Glossary
Glossary of QuickStack-specific terms and the key underlying technologies.
QuickStack-specific terms and the key underlying technologies.
Agent Sandbox
The deployable AI workload managed by QuickStack. An Agent Sandbox belongs to a project; each running instance is a Sandbox Instance. You can start, stop, and open several Sandbox Instances of an Agent Sandbox, including Warm Pool instances. See Agent Sandbox.
Agent Sandbox Template
A predefined Agent Sandbox configuration including its CLI harness and startup steps. QuickStack ships templates such as OpenCode Web, Gemini CLI, and Claude Code CLI.
Application (App)
A container workload managed by QuickStack. An app belongs to a project and can be sourced from a Git repository (built with the Framework preset, Railpack, or a Dockerfile), a Docker image, or a template. Apps are managed from the Project Canvas.
App Template
A predefined app (for example Nextcloud, n8n, or WordPress) that ships with an image, environment variables, storage, and networking. See App & Database Templates.
Basic Authentication
HTTP-level username/password protection implemented via a Traefik middleware. Authentication happens at the ingress level before requests reach the app container. See Basic Auth.
BuildKit
The container image building toolkit QuickStack uses to build Docker images from Git repositories. GitHub
Cert-Manager
A Kubernetes controller for automated TLS certificate management. Installable as a cluster add-on to enable HTTPS for apps in QuickStack. cert-manager.io
Cluster
A group of servers (nodes) that work together as a single Kubernetes environment. See Cluster Nodes.
Cluster Add-on
An optional cluster component that QuickStack can install, update, and in some cases remove, such as Longhorn, cert-manager, the Kubernetes Agent Sandbox, or gVisor. See Cluster Add-ons.
Container Rate Limits
The app settings that control Replica Count, Memory Limit, Memory Reservation, CPU Limit, and CPU Reservation, found on the app's General tab. See Scaling & Resource Limits.
Cordon
Kubernetes operation that marks a node as non-schedulable — new pods are not placed there, but existing ones keep running.
CPU Limit
The maximum CPU a container can use, measured in millicores (m). 1000m = 1 full CPU core.
CPU Reservation
The CPU a container is guaranteed for scheduling, measured in millicores. Maps to the Kubernetes requests.cpu field.
Deploy
In QuickStack, clicking Deploy applies all staged configuration changes to the running workload. Config edits by themselves do not update the running app. See Redeploy.
Domain
A DNS hostname that routes public traffic to an app via Traefik. See Custom Domains.
File Browser
A temporary web UI QuickStack can launch to browse and download the contents of a volume. See File Browser.
File Mount
A read-only file injected into a container at a specified path. Content is stored in the QuickStack database. See File Mounts.
gVisor
An optional sandboxed container runtime available as a cluster add-on and selectable as a Runtime Class for Sandbox Instances for stronger isolation.
Instance ID
A randomly generated identifier (qsInstanceId) that QuickStack sends with its update check to get.quickstack.dev. It contains no project or user data. See Security Model.
Internal Hostname / Service Name
The svc-<app-id>.<project-id>.svc.cluster.local hostname used for service-to-service communication within a project. QuickStack builds the underlying service and its ports from the app's domains and network policy rules. See Networking.
k3s
A lightweight Kubernetes distribution. QuickStack runs on k3s. k3s.io
Let's Encrypt
Free TLS certificate authority. QuickStack uses Let's Encrypt to provision HTTPS certificates for custom domains and quickstack.me subdomains automatically.
LLM Gateway
A LiteLLM-compatible endpoint that QuickStack Sandbox Instances use to reach language models with centralized credentials. Configured under Settings → Integrations → LLM Gateways. See LLM Gateway.
Longhorn
Distributed block storage for Kubernetes. Used as the longhorn storage class for volumes in multi-node clusters. Required when volumes must survive node failure. longhorn.io
Master Node
The primary server in a k3s cluster that runs the Kubernetes control plane and the QuickStack application. Can also run workloads.
Memory Limit
The maximum RAM a container can use. Exceeding this causes the container to be terminated (OOMKilled).
Memory Reservation
Guaranteed amount of RAM Kubernetes ensures is always available to a container. Maps to the Kubernetes requests.memory field.
Model Alias
The identifier a Sandbox Instance uses to select a model through its LLM Gateway. See LLM Gateway.
Network Policy
A Kubernetes resource that controls ingress and egress traffic for a pod. In QuickStack, policies are made of explicit per-app ingress and egress rules, plus an internet-access switch. See Networking.
Project
A logical grouping of apps and databases in QuickStack. All workloads in a project share a network namespace and can communicate via internal hostnames. A project is typed as App or Agent at creation.
Project Canvas
The main view of a project. It is a network graph where every app, database, and Agent Sandbox is a node and connections are edges. Selecting a node opens a details drawer for creating, configuring, deploying, and monitoring the workload. See Project Canvas.
Project Network Graph
The visual graph view inside the Project Canvas that shows and edits the network connections between apps and databases. See Networking & Policies.
QuickStack.me Domain
A built-in "magic" domain that automatically resolves to your server's public IP, providing instant HTTPS without DNS configuration. See QuickStack.me.
Registry
A Docker registry bundled with QuickStack for storing built images. Images built from Git repositories are pushed here before deployment. Docker Hub registry image
Replica
An instance of an application running in the cluster. Multiple replicas provide horizontal scaling and availability. See Scaling & Resource Limits.
Rollback
Redeploying a Git-source app from an earlier commit. QuickStack reuses the built image for that commit or rebuilds it. See Deploy & Redeploy.
Runtime Class
The Kubernetes RuntimeClass a Sandbox Instance runs under: the k3s default runtime, or gVisor when installed. See Agent Sandbox.
S3 Target
An S3-compatible bucket configured in QuickStack as a backup destination. See S3 Targets.
Sandbox Instance
A running instance of an Agent Sandbox. Each Start New Sandbox action creates one. See Agent Sandbox.
Shared Volume
A ReadWriteMany volume that multiple apps in the same project can mount. See Shared Volumes.
Single Sign-On (SSO)
Authentication through an external identity provider such as OIDC, Google, Entra ID, or GitHub. Admins configure providers in Settings → SSO Providers. See Single Sign-On.
Storage Class
A Kubernetes concept defining the type of storage. QuickStack uses:
local-path— fast, single-node, no replicationlonghorn— distributed, multi-node, with replication
System Backup
A snapshot of the QuickStack SQLite database (data.db) containing all configuration: projects, users, app definitions, secrets. See System Backups.
System Upgrade Controller
A Kubernetes controller that manages automated k3s upgrades across cluster nodes.
Template
See App Template and Agent Sandbox Template.
TOTP
Time-based One-Time Password. A standard algorithm used by authenticator apps (Google Authenticator, Bitwarden, etc.) to generate 6-digit codes that change every 30 seconds. Used for QuickStack 2FA.
Traefik
The reverse proxy and load balancer that handles all inbound HTTP/HTTPS traffic and routes it to the correct containers. Also manages Let's Encrypt TLS certificate provisioning. traefik.io
Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)
An extra security layer requiring a TOTP code from an authenticator app in addition to the password. See 2FA setup.
Volume
Persistent storage mounted into a container. Data on a volume survives container restarts and redeployments. See Volumes.
Warm Pool Replicas
The number of pre-warmed Sandbox Instances QuickStack keeps ready so a new Sandbox Instance starts instantly. Configurable from 0 to 10. See Agent Sandbox.
Webhook
A URL that triggers a QuickStack deployment when called via HTTP POST. Used for CI/CD automation. See Webhooks.
Worker Node
A server joined to the k3s cluster that runs application workloads. It does not run the Kubernetes control plane.