# Core concepts > The ideas behind sanda in plain terms, from workspace and warehouse to the semantic fluid, cherry, reports and MCP, each linked to its page. Each entry below is a short definition and a pointer to where the topic is covered in full. For a strictly alphabetical list of every term, see the [glossary](https://docs.sanda-os.com.au/reference/glossary). ## Your workspace ### Workspace A workspace is your business's home in sanda. It holds your warehouse, connections, semantic fluid, reports, cherry conversations, settings and team, and it is what you are billed for. It is named after your company when you sign up, and it has a short name that you type to confirm closing it. An email address belongs to one workspace. See [workspace](https://docs.sanda-os.com.au/workspace). ### Member and role A member is a person with a seat in your workspace. Seats are not priced. A member's role decides what they can do: | Role | What it can do | |---|---| | **owner** | Everything, including closing or deleting the workspace and handing it over. You are the owner when you sign up. | | **admin** | Everything except the owner's decisions: closing, deleting or handing over the workspace, changing an owner, switching sanda search on, and requiring two-step sign-in. | | **read-only** | Open every page and ask every question. Change nothing. | | **reader** | Read reports on the reports portal and ask cherry about them. No console. | See [members and roles](https://docs.sanda-os.com.au/workspace/members-and-roles) for what each role can do. ### Edition and trial An edition (Basic, Standard or Enterprise) sets your platform fee, how many warehouses you can hold, how large each can grow, and whether sanda search and included support are on. A trial has every feature, A$10 of free credit and lasts 7 days. See [editions](https://docs.sanda-os.com.au/billing/editions) and [trial](https://docs.sanda-os.com.au/billing/trial). ## Getting data in ### Warehouse Your sanda warehouse is a dedicated PostgreSQL database that belongs to your workspace, held in Sydney. Every connection and CSV lands in it. sanda provisions it in under a minute, and you can read it in the **Explorer** or with SQL. See [warehouse](https://docs.sanda-os.com.au/warehouse). ### Connection A connection links one source system to one warehouse. It records which connector it uses, which streams it syncs, and when it runs. You add one from **Data · Connections**. See [connections](https://docs.sanda-os.com.au/connections) and the [connector catalogue](https://docs.sanda-os.com.au/connectors). ### Stream A stream is one table or object that a connection syncs from its source, such as invoices or contacts. You choose which streams to sync, and how each is read. See [choose streams](https://docs.sanda-os.com.au/connections/choose-streams). ### Sync A sync is one run of a connection: it reads the source and lands the rows in your warehouse. Each stream has a sync mode that says whether the whole table is read every time (full refresh) or only rows that changed (incremental). See [sync modes](https://docs.sanda-os.com.au/connections/sync-modes) and [monitor syncs](https://docs.sanda-os.com.au/connections/monitor-syncs). ### Schedule A schedule says when something runs: a connection's sync, a task in Modelling, or the delivery of a report. You pick a time of day in your own timezone, and runs fall on a 15 minute grid. See [schedules](https://docs.sanda-os.com.au/connections/schedules). ## Giving data meaning ### Semantic fluid The semantic fluid is the shared business language on top of your warehouse: the tables you allow, how they join, and what your numbers mean. cherry, sanda search, MCP, reports and the Excel feed all read through it, so they agree. See [semantic fluid](https://docs.sanda-os.com.au/semantic-fluid). ### Table In the semantic fluid, a table is a table or view from your warehouse that you have put on the map. It is either a **fact** (it records something that happened and carries measures, such as invoices) or a **dimension** (it records something that exists, such as customers). See [tables](https://docs.sanda-os.com.au/semantic-fluid/tables). ### Dataset A dataset is a group of tables. By default it is every stream from one connector, and it tints those tables on the map. See [tables](https://docs.sanda-os.com.au/semantic-fluid/tables). ### Metric A metric is a number defined once, with a name, a definition and optional conditions, such as `net revenue`. Every answer that uses it uses the same definition. See [metrics](https://docs.sanda-os.com.au/semantic-fluid/metrics). ### Dimension A dimension is a way to slice a number, such as `customer`, `region` or `month`. A time dimension can roll up from day to month to year. See [dimensions and filters](https://docs.sanda-os.com.au/semantic-fluid/dimensions-and-filters). ### Filter A filter is a named condition that says which rows count, such as `approved invoices`. You write it once and reuse it. See [dimensions and filters](https://docs.sanda-os.com.au/semantic-fluid/dimensions-and-filters). ### Relationship A relationship says how two tables join. You draw it between two columns on the map, and it records which side holds a single row. See [relationships](https://docs.sanda-os.com.au/semantic-fluid/relationships). ### The map The map is the canvas view of the semantic fluid. Tables are cards, relationships are lines, and a rail down the left opens each kind of definition. See [the map](https://docs.sanda-os.com.au/semantic-fluid/the-map). ### Learn from my data Learn from my data asks cherry to read your warehouse and propose the tables, relationships, metrics and dimensions it holds. It is the fastest way to build the map. See [learn from my data](https://docs.sanda-os.com.au/semantic-fluid/learn). ### Proposals and review What cherry proposes arrives as suggestions, and nothing reaches an answer until you accept it. You can accept one at a time, correct it first, reject it, or accept all. See [review suggestions](https://docs.sanda-os.com.au/semantic-fluid/review). ## Asking and searching ### cherry cherry is sanda's AI data agent. It sits in a pane beside your work in the console, and it has its own full-screen page. It answers questions, defines metrics and relationships, builds views and reports, starts syncs, and walks a new workspace through setup. See [cherry](https://docs.sanda-os.com.au/cherry). ### Held actions By default cherry asks first. A change it proposes waits as a card with **Confirm** and **Decline**, and nothing runs until you press one. In **Autonomous** mode it acts at once, but it still asks before emailing a report, dropping a view, retiring a table, or deleting a definition or a delivery. See [actions and approvals](https://docs.sanda-os.com.au/cherry/actions-and-approvals). ### Search service A search service tells sanda search which table on your map to index, which column identifies a row, and which text columns to search. sanda builds the index in your warehouse and keeps it fresh. A workspace owner must switch sanda search on first, and it is included from Standard. See [search](https://docs.sanda-os.com.au/search). ## Reporting ### Report A report is a canvas of blocks that you arrange on a page. It stores the questions its blocks ask, not the rows, so it shows current numbers each time it opens. See [reports](https://docs.sanda-os.com.au/reports). ### Block A block is one piece of a report: a figure (kpi), a bar chart, a line chart, a table, a written analysis, or a header. See [blocks](https://docs.sanda-os.com.au/reports/blocks). ### Delivery A delivery sends a report on a schedule. It goes by email, or as a summary to Slack, or as JSON to a webhook of your own. See [report delivery](https://docs.sanda-os.com.au/reports/delivery). ### Reports portal The reports portal is a place for the people you build reports for. They sign in, read the reports you publish to them, and can ask cherry about the numbers. They never see the console, and each reader can be limited to their own rows. See [the reports portal](https://docs.sanda-os.com.au/reports/portal). ## Connecting other tools ### Agent token An agent token is a secret that lets a program read your workspace without a person signing in, such as Claude Code, an agent of your own, Excel or Power BI. An owner or admin creates it under **Settings · Integrations**, where it is called an integration token. sanda shows it once, every optional permission starts off, and you can revoke it at any time. See [agent tokens](https://docs.sanda-os.com.au/mcp/agent-tokens). ### MCP MCP, the Model Context Protocol, is an open standard for letting AI assistants use tools. sanda is an MCP server, so an assistant such as Claude can search your definitions and query your data through the semantic fluid, with only the permissions you grant. MCP is included from Standard. See [MCP](https://docs.sanda-os.com.au/mcp). ## Keep reading :::links - [Quickstart](https://docs.sanda-os.com.au/get-started/quickstart): Put these concepts to work with your own data. - [How sanda works](https://docs.sanda-os.com.au/get-started/how-becca-works): Where data lives, and when work happens. - [Glossary](https://docs.sanda-os.com.au/reference/glossary): Every term, in alphabetical order. :::