A little vocabulary. A lot more clarity.

Use this glossary alongside the guides. The definitions describe how terms are used on ListAPI.com; a provider’s own documentation remains the authority for its specific API behavior.

API: A defined interface through which software requests data or operations. An API is a contract, not automatically a hosted product or a guarantee that every operation is available.
Record: One item in a data model, such as a task, note, event, or membership. Decide its boundaries before choosing the fields.
Collection: A group of records. A collection can be an underlying resource or a filtered view, so absence from one collection does not always mean deletion.
Identifier: A stable reference to a record. Keep editable titles and names separate from identity, and preserve account context when identifiers are source-scoped.
Relationship: A connection between records, such as project membership, a friendship, or asset custody. It may need its own identity, state, and access rules.
Schema: The expected structure and meaning of data. A useful schema describes field semantics and ownership, not just data types.
JSON: A text format for representing objects, arrays, strings, numbers, Boolean values, and null. The examples page provides small synthetic files to inspect.
Endpoint: A specific interface location and operation defined by an API. Do not assume an illustrative route in a tutorial exists as a live endpoint.
Pagination: Retrieving a result set in portions. Follow the provider’s continuation rules and distinguish a completed retrieval from a partial import.
Cursor: A continuation value used by some APIs to retrieve another portion of a collection. Treat it as opaque unless the provider documents otherwise.
Synchronization: Keeping selected data aligned across systems according to explicit ownership and conflict rules. It is more than repeatedly copying every row.
Checkpoint: A saved position or state from a completed operation. An attempted request and a successfully committed synchronization should not share an indistinguishable checkpoint.
Idempotency: A property that allows repeated application of an operation to have the intended non-duplicating effect. Actual support depends on the API and operation; do not assume a header alone provides it.
Authentication: Establishing the actor making a request. It does not by itself establish permission to access every record or perform every operation.
Authorization: Determining whether an actor may perform a particular operation on a particular resource. Apply the rule to list views, direct requests, exports, and background work.
Scope: The boundary of requested or permitted access, or the selection boundary of a query. Define which meaning applies and keep it visible in integration configuration.
Provenance: Information about where a value came from and how it was derived. Provenance helps distinguish imported content from personal edits and summaries.
Source of truth: The system or record considered authoritative for a defined piece of information. Authority can differ by field rather than belonging to one entire application.
Conflict: Competing changes that cannot be safely combined under the current rules. A useful integration preserves evidence and provides a recovery path.
Tombstone: A marker representing a removed resource in some synchronization designs. Interpret a provider’s deletion representation according to its actual documentation.
Snapshot: A view of selected data captured for a particular run or moment. Its scope and completeness matter when comparing counts or making decisions.
Suppression: A state or rule that prevents a communication from being sent through a workflow. Keep it distinct from contact identity and topic preferences.

Ready to put the terms together? Read List APIs, without the mystery or inspect the example data.