Glossary
A
- Access provider
-
An external identity provider (IdP) registered in a Fauna database.
Once set up, the IdP can issue JSON Web Tokens (JWTs) that act as Fauna authentication secrets. This lets your application’s end users use the IdP for authentication.
See Access providers - Attribute-based access control (ABAC)
-
A security model that conditionally grants access to resources based on attributes.
See Attribute-based access control (ABAC) - Ad hoc field
-
An arbitrary document field. Ad hoc fields don’t have a field definition. You allow and disallow ad hoc fields using a wildcard constraint.
See Wildcard constraint - Anonymous function
-
A function defined without a name, typically created for inline or immediate use.
See Anonymous functions
C
- Catch-all field
-
A document field used to store non-conforming field values during a schema migration.
See Migrations block - Check constraint
-
Ensures field values meet a pre-defined rule. For example, you can check that field values are in an allowed range.
See Unique constraints - Child database
-
See Database.
- Collection
-
A container for documents. Collections typically group related data.
See Collections - Collection schema
-
A schema that defines the structure and behavior of a collection.
See Collection schema - Computed field
-
A document field whose value is computed when the document is read instead of storing the field value in the document, itself.
Computed field definitions are part of a collection schema's document type.
See Computed field definitions.
D
- Database
-
An organized store of data that allows for retrieval, management, and updates.
You add data to a Fauna database as JSON-like objects called documents. Documents are stored in collections, which group related data.
A Fauna database can have multiple child databases. Child databases can have their own child databases.
See Databases and multi-tenancy. - Document
-
A document is a single, changeable record in the Fauna database.
A document represents a nested structure of fields and their values. You can enforce a structure for a document using a collection schema's document type.
See Documents. - Document ID
-
A 64-bit, unsigned, string-encoded integer that uniquely identifies a document within a collection.
See Documents. - Document type
-
The data type of a collection's documents. The type takes its name from its collection. For example, documents in the
Product
collection have a type ofProduct
.You define a document type in a collection schema using:
- Document type enforcement
-
The process of ensuring a collection’s documents conform to a predefined structure.
You enforce a document type using a collection schema's field definitions and a wildcard constraint.
See Document type enforcement
E
- Endpoint
-
The base URL used for Fauna Core HTTP API requests.
In the Fauna CLI, an endpoint defines the settings the CLI uses to run Fauna Core HTTP API requests. The CLI stores endpoints in the
.fauna-shell
configuration file.Learn: Endpoints - Environment
-
Groups a Fauna endpoint with a default database for use in Fauna CLI commands.
Fauna CLI environments are typically mapped to the environments for the client application, such as
dev
,staging
, orprod
.See Environments
F
- Field
-
Generic term for a property in an object.
- Field definition
-
Defines a field for a collection’s documents. Consists of the field name, accepted data types, and default values.
Field definitions are part of a collection schema's document type.
See Field definitions - FQL
-
Fauna Query Language (FQL) is a TypeScript-like language used to read and write data in Fauna.
See: Query data with FQL - FSL
-
Fauna Schema Language (FSL) is a declarative language used to define database resources in Fauna.
See: Schema
I
- Identity document
-
A document that’s tied to a token and represents an end user, system, or other identity. Identity documents are stored in user-defined collections.
You can use an identity document’s attributes for attribute-based access control (ABAC).
See Tokens - Index
-
An index stores, or covers, specific document field values for quick retrieval. You can use indexes to filter and sort a collection’s documents in a performant way.
See Indexes - Index term
-
See Term.
- Index value
-
See Value.
M
- Migrations block
-
A group of migration statements in a collection schema. Used to perform schema migrations.
See Migrations block - Migration statement
-
An imperative instruction to Fauna on how should handle updates to a collection schema's field definitions and wildcard constraint. Migration statements make up a migrations block.
See Migrations block
N
- Named collection
-
A subset of system collections whose documents are uniquely identified using names instead of document IDs.
See Named collections - Native collection
-
See System collection.
O
- organizational account
-
The username and password combination used to sign up to Fauna. This account has administrator-equivalent access to every database in Fauna.
P
- project
-
A project is a directory that includes:
-
A
.fauna-project
file for the Fauna CLI -
FSL files for a database
See Initialize a project -
- Projection
-
Projection lets you return only the specific fields you want from queries.
See Projection and field aliasing
R
- Role
-
Roles determine a Fauna authentication secret’s privileges, which control data access.
See Roles
S
- Schema
-
An FSL definition for a user-defined resource, such as a collection or user-defined role.
See Schema - Schema migration
-
An update to a collection schema’s field definitions or wildcard constraint.
You perform a schema migration using migration blocks. Migrations require zero downtime.
See Zero-downtime migrations (beta) - Secret
-
A cryptographic hash used to authenticate with Fauna. Secrets are passed to the Fauna Core HTTP API as bearer tokens.
See Authentication - Set
-
A set is an FQL data type that contains an iterable, unbounded series of values. You typically fetch documents from a collection as a set.
See Sets - System collection
-
A system collection stores built-in Fauna resources.
For example, Fauna stores credentials as documents in the
Credential
system collectionSee System collections
U
- Unique constraint
-
Ensures a field value or combination of field values is unique for each document in a collection. Fauna rejects document writes that don’t meet the constraint.
See Unique constraints - User-defined function (UDF)
-
A user-defined function (UDF) is a set of one or more FQL statements stored as a reusable resource in a Fauna database. Like a stored procedure in SQL, a UDF can accept parameters, perform operations, and return results.
You can use UDFs to encapsulate business logic, making it easier to manage complex operations within your database.
See User-defined functions (UDFs)
V
- Value
-
A document field used to sort a collection’s documents using an index. You can also use index values for range searches.
See Indexes
W
- Wildcard constraint
-
Part of a document type that allows or disallows ad hoc fields. It also controls accepted data types for ad hoc fields.
A wildcard constraint is part of a collection schema's document type.
See Wildcard constraints
Z
- Zero-downtime migration
-
See Schema migration.
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