Plain-Language Glossary

CRAFT uses a few specific words across the site. Here’s what each one actually means in everyday terms. For the full technical glossary (capability, compiler, trust anchors, lockfile, content hash), see the docs glossary.

Actions panel

The default tab of the CRAFT add-in inside Revit or Civil 3D. When you select something in your model, it suggests automations your team already trusts. This is where most users spend their time.

Automation

A saved, repeatable piece of work that runs inside your CAD host — like “audit all doors for missing fire ratings” or “export a layer name report.” Same inputs, same outputs, every time.

Gate (the preview check)

The mandatory safety check every automation passes before it runs. It shows you exactly what will change, what data will be read, and what (if anything) leaves your machine. If the Gate can’t prove something is safe, it blocks — there is no “run anyway” override.

Draft

An automation only you can run. Drafts stay on your machine and do not automatically become team tools. Think of it as “saved for me, not shared yet.”

Share (promote)

When an automation is proven, you can share it with your team library. Sharing goes through review and near-duplicate detection so the team library stays clean. Internally this is called “promotion.”

Reviewed (governed)

Before something reaches the team library, someone on your team checks it. “Governed” is the technical word for this; in plain terms it means “reviewed before sharing.”

Egress (data leaving your machine)

Anything sent from your computer to a network destination — an API, a file upload, telemetry. Every action passing through the Gate lists its egress explicitly, even when the answer is “none.” By default, network egress and telemetry are off.

Signed & locked (immutable)

Every published automation is cryptographically signed and locked to a content fingerprint. Once released, a version can’t be overwritten or modified — so you always know you’re running exactly what was approved. Updates require a new release number.

Local execution

Automations run on your machine, inside Revit or Civil 3D. Our cloud never runs your automations. Our cloud only stores signed packages, handles licensing, and distributes trust anchors — the passive parts.

Reuse-first

CRAFT’s core principle: before asking you to build something new, it checks whether your team already has an automation that does the job. The fastest path is the one your team already paid for once.