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

# Core concepts

> A glossary and mental model for projects, stacks, templates, nodes, databases, deployments, and operations.

<Tip>
  **Live.** This area is documented as current, user-reliable behavior.
</Tip>

## Goal

Give new users enough vocabulary to understand the rest of the docs.

## Prerequisites

* Read “What is StackShift” first

## Workflow

<Steps>
  <Step>
    Learn the difference between project deployments and stack deployments.
  </Step>

  <Step>
    Treat templates as stack blueprints, not as a separate runtime engine.
  </Step>

  <Step>
    Treat nodes as schedulable runtime hosts, not as dashboard-only records.
  </Step>

  <Step>
    Treat operations as the cross-resource health and recovery surface.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Objects you manage

* Project: an app deployment unit, usually GitHub- or image-based.
* Stack: a Compose-defined service unit, often stateful or service-oriented.
* Template: a versioned blueprint that renders into a stack.
* Node: a connected machine running the StackShift agent.
* Database: a managed database resource with its own lifecycle and recovery behavior.

## Operational language

* Placement: where a workload is scheduled.
* Maintenance: a node state used before upgrades or disruptive host actions.
* Recovery state: the current retry / cleanup / manual-attention state for an operation.
* Template provenance: the recorded template version and inputs used to deploy a stack.

## Expected result

<Check>
  Terms used across the dashboard and docs feel consistent instead of ambiguous.
</Check>

## Related guides

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="What is StackShift" href="/introduction/what-is-stackshift">
    A precise description of StackShift as it exists today: a self-hosted application platform control plane for deploying and operating workloads across connected nodes.
  </Card>

  <Card title="How StackShift works" href="/introduction/how-stackshift-works">
    A product-level walkthrough of how the control plane, worker, agent, and runtime hosts cooperate.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>