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

# Concepts

> The words the Condense CLI uses for what it acts on: environments, workspaces, pipelines, connectors, services and apps, and how to name them.

Six words describe everything the CLI works with. Learn them once and every command reads the same way.

```mermaid theme={null}
flowchart LR
    ENV["Environment<br/>where you work"] --> WS["Workspace<br/>a container in it"]
    WS --> PL["Pipeline<br/>the running graph"]
    PL --> SV["Service<br/>one deployed connector"]
    APP["App<br/>published, not running"] -- deploy --> PL
```

* **Environment.** The place you sign in to and work inside, such as `production`. You choose one with `condense environment use`.
* **Workspace.** A container inside an environment. It is the workspace name you see in the Condense Console.
* **Pipeline.** Everything that is running in a workspace: its connectors, joined so that data flows from one to the next. It is the Pipelines page in the Console.
* **Connector.** One step in moving data through Condense. A source reads data in, a processor changes it, and a sink sends it out.
* **Service.** One connector that is deployed in the pipeline. You choose one with `--service`.
* **App.** A published application that is not running yet. When you deploy an app into a pipeline, it runs as a service. You choose one with `--app`.

## How the CLI names things

Each group of commands is named after the thing it acts on: `environment`, `workspace`, `pipeline` and `app`. You can type the singular or the plural, so `condense workspace list` and `condense workspaces list` do the same thing.

To act on one thing, you select it, in one of two ways:

* **Select it once.** `condense environment use` and `condense workspace use` choose the environment and the workspace, and they stay chosen for the commands that follow.
* **Name it for one command.** Flags such as `--workspace` and `--service` override your selection for that command only.

See [Targeting and configuration](https://docs.condense.io/condense/v3.0.0/cli/targeting-and-configuration.md).

## Next steps

> [card] [Quickstart](https://docs.condense.io/condense/v3.0.0/cli/quickstart.md)
>
> Put the words to work.

> [card] [Environments and workspaces](https://docs.condense.io/condense/v3.0.0/cli/environments-and-workspaces.md)
>
> The commands that choose where you work.


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