> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.chift.eu/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Glossary

Short definitions of the terms used throughout this documentation. For how these fit together when you build, see [How it works](/guides/how-it-works).

Each Unified API also has its own glossary for domain-specific terms. See the Glossary section under each API vertical (for example [Accounting glossary](/guides/by-api/accounting/glossary/overview)).

### Connector

A piece of software Chift can talk to — Odoo, Sage, Shopify, Lightspeed. You choose which connectors to activate for your customers in [your account configuration](/back-office/getting-started/activate-connector). Chift's API paths and fields call these *integrations*; the two words mean the same thing.

### Consumer

One of your customers, as Chift knows them. Identified by a uuid (`consumerid`) that you pass in almost every API request to say whose data you want. Manage them [via the API](/api-reference/endpoints/consumers/create-new-consumer) or [in the platform](/back-office/getting-started/create-consumer).

### Connection

The link between one consumer and one connector, holding that customer's credentials and configuration — for example one customer's Odoo credentials. A consumer can have several connections, but only one per connector. See [Create a connection](/guides/unified-api/how-to-connect).

### Post-connection

A follow-up question asked after credentials are accepted, such as which accounting folder or POS location to use. See [Connection lifecycle](/guides/core-concepts/monitor-connections#connection-lifecycle).

### Unified API

One consistent API shape covering many connectors in the same category. Chift has seven: Accounting, Invoicing, POS, E-commerce, Payment, PMS, and Banking. See [Unified APIs overview](/guides/unified-api/overview).

### Sync

A pre-built synchronisation between two Chift APIs, built and run by Chift instead of by your engineering team. A sync contains one or more **flows**, each triggered by an event or a timer (e.g. nightly at 4 AM), running a process such as "get invoices and inject them into accounting" for every consumer linked to the sync. See [Syncs](/guides/syncs/overview).

### Mapping

A correspondence your end-user confirms during onboarding to a sync — for example matching tax rates between their POS and their accounting software.