Skip to main contentUserpilot Glossary
This glossary defines key terms used in Userpilot documentation and product interfaces.
Content Types
Flow
A sequence of in-app UI elements (modals, tooltips, slideouts) that guide users through tasks or communicate information. Flows can be triggered automatically or manually.
Spotlight
A category of elements that highlight specific parts of your UI:
- Native Tooltip: Text that appears on hover over an element
- Hotspot: A pulsing indicator that draws attention to an element
- Button: A persistent clickable element added to your UI
Banner
A horizontal message bar displayed at the top or bottom of a page for announcements, alerts, or promotions.
Checklist
A persistent widget showing tasks for users to complete, typically used for onboarding. Tasks can link to flows, URLs, or trigger JavaScript actions.
Resource Center
A help widget that provides self-service support, including help articles, videos, flows, and external links.
Survey
A form for collecting user feedback with various question types (NPS, rating, multiple choice, open text).
A specific survey type asking “How likely are you to recommend us?” on a 0-10 scale, categorizing users as Detractors (0-6), Passives (7-8), or Promoters (9-10).
Data Concepts
User
An individual who interacts with your application. Users are identified by a unique user_id and can have custom properties (name, email, plan, etc.).
Company (Account)
An organization that groups multiple users. Companies are identified by a unique id within the user’s company object and can have custom properties.
Segment
A dynamic group of users or companies based on filters (properties, events, behavior). Segments update automatically as users match or unmatch criteria.
Event
A recorded user action, either:
- Tracked Event: Explicitly sent via
userpilot.track()
- Auto-captured Event: Automatically recorded clicks, form submissions, page views
- Labeled Event: An auto-captured event given a meaningful name via Visual Labeler
Property
An attribute stored on a user, company, or event. Properties can be strings, numbers, dates, or booleans.
Feature Tag
A labeled UI element or event representing a product feature, used to measure feature adoption and usage.
Targeting Concepts
Audience
The set of users who can see a piece of content, defined by segment membership, user properties, or company properties.
Trigger
The condition that causes content to display:
- Page load: When a user visits a specific URL
- Element click: When a user clicks a specific element
- Custom event: When a tracked event fires
- Manual: Via JavaScript API call
Frequency
How often content displays to a user:
- Once: Only the first time conditions are met
- Every time: Each time conditions are met
- Until completed: Until user completes the content
Page Targeting
URL matching rules that determine where content can appear. Supports exact match, contains, regex, and wildcard patterns.
SDK Concepts
Identify
The process of telling Userpilot who the current user is via userpilot.identify(user_id, properties). Required before content displays.
Reload
Notifying Userpilot of a page change in single-page applications via userpilot.reload(). Required for SPAs to trigger page-based content.
Track
Recording a custom event via userpilot.track(event_name, metadata). Used for measuring actions and triggering content.
App Token
A unique identifier for your Userpilot environment, used to initialize the SDK. Found in Settings > Environment.
API Key
Authentication credential for server-side API calls. Different from the App Token. Found in Settings > Environment.
Analytics Concepts
Funnel
A sequence of events analyzed to measure conversion rates between steps and identify drop-off points.
Path
A visualization of the sequence of events users take before or after a target event, showing common navigation patterns.
Retention
A measurement of how many users return to perform an action over time, indicating product stickiness.
Cohort
A group of users who share a common characteristic or performed an action during a specific time period.
MAU (Monthly Active Users)
The count of unique users who have been identified in Userpilot within a calendar month. Used for billing purposes. 
