Glossary - ProductOS Docs

The full ProductOS glossary lives at productos.dev/glossary. It covers 30+ terms across product management and AI, each with a definition, comparisons, and FAQs. The six below carry the most weight in these docs.

Term	Definition
AI agent	A software system that uses a language model to plan and execute multi-step tasks toward a goal, calling tools, checking results, and adjusting without step-by-step instructions.
Product requirements document (PRD)	A structured specification that defines what a product should do and why: the problem, target user, scope, user stories, and acceptance criteria that guide design and engineering.
Model Context Protocol (MCP)	An open standard that connects AI models to external tools and data sources through one consistent interface, with no custom integration code per client.
Code ownership	The right to fully export, host, modify, and keep the source code a platform generates for you, so your product exists independently of any vendor or subscription.
Bring your own keys (BYOK)	A usage model that routes an AI tool’s requests through your own provider API keys, so usage bills to your account and data flows under your own provider agreement.
Design system	A reusable library of components, design tokens, and usage rules that keeps a product’s interface consistent as it grows across screens, features, and teams.

Where these terms live in the docs:

Agents and the pipeline: Agents overview
PRDs in practice: The PRD stage
MCP in practice: MCP integration
Code ownership in practice: Code ownership
BYOK in practice: BYOK and models
Design systems in practice: Brand and design systems