.

Next dashboard

The current dashboard generation. A Next dimension binds widgets to channels through the data service payload and a v2 layout. Learn more: Next dashboard components.

Node

A graph node is one named step in a session template. A cluster node is a machine in the Kubernetes cluster. Documentation says which one it means when the bare word would be ambiguous. Learn more: Session template.

Node instance

One node of a session template as it exists inside one session. It has its own configuration, status and outputs. Learn more: Node instance.

Node output

One stored result of processing a node instance. Outputs are append-only, so reprocessing adds a new output and keeps the old ones. Learn more: Node output.

Node template

A reusable kind of processing step, implemented by a runner. Its name is unique in an environment and is a long-lived contract. Learn more: Node template.

Offline token

A long-lived HEAT Auth token, valid for twelve months, for capture devices that upload without a person signing in each time. Learn more: Offline tokens.

origin_uuid

The identifier of the capture machine that produced a frame. It keeps data from two machines separate when both report the same entity. Learn more: Capture session templates.

Playback, scrubber and timeline clock

Playback replays a session dashboard over time. The scrubber is the control you drag to move through it. The timeline clock is the shared clock that every time-based widget on the dimension follows. Learn more: Reading a session dashboard.

Preset

A session template, node template or system dashboard definition that ships with HEAT and is loaded into every environment. Learn more: Session template authoring principles.

Project

A container for session templates and sessions. Every session belongs to exactly one project. Learn more: Project.

Realm

A namespace for channels within one dimension. Realms let one layout show the same channels for different runs or trainees. Learn more: Realm.

Retention policy

Session template configuration that says how long a session and its outputs are kept. Modes are KeepAll, ArchiveByAge and DeleteByAge. Learn more: Session retention.

Runner

A deployed container that executes one or more node templates by claiming tasks. Learn more: Runner.

Scenario instance

Optional metadata on a dimension with a name and from and to timestamps for the recorded period. The dashboard shows the date, start time and duration from it. Learn more: Dimensions and dashboards.

Scheduler

The internal platform service that keeps runners deployed to match pending work. Operators only meet it through the scheduler.* platform settings. Learn more: Platform settings.

Session

One run of a session template over one batch of data. Learn more: Session.

Session export

A ZIP archive of one whole session, containing the session, its template, a manifest and every node output. It is produced by the session-export node template on the platform’s built-in runner and kept for seven days. Learn more: System utils.

Session template

The blueprint. A directed acyclic graph of named nodes that turns uploaded data into a dashboard. Learn more: Session template.

Supervisor

A Control Centre role limited to the Monitoring screens. A Supervisor cannot manage data sources or projects. Learn more: Monitoring.

System dashboard (static)

A platform-owned dashboard, such as Resource Monitor, backed by a hidden session that refreshes on a schedule. Templates and presets call it a static. Learn more: System dashboards (statics).

Task

One unit of work a runner claims for one node instance. HEAT creates a task when a node instance is ready to process. Learn more: Task.

Trainee

One of the four HEAT Auth roles. A Trainee sees only the session dashboards where they are a dimension user. Learn more: Signing in and roles.

v2 API

The supported external HTTP API for sessions, uploads, dashboard data and tokens. Learn more: HEAT v2 API.

One visual block in a layout row, rendered by a named dashboard component such as a map or a timeline chart. Learn more: Widget.

HEAT documentation team. Last updated 2 October 2026.

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