# Core Concepts & Definitions

### Agent

An **agent** in Kognitos is a dedicated execution environment where your automations live and run. Each agent is equipped with its own set of learned knowledge, configurations, and connections to other tools, allowing it to operate independently and securely.

### Automation

An **automation** is a series of instructions that tells Kognitos what to do. It can refer to either a draft workflow in the [Playground](#playground) or a fully developed and reusable [Process](#process).

### Book

A [**book**](https://docs.kognitos.com/legacy/legacy-experience/books) is a set of related automation [procedures](#procedure). Books can be added to an agent to expand automation functionality and integrate with external tools. Kognitos offers a library of standard Books for common skills and integrations, including Microsoft Excel, Salesforce, and Slack.

### Exception

An **exception** (*question)* arises when the system needs additional clarification to proceed with an automation. Exceptions are resolved by providing user guidance in the [Guidance Center](#guidance-center).

### Guidance Center

The **Guidance Center** is where you manage all [exceptions](#exception) in one place. When an automation encounters an issue or requires additional context, it raises a [question](#question) for your input. Here, you can view and resolve exceptions across all processes in your agent.

### History

Kognitos tracks major changes to an Agent, allowing users to review and restore past versions through the **History** tab. You can click on any of the options displayed in the History tab to view the Agent at that point in time.

### Kognitos AI Assistant

The **Kognitos AI Assistant** (KAIA) is used to answer questions, find guidance, or get in touch with our support team. You can use this tool to get help anytime by accessing it in the bottom left corner of the platform.

### Learnings

**Learnings** are rules that guide your automation’s decision-making. When you resolve an [exception](#exception), you can teach the agent how to handle similar situations in the future. These learned responses are stored as "learnings, " allowing the automation to become more intelligent and autonomous over time.

### Playground

The **Playground** is a dynamic development environment where you can create, test, and refine your automation workflows. It provides a flexible space to write procedures in plain English, run them to see the immediate results, and debug any issues before creating a [process](#process).

### Procedure

A **procedure** is a single automation task defined in plain English. Each procedure describes a specific action and follows a defined grammatical syntax that Kognitos understands, such as **open a file**, **extract data**, or **send an email**. These procedures are the building blocks for Kognitos automations.

### Process

A **process** is an automation workflow built using one or more [procedures](#procedure). It represents a complete business task, such as processing an invoice from receipt to payment.

Processes can be in a **Draft** state during development and testing, or in a **Published** state that is production-ready. Each version of a process is tracked, allowing for clear change management.

### Run

A **run** is a single execution of an automation. All automations, whether a Playground, a Draft Process, or a Published Process, can be run manually. However, only published Processes support automatic triggers like email, API, or scheduled runs. Every time a process is triggered, either manually or by a scheduled event, it creates a new run.

### Subprocess

A **subprocess** is a process that is called by another process.