Glossary

Action

A specific operation you invoke through a connection, such as "send SMS" or "create contact." Actions are outbound: your integration calls the external service. See Overview.

Area

The functional category a connector is classified under in the catalog (for example, Database, Messaging, Storage & Files) — set via the connector package's Area/ keyword. See Publish Connector.

Protocol-level connector

A connector that ships with the platform itself (HTTP, gRPC, GraphQL, TCP, UDP, WebSocket, WebSub, FTP, MQTT, Email, MCP, and AI), rather than integrating with a specific third-party vendor's API. These connectors often have no setup guide, because there's no external account or credentials to configure.

Connection

A named, reusable configuration that holds the credentials and endpoint settings for an external service (API keys, OAuth tokens, hostnames). You define a connection once; every action in your integration uses it by name. See Using Connectors.

Connector

A pre-built integration component that exposes an external service's API as ready-to-use operations, so you select an action and configure its inputs instead of constructing HTTP requests by hand. See Overview.

Library

A catalog package that adds integration capabilities without needing a client or connection at all, such as PDF generation, string manipulation, I/O, or invoking a cloud function. Used directly in your integration logic, the same way you'd use any other Ballerina library.

Trigger

An inbound event that an external service pushes into your integration, such as a new database row or an incoming message. Most connectors are action-only; trigger support is concentrated in databases, messaging systems, and file storage. See Overview.

Vendor

The company or service a connector targets (for example, Salesforce, SAP, Amazon) — set via the connector package's Vendor/ keyword, and shown as a tag on its catalog card. See Publish Connector.