Glossary
Every word Else uses for something specific, defined in one line, with a link to the page that explains it properly.
Else uses ordinary words for specific things. This page is the short definition of each, in the same wording the interface uses, so you can tell whether task means what you think it means before you rely on it.
The work
Section titled “The work”Chat — an ordinary conversation. You type, it answers, you stay for it. Everything you type starts as a chat; nothing becomes a task by itself. → Your first task
Task — work you hand off deliberately. It runs without you watching, has a result page of its own, and is the only path where a spend limit you set is actually read. You create one explicitly; Else never promotes a chat into a task behind your back. → Your first task
Run — one piece of work being carried out, whether that is a task or a turn of a chat. It is the unit that gets charged, and the unit a receipt describes. → How billing works
Turn — one exchange inside a chat: your message and everything Else does before it comes back to you. A turn can contain many steps and has its own hard ceilings. → Limits
Step — one thing done inside a run: a search, a file written, a page read. Steps are what a receipt itemises. → Reading a receipt
Needs you — the state a handed-off task enters when it stops and waits: for an approval, for a decision, or because it went over its spend limit. Nothing runs and nothing is charged while it waits. → When it checks with you
Repeating — a task set to run on a cadence of its own. Each occurrence is a separate run with a separate bill. → Recurring work
What it does the work with
Section titled “What it does the work with”Engine — which model runs your work, chosen as one of four tiers: Auto, Fast, Smart and Max. Auto picks per step; the other three pin it. A tier is not a price — what a run costs depends on the tier it ran on. → Model prices
Tier — the four-way choice above. Used interchangeably with engine in the interface.
Add-on — something Else can already do inside a run: read the live web, open a PDF, write a spreadsheet, build a file. There are thirteen built in and they are all on by default. Nothing to install, nothing to buy. → Add-ons
Things you taught it — an Add-on you made: one reusable expectation, like a format or a checklist. It lives on your account and is available in any chat. → Add-ons
App — an account you already use that Else can work inside once you connect it: Gmail, Google Drive, Notion, Slack, GitHub, Airtable. Connecting one is what lets it act there rather than tell you to. → Connecting your apps
Assistant — a saved set of standing instructions you talk to, carrying its own briefing, files, app scope, engine and budget. Everyday assistant is the built-in one you already have. → Assistants
Else’s desk — the panel where the files a run produced are collected, so results are somewhere findable rather than buried in the conversation. → Reviewing what comes back
Control
Section titled “Control”Spend limit — the amount you set on a handed-off task, at which it stops and checks with you. It is checked between steps against money already spent, not a ceiling that prevents an overrun. The same field appears above the chat composer, where the number you type is recorded and shown back to you but nothing acts on it — that distinction is real and has its own page. → Spending limits
Approval — the setting that decides what it must ask you before doing. Three levels, in the interface’s own words: “Before anything leaves this app”, “Before sending or publishing”, and “Don’t check with me”. → When it checks with you
Plan before doing — the toggle that makes it show you its intended steps before it starts on them. → When it checks with you
Wallet — your prepaid balance. No subscription, no seats, no credit bundles; you top up and your money only moves when something actually runs. → Topping up
Top up — adding money to your Wallet. Balance does not expire. → Topping up
Receipt — the itemised record of one run: what it did, step by step, and what each step cost. It is the record of what happened, as against the limit, which is only what you asked for. → Reading a receipt
Words we deliberately do not use
Section titled “Words we deliberately do not use”If you are looking for these, here is what they map to. There are no credits — the Wallet holds money, in dollars. There is no plan or tier of service — tier here only ever means which engine runs your work. There is no marketplace and nothing to install: every Add-on is already on. And there is no app to download — Else runs in a browser and can be installed to a phone home screen from there. → On your phone