Glossary of clariBI terms
Short definitions of the terms you meet in clariBI, from AI credits and data sources to workspaces, with links to the articles that go deeper.
How to use this glossary
Terms are in alphabetical order. Use your browser's find function (Ctrl+F or Cmd+F) to jump to one. For which plan includes each feature named here, see features and the plan each one needs.
A
Administrator
One of the five built-in organization roles, with 29 permissions by default: managing users, data sources and most settings, with limited billing and security rights. See also Owner, Analyst, Member and Viewer.
AI credits
The unit that measures AI work. Credits are used when the AI answers a question, generates a dashboard or report, or writes a forecast summary. The cost depends on how much the AI reads and writes, with a minimum of 1 credit per AI call; a forecast costs 1 to 10 credits. Monthly allowances: Trial 50, Starter 500, Professional 1,500, Enterprise 5,000. Free and Lite have none. The allowance resets each billing month. See how AI credits work.
AI dashboard
A dashboard that clariBI builds for you, either automatically for each new data source or on request with AI. Auto-generated insights dashboards do not use AI credits.
Analyst
A built-in role with 14 permissions, aimed at analysis and reporting: running analyses and creating reports and dashboards, without managing users or billing.
Anomaly
A point in a forecast series that falls far outside the expected range. Forecasting flags anomalies with z-score and interquartile-range tests.
API key
A secret that gives a script or another system access to the clariBI REST API. Keys start with claribi_ and are created in Settings > Developer. The REST API is available on Professional and Enterprise.
Ask clariBI
The chat page where you ask questions about your data in plain English (the sidebar link to conversational analytics).
Audit trail
The organization's record of significant actions: who did what, and when. Available on Professional and Enterprise under Settings > Organization; Enterprise can also export it.
B
Billing period
The month or year your subscription covers. AI credits, file uploads and OCR pages reset at the start of each billing month.
C
Conversational analytics
The technical name for Ask clariBI. A planner reads your question, clariBI computes the numbers with regular analytics code (not the language model), and the AI writes the answer around them. A question can combine sources: line up a metric from several sources by date or a shared column, correlate two sources' daily totals, or match records on a shared key such as an email address.
Custom role
A role you define with your own set of permissions. Available on Professional and Enterprise.
D
Dashboard
A page of widgets (charts, KPI tiles and tables) built from your data.
Data source
Anything clariBI reads data from: an uploaded file, a PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server or Oracle database, a Google, Meta or Atlassian product connected with OAuth, an API connector, an MCP app or a Zapier webhook. Sources are managed in Settings > Integrations.
Data sync
Fetching fresh data from a source. clariBI refreshes a source when its data is older than the source's sync interval (usually 24 hours) and something needs it, such as a report or a dashboard refresh. You can also sync by hand with Sync Data in the source's details. Uploaded files are not re-synced; upload a new file instead. A database sync reads up to 1,000 rows per table for each data source your plan allows (3,000 on Free and Trial, 100,000 on Enterprise).
Driver
A metric that moves together with the metric you forecast, found during forecasting by correlation tests with a false-discovery-rate correction.
E
Executive summary
The opening section of a report: a short, plain-language overview of the findings.
Export
Downloading data or documents from clariBI. Reports download as PDF on every plan that has reports. On Professional and Enterprise, a dashboard's Export button also gives its numbers as CSV or JSON, and the Reports list can download up to 10 reports at once as a ZIP or one combined PDF. There are no Excel or PowerPoint exports.
F
File upload
Adding a file as a data source: CSV, Excel, JSON, PDF, images, audio or video. Each upload is one file of up to 50 MB, and each plan has a monthly number of uploads. See uploading files.
Forecast
A projection of a metric into the future with prediction bands at 50, 80 and 95 percent. The math is statistical and does not use a language model; only the written summary uses AI credits. Starter and above.
G
Goal
A target for a metric with a type (increase, decrease, maintain, achieve a target or complete tasks) and a deadline. A goal linked to a dashboard widget (Track as Goal or Link to Goal) follows the widget's value as the dashboard refreshes; other goals are updated with Update Progress (see connecting goals to dashboard data). Goals are organized as epics, topics and tasks, and 35 goal templates cover common targets. There is no OKR or key-result structure.
H
Home
The first page after sign-in, with counters, recent activity, quick actions and insights.
I
Integration
A connection to another product that supplies data to clariBI. Integrations bring data in; clariBI does not push data to other tools.
M
MCP app
A third-party service (for example Stripe, HubSpot or Linear) connected through the Model Context Protocol. clariBI syncs data from it and can call its tools during an analysis. Available on Trial, Starter, Professional and Enterprise.
MCP server (clariBI)
clariBI's own MCP endpoint, which lets AI clients such as Claude, Cursor or ChatGPT list your dashboards, run analyses and generate reports. It has 26 tools. Set it up in Settings > Developer.
Member
A built-in role with 8 permissions for day-to-day use. It is the default role for new users.
MFA (two-factor authentication)
A second sign-in step with a six-digit code from an authenticator app (TOTP). Available on every plan in Settings > Security. SMS codes are not available.
O
OAuth
The authorization flow used to connect Google, Meta, Jira and Confluence without giving clariBI your password. You sign in with the provider and approve read access.
OCR
Reading text from images and scanned PDFs. Each plan has a monthly number of OCR pages.
Organization
The top-level account that owns users, data, dashboards and the subscription. A user can belong to several organizations and switch between them from the account menu.
Owner
The role with full control, 35 permissions by default, including billing. Each organization has one owner; ownership can be transferred.
P
Permission
A single right granted by a role, such as viewing billing or managing users.
Public link
A URL that lets anyone view a dashboard, report, workspace or forecast without a clariBI account. Professional and Enterprise. See public report links.
R
RBAC
Role-based access control: users get roles, roles carry permissions. clariBI has five built-in roles on every plan; custom roles need Professional or Enterprise.
Report
A document generated by the AI from a template and one or more data sources, with an executive summary, metrics, findings and next steps. Reports download as PDF.
S
Scheduled report
A report that regenerates automatically (daily, weekly, monthly, every 3 months or yearly, or once at a set date and time) and is emailed to recipients. Professional and Enterprise.
Single sign-on
Signing in with Google or Facebook instead of a password. Available on every plan. SAML single sign-on is not available yet.
T
Template
A ready-made report or dashboard design for a business question. clariBI has 378 templates (320 report and 58 dashboard) in 27 categories, available on the Trial, Starter, Professional and Enterprise plans.
TOTP
Time-based one-time password: the six-digit code your authenticator app shows, which changes every 30 seconds.
V
Viewer
The most limited built-in role, with 6 permissions. Viewers can see content but not change it.
W
Widget
One element on a dashboard: a chart, KPI tile, table or text block.
Workspace
A shared space where a team collects dashboards and reports, comments on them and manages who can see them. Workspace roles are viewer, contributor, editor and admin. Professional and Enterprise. See workspaces.