Configuration Glossary

Browse 57 configuration terms defined in plain English, from the cultural dictionary of computing.

57 Configuration Terms

Application Configuration
The settings and parameters that control how an application behaves across environments, features, integrations, and runtime options. Good application...
Auto-Remediation
Auto-Remediation is the automated correction of security findings such as misconfigurations, drift, or missing controls after detection. Security teams use it...
Build Flag
A command-line option or configuration setting passed to a compiler, bundler, or build tool that changes how software is compiled or packaged. Build flags...
Build Profile
A named build configuration that controls which settings, optimizations, features, and targets are used for a particular build scenario such as development,...
Build Variable
A parameter or environment value used by build tools to alter behavior, inject metadata, or select configuration during the build. Build variables often...
Cloud Config
Configuration that controls how cloud resources, services, or workloads are provisioned and behave, often expressed through files, templates, or platform...
Cloud Security Posture Management
Cloud Security Posture Management is continuous assessment of cloud resources against security baselines, identity risk, and configuration drift. Security...
Config Chaos
A disordered state of configuration sprawl, conflicting defaults, unclear precedence, and environment-specific surprises. In engineering slang, config chaos is...
Config Circus
A mocking term for a configuration setup so complicated and theatrical that managing it feels absurd. In engineering slang, config circus implies too many...
Config Creep
The gradual accumulation of more configuration options, toggles, and exceptions over time. In engineering slang, config creep is what happens when every edge...
Config Driven Development
A development style where product behavior is heavily controlled through configuration files, flags, schemas, or metadata rather than hard-coded logic. It can...
Config File
A file that stores settings controlling how an application or tool behaves, often in formats like JSON, YAML, TOML, or INI. Config files separate...
Config Map
A named collection of configuration key-value pairs, especially in Kubernetes, used to inject non-secret settings into applications and containers at runtime....
ConfigMap
A Kubernetes object for storing non-sensitive configuration data (environment variables, config files, command-line arguments) separate from container images....
Config Object
A structured object that groups related configuration values passed into a function, class, or component. Config objects make APIs easier to extend over time...
Config Parser
A parser that reads configuration files or text and converts them into structured values an application can validate and use. Config parsers often handle...
Config Schema
A formal definition of the expected structure, types, and constraints of configuration values. Config schemas are used to validate settings early, document...
Config Source
The origin from which configuration values are loaded, such as environment variables, files, secret stores, service discovery, or command-line flags. Many...
Config Store
A service or system used to store and distribute configuration values to applications, often with versioning, access control, and runtime update support....
Configuration Drift
The gradual divergence between the intended configuration of systems and their actual state in different environments or over time. Configuration drift causes...
Configuration Hell
A state where systems have become painful to manage because of too many environment variables, flags, files, overrides, and hidden dependencies. In engineering...
Configuration Service
A dedicated service that stores, validates, and serves configuration to other applications or components. Configuration services are common in distributed...
Configuration Standard
A standard way of representing or organizing configuration so tools and teams can work consistently across environments. In open-source and platform work,...
Configuration Variable
A named setting that controls application or tool behavior and can often be changed without modifying source code. Configuration variables are frequently...
Container Config
The runtime settings, environment variables, mounts, ports, resource limits, and entrypoint details that define how a container runs. Container config is...
CSPM
CSPM is cloud security posture management technology that continuously evaluates cloud resources against security baselines. Security teams use it to enforce...
Custom Resolver
A user-defined mechanism for looking up or selecting values such as modules, dependencies, fields, routes, or resources according to application-specific...
Dotfile
A configuration file whose name starts with a dot (.), making it hidden in Unix directory listings. Examples include .gitignore, .bashrc, .env, and .eslintrc....
DSC
Desired State Configuration — a PowerShell-based configuration management framework that declares the desired state of a system and ensures it stays that way,...
Endpoint Hardening
The process of configuring user and server endpoints to minimize attack surface, such as disabling risky features, restricting privileges, enforcing secure...
Environment Variable
A dynamic value stored outside the application code that configures behavior at runtime — database URLs, API keys, feature flags. The answer to 'how do I store...
Environment Variable
A key-value pair set in the operating system's environment that configures application behavior without code changes. Used for secrets (API keys), feature...
Environment Variable Culture
A team's habits and assumptions around using environment variables for configuration, secrets, and operational behavior. The phrase becomes relevant when...
Feature Toggle
A runtime configuration switch that enables or disables a feature without deploying new code. Categories: release toggles (gradual rollout), experiment toggles...
Flag
A configurable switch, signal, or marker used to enable behavior, track state, or indicate a condition. In product and engineering culture, 'flag' often refers...
Group Policy
Group Policy is centralized Windows policy management used to enforce configuration, security settings, and system behavior at scale. Security teams use it to...
Hardcode
To place a value directly in source code instead of making it configurable, data-driven, or externally supplied. It can be expedient, but it often causes...
Hardcoded
A value embedded directly in source code rather than being read from configuration, environment variables, or a database. Sometimes the right call...
Harden
To reduce attack surface and improve resistance to compromise by tightening configuration, removing unnecessary components, limiting privileges, and enabling...
Least Functionality
A hardening principle that systems should expose only the functions, services, ports, protocols, and features necessary for their mission. Removing unnecessary...
LLM Config
The configuration used for a large language model workflow, including model choice, temperature, max tokens, system prompts, tool settings, and routing rules....
Magic String
A hardcoded string literal with special meaning that a program depends on, usually without type safety or strong discoverability. Magic strings make systems...
Manifest
A declarative metadata file that describes a software package's identity, version, dependencies, entry points, and permissions. Examples include `package.json`...
Max Tokens
A setting that limits how many tokens a model may generate in a response or, in some systems, how large parts of the request can be. Max token settings help...
Model Config
The configuration associated with a model deployment or usage pattern, including model version, decoding settings, context limits, adapters, and operational...
MTU
Maximum Transmission Unit — the largest packet size (in bytes) that a network link can transmit without fragmentation. Standard Ethernet MTU is 1500 bytes....
PAC File Security
The protection of proxy auto-configuration files and the trust model around how browsers or systems retrieve and execute them. PAC file security matters...
Package Config
Configuration associated with a package, package manager, or build package, such as dependencies, scripts, metadata, or distribution settings. In practical...
Retry Policy
A configurable strategy governing how retries are performed — specifying which errors are retryable, the maximum number of attempts, the backoff algorithm...
Runtime Environment
The complete set of software, libraries, configuration, and system resources available to an application during execution — including the runtime itself,...
Sane Defaults
Default settings chosen to be safe, practical, and useful for the common case so users do not need to understand every option up front. Good sane defaults...
Secret
A sensitive credential — such as an API key, database password, TLS certificate private key, or OAuth token — that must be protected from unauthorized access...
Toggle
A switch that alternates between two states (on/off, enabled/disabled). In UI it's a visual switch control; in backend systems, a feature toggle (or feature...
TOML
Tom's Obvious Minimal Language — a configuration file format designed to be easy to read due to clear semantics. Uses [sections], key = value pairs, and native...
Training Config
The set of configuration values used for a training run, such as learning rate, batch size, optimizer choice, schedule, and data settings. Training config...
TSConfig
The `tsconfig.json` configuration file at the root of a TypeScript project that specifies compiler options (target, module system, strictness level), file...
YAML
YAML Ain't Markup Language — a human-readable data serialization format that uses indentation for structure. Beloved for readability, feared for its 'gotcha'...

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