Glossary

Lookout's own words, in alphabetical order, each with the page that covers it.

Account

Your Lookout account: your profile, your devices, and the provider sign-ins they share. Account and devices

Agent

The model at work in a chat, with Lookout's tools: it reads and edits files, runs commands and reports back. An agent is also a named one you create in the sidebar's Agents group, with its own folder, memory and instructions. Agents

Background task

A subagent the agent doesn't wait for: it runs while the agent keeps working, and its report reaches the agent when it finishes. Subagents

Chat

A conversation with the agent in one project. It keeps every message, tool call and checkpoint. Chats and projects

Checkpoint

The record of a chat's folder Lookout takes before every turn, so you can see what changed and put files back. Checkpoints and changes

Compaction

How Lookout keeps a long chat within the model's context: it clears tool output the agent has read, then summarizes older turns. Context and compaction

Connector

An MCP server whose tools the agent can call, run as a local command or reached at a remote URL. Connectors and skills

Context

What the model reads for a turn: the chat so far, rules, memory, what you mention or attach, and tool results. Each model has its own limit. Context and compaction

Device

A Mac or a server added to your Lookout account. Settings › Devices lists them. Account and devices

Effort

How long the model reasons before it answers, from None to Max. Each model offers its own range. Models and providers

Machine

A Lookout on your account that runs chats: the Mac app on a Mac, or the lookout command on a server or another computer. From any machine you can start chats on the others. Machines

Memory

What Lookout keeps between chats: your preferences everywhere, facts about each project, and each agent's own notes. Memory

Mode

What a chat is for, as an instruction the agent follows: Agent or Ask. Multitask is an option of Agent mode. Modes

Plan

A provider's plan is what a model runs on: a subscription whose limits reset on a schedule, or a prepaid balance (Accounts and usage).

Plugin

A folder that bundles skills and connectors. Connectors and skills

Project

A folder the agent works in, with any extra folders you add. Every chat belongs to one project. Chats and projects

Provider

A service whose models Lookout runs, connected once in Settings › Providers: most with a sign-in to your plan, a free tier with none. Its models then appear in every chat's model menu. Models and providers

Queue

Messages you send while the agent works wait in the queue, and run one per turn, in order. Send while the agent works

Recovery Key

The key that, with your password, adds a device to your account when none of your devices is at hand. Account and devices

Round

One request to the model and the tool calls it makes in answer. A turn is one or more rounds, up to 512. Error reference

Routing

How requests spread across two or more accounts of one provider: One account, Failover or Balance. An account Excluded from the pool takes no request Failover or Balance would move to it. Accounts and usage

Rules

Markdown files in a project, such as AGENTS.md, that tell the agent how to work there. A chat reads them from each of the project's folders, and an edit reaches it at its next step. Rules

Skill

A playbook in a SKILL.md file. The agent sees each skill's one-line description and reads the file when a task fits it. Connectors and skills

Steer

A message the agent reads at its next step, without stopping its turn. Send while the agent works

Subagent

A second agent the agent starts for part of a task, waiting for it or not. It works from a brief with a fresh context, and reports back. Subagents

Turn

One run of the agent, from your message to its reply, with every tool call between. The line under it says how long it took, and how it ended when it didn't finish on its own. How a turn ends

Variant

An option on the same model, such as Fast, that you turn on beside the model's name. Models and providers

Worktree

A chat's own git branch in its own folder, so its edits never touch your checkout. You merge the work back when it's ready. Worktrees