Key concepts

The words Halo uses, in the order you'll meet them, each with a link to the article that explains it.

A short tour of Halo's vocabulary. Hover over an underlined word for its definition, or see the whole glossary.

Your data

A connection is how Halo reaches a database or warehouse: its address and a read-only login, kept encrypted. Uploaded files are a connection too. See Connections.

Discovery is Halo reading a connection's tables, columns and keys, profiling the values, and suggesting what each column means. See Discovery.

Marketplace data is data Halo maintains and shares with your organization through the Marketplace. You use it like your own, read-only. See Marketplace data and the Marketplace.

Datasets and fields

A dataset is the set of tables a report reads, joined and named for people. Charts and reports never read tables directly; they read a dataset. See Datasets.

Its fields come in two kinds. A dimension is something you group or filter by, such as region or channel. A measure is something Halo adds up, counts or averages, such as revenue or orders. See Fields.

A calculated field is written as a formula over other fields, and works like any other field. Formulas run in your database. See Calculated fields and The formula language.

Try editing it: the editor completes field and function names, and shows help on hover.

Time grain is how finely a date is grouped: day, week, month, quarter or year. Changing it regroups the same data. See Dates and time zones.

Where answers come from

A live query goes to your database as someone opens or filters a report. It's the default, and results are cached for a while. An extract is a copy of a dataset's rows that Halo keeps and refreshes on a schedule, so reports don't wait on the source. See Extracts and caching.

A row policy limits which rows each person sees, for example only their own region, usually by reading a user attribute. It applies everywhere the dataset is used. See Row policies.

What you build

A chart is a saved question over one dataset, drawn as a line, bar, table, scorecard or another type. See Chart types.

A report is pages of charts, text, images and filters, laid out for reading on screen or on paper. A dashboard is a report too. See The report builder.

A filter narrows what a report or chart shows. A parameter is a value a reader picks, such as a target or a currency, that formulas and filters can use. See Filters and parameters.

A draft is the version of a report you're editing. Readers see the published version until you publish again. See Publishing. An edition is a report frozen for one period, with a link that keeps working. See Publish a report by period.

A goal is a named target for a measure, by period, and Goals shows how each stands. An insight is a change in a measure you're watching, flagged by a check and explained by Halo AI. See Insights.

A website is what you build in Halo CMS: pages and collections, published to your own address. See Build a website.

A listing is a place, an offering or an event in your directory in Halo CRM, and a business is who runs it. Listings feed your website and your reports. See Your directory.

How it reaches people

A public link is a link anyone can open without signing in. It shows the published version of one report and can expire. See Public links.

A snapshot is the answers to a published report's queries, kept by Halo so public links and embeds open fast without reaching your database.

An embed places a report or chart in another website, with an iframe or the <halo-report> element. See Embedding. A signed embed has a token your server signs, carrying locked filters and the reader's attributes. See Signed embeds.

People and access

An organization is your company's space in Halo, and a workspace is a place inside it for a team or a topic. See How Halo is organized.

A role says what a member can do: Owner, Admin, Builder, Analyst, Viewer or External guest, or a custom role. See Roles and permissions.

A group is a set of members you share with at once. See Groups and sharing.

Behind the scenes

A job is work Halo does in the background, such as discovery, an export or a scheduled email. The job center shows each one. See Jobs and notifications.

AI credits count how much of Halo AI your organization has used. See Credits and limits.

The Halo MCP server lets members' own AI tools search your catalog and query datasets, with the member's permissions. See The MCP server.

The Trash holds deleted reports, charts, datasets, connections, uploaded tables, goals, images, folders, workspaces, websites and their pages, collections and entries, listings and businesses for 30 days, ready to restore. See Trash.