Concepts & glossary

The core nouns and verbs used throughout SMAQ. Read this first if a term in the rest of the docs feels unfamiliar.

Project

The top-level workspace for a single brand, client, or business unit. Connections, datablocks, dashboards, media plans, and automations all live inside a project. Most organizations have one project per client.

Organization

The account that owns one or more projects. Billing, member roles, and credit pools are managed at the org level — projects inherit from the org's subscription.

Connection

An authenticated link to an external data source — Google Ads, Meta, GA4, a SQL database, etc. One connection can power many datablocks. See Connections overview.

Datablock

A reusable query — the foundational building block of SMAQ. A datablock specifies a connection, the metrics and dimensions you want, optional filters, and a date range. Once defined, you can drop the same datablock onto any dashboard, reference it in chat, or use it as input to an automation.

Two flavors:

• Global datablocks — Pre-built by SMAQ for common patterns (campaign performance overview, GA4 channel mix, etc.). Available in every project.

• Project datablocks — Custom datablocks you create for your project's unique needs. See Create project datablocks.

Custom metric

A formula-based KPI built on top of one or more datablock columns — e.g. Revenue / Spend = ROAS, or (Conversions − Refunds) / Sessions. Custom metrics are usable anywhere a regular metric is. See Custom metrics.

Dashboard

A multi-page canvas of charts, tables, metric cards, and text. Dashboards have pages (tabs), widgets (the charts and tables), filters (waterfall: dashboard → page → chart), and snapshots (read-only archives). See Dashboard overview.

Widget

Any block on a dashboard — chart, table, pivot table, metric card, text block, image, AI Insight box, or a merged-table block.

Snapshot

A read-only, point-in-time archive of a dashboard. Snapshots preserve the data exactly as it was, plus chat history and comments. See Snapshots & version history.

Report

A polished, presentation-ready document generated from a dashboard. Reports can be exported as PowerPoint (.pptx) and styled with your report theme. See Reports overview.

Playbook

A reusable analysis recipe — a named set of datablocks plus instructions that tell SMAQ AI exactly how you want a topic analyzed. When you ask the AI a question that matches a playbook, it runs the playbook instead of starting from scratch. See Playbooks.

Automation

A scheduled or on-demand job that runs in the background — monitoring metrics, sending briefs, scanning competitor ads, surfacing trends, etc. SMAQ ships 28 automation types. See Automations overview.

Media plan

A budget allocation document for a campaign — flight dates, channels, budgets, KPI targets, and snapshots. Used to plan and track campaigns against goals. See Media Plans overview.

Command Center

A single screen that pulls live campaign signals across every connected platform into one prioritized worklist. See Command Center.

Knowledge Base

The store of context SMAQ has about your business — campaigns ingested from connected platforms, your business profile, and any notes you've added. The AI uses this to ground its answers. See Knowledge Base.

Credit

The unit of AI usage in SMAQ. Every chat message, automation run, report generation, and audit consumes credits. Each subscription tier includes a monthly credit allowance; you can also buy top-ups.

Role

A bundle of permissions assigned to a project member. Five user-assignable roles: Owner, Editor, Member, Viewer, Chat User. See Member roles and access.

Tier

Your organization's subscription level. The four V3 tiers are Starter, Growth, Scale, and Agency. See Tiers explained.

Trial / Restricted mode

New organizations get a 14-day Growth-tier trial with full features. If the trial expires without payment, the org enters restricted mode — limited credits, no automations running, reduced refresh frequency — until you subscribe. See Trial & restricted mode.