Moonpool glossary: apps, states, files and settings

Apps

Term	Meaning
app	One thing Moonpool manages: a dev server, a desktop app, a page or a command.
entry	An app’s record in apps.json. Used only when talking about the JSON.
app row	An app’s line in the sidebar, with its status dot and controls.
group	The sidebar heading an app is listed under, from its group field.
type	web, desktop, static or cli. Decides which fields matter. See App types.
id	An app’s permanent key, used in file names, commands and agent tools. See The id.

App states

State	Meaning
starting	Moonpool launched the app but has not seen it up yet. Pulsing dot.
Running	Its port answers, its processName exists, or, with neither set, the terminal Moonpool started is still alive. Solid dot. See How Running is decided.
stopped	None of the above. Grey dot.
managed	Moonpool started it in this session. A running app that is not managed was started some other way, and Quit leaves it alone.

A terminal tab and a running app are separate things. Clicking an app’s name only opens its terminal tab; it never starts the app. Closing a tab never stops the app.

Windows and parts

Term	Meaning
hub	The resident Moonpool process and its main window. Tool names call it the “launcher”.
hub window	The main window: sidebar on the left, CLI pane on the right.
tray	The system tray icon and its menu (Show Moonpool, Quit).
sidebar	The left side of the hub window: filter box, … menu and app rows.
CLI pane	The right side of the hub window, holding the terminal tabs.
terminal tab	One app’s terminal in the CLI pane.
MCP sub-row	A dimmed row under an app showing its own <exe> mcp helper process.
app editor	The Add app and Edit app dialog.

Files and folders

Term	Meaning
config folder	The folder holding apps.json and Moonpool’s other files. The {MP_DATA} token. See Where the config lives.
{MP_HOME}	The Moonpool folder: %USERPROFILE%\.moonpool installed, the .moonpool\ folder of a portable copy, the config folder on Linux.
session	One run of the hub, from start to Quit.
session log	The file holding everything an app printed during one session, under cli-output\. See Logs.
moonpool.log	Moonpool’s own debug log, written only with Log debug info to a file on.
dump	A plain-text copy of a session log made by the dump verb.
snapshot	A copy of a good apps.json in apps.json.history\. See Backup and recovery.

Modes

Term	Meaning
installed	A Moonpool in %USERPROFILE%\.moonpool, with Start Menu shortcut and Add/Remove entry. Windows only.
portable	A Moonpool in a .moonpool\ folder you chose, marked by a moonpool.portable file. See Portable mode.
copy	One Moonpool folder, installed or portable. Each copy runs on its own.

Stop and automation

Term	Meaning
killMode	The extra step Stop takes after ending the app’s terminal. See Stop and restart.
stopCommand	The command Stop runs when killMode is command.
processName	The process name Moonpool watches for, and kills in processName mode.
control channel	The named pipe (Windows) or Unix socket (Linux) the hub answers on. See Control verbs.
verb	A command word such as launch or reload, given on the command line or the control channel.
ticket	A key you attach with --ticket to read a command’s outcome from state.json.
token	The version stamp of apps.json that a config write must carry.
MCP helper (shim)	An <exe> mcp process an AI host starts to reach an app’s own tools.