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Before diving into NimbleBrain Studio, it helps to understand the core concepts and how they work together. This page defines the key terminology you’ll encounter throughout the platform.

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Platform Overview

NimbleBrain Studio is an AI-native automation platform where you build, manage, and run intelligent workflows. The platform centers around Nira, an AI assistant that serves as your primary interface for creating and managing automations. 
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                        WORKSPACE                            │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │                       Nira                           │   │
│  │            (AI Assistant - Primary Interface)        │   │
│  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘   │
│                            │                                │
│              Creates & Manages                              │
│                            ▼                                │
│  ┌──────────────┐    ┌──────────────┐    ┌──────────────┐  │
│  │    AGENTS    │───▶│  PLAYBOOKS   │◀───│ CONNECTIONS  │  │
│  │ (Orchestrate │    │   (Single    │    │(Integrations)│  │
│  │  Playbooks)  │    │  Workflows)  │    │              │  │
│  └──────────────┘    └──────────────┘    └──────────────┘  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

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Key Concepts

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Workspace

A Workspace is your isolated environment within NimbleBrain Studio. Think of it as a project folder that contains all your automations, connections, and settings.

Isolation

Each workspace is completely separate. Playbooks in one workspace cannot access data in another.

Team Collaboration

Invite team members to collaborate within a workspace with role-based permissions.
Key points:
  • All playbooks, agents, and connections are scoped to a workspace
  • API keys are workspace-specific
  • You can have multiple workspaces for different projects or teams

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Nira

Nira (NimbleBrain Intelligent Research Assistant) is your AI copilot built into the platform. Instead of clicking through menus and forms, you describe what you want in natural language, and Nira builds it for you.

Primary Interface

Nira is the main way to interact with Studio. Press ⌘K (Mac) or Ctrl+K (Windows) to open Nira anywhere.

Conversation-Driven

Build automations through natural conversation. Nira understands business language, not just technical terms.
Nira can:
  • Create playbooks and agents from natural language descriptions
  • Select and configure the right tools automatically
  • Help troubleshoot issues with your automations
  • Answer questions about the platform
Example: “Create a playbook that checks our GitHub repository for new issues every hour and posts a summary to Slack” - Nira will build this entire automation for you.
Learn more about Nira

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Playbook

A Playbook is a single automation task defined in natural language. It’s the fundamental building block of all automations in NimbleBrain Studio.

Natural Language

Write instructions as if explaining to a colleague. The AI interprets and executes them.

Tool Access

Playbooks can use any connections installed in your workspace.
Playbook components:
  • Instructions: Natural language description of what the playbook should do
  • Configuration: AI model, temperature, timeout settings
  • Status: Active or inactive
  • Execution history: Log of all runs with results
Example playbook instructions: 
You are a stock advisor. Analyze the latest market news from Finnhub
and recommend the top 3 stocks expected to provide the greatest
returns over the next week. Include your reasoning for each pick.
Learn more about Playbooks

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Agent

An Agent orchestrates multiple playbooks into complex, multi-step workflows. When a single playbook isn’t enough, agents coordinate several playbooks to accomplish larger goals.

Multi-Step Workflows

Chain multiple playbooks together, running them sequentially or in parallel.

Scheduled Execution

Run automatically on schedules (daily, hourly, weekly) or triggered by events.
When to use an Agent vs. a Playbook:
Use CasePlaybookAgent
Single task (send email, fetch data)YesNo
Multiple steps with dependenciesNoYes
Combining data from multiple sourcesNoYes
Complex scheduled workflowsNoYes
Example Agent: Morning Briefing 
Agent: "Daily Morning Briefing"
├── Playbook 1: Fetch weather forecast
├── Playbook 2: Get calendar events
├── Playbook 3: Summarize unread emails
└── Playbook 4: Compile and send to Slack
Schedule: Weekdays at 7:00 AM
Learn more about Agents

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Connection

A Connection is an integration that gives your playbooks access to external APIs and services. Think of connections as the “tools” your automations can use.

Integrations

Each connection provides access to specific tools and services like Slack, GitHub, or databases.

One-Click Install

Install from the catalog instantly. Nira can also auto-install required connections.
Available connection categories:
  • Business & Collaboration: Slack, Gmail, Google Sheets, HubSpot, Zoom, Calendly
  • Developer Tools: GitHub, documentation search
  • Data & Analytics: PostgreSQL, ClickHouse
  • Finance: Finnhub (stock data)
  • Utilities: Weather, translation, PDF processing
Important: Playbooks can only use connections that are installed in your workspace. Install the connections you need before creating playbooks that use them. Browse all Connections

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Execution

An Execution is a single run of a playbook or agent. Each time you run an automation (manually or on schedule), it creates an execution record. Execution details include:
  • Status: Running, completed, or failed
  • Duration: How long it took
  • Steps: Each action the AI took
  • Tool calls: Which integrations were used
  • Result: The final output
You can view all executions in the Activity Logs section. View Activity Logs

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API Key

An API Key (also called API Token) allows external applications to interact with your workspace programmatically. Use API keys to:
  • Run playbooks from external systems
  • Connect Claude Desktop to your workspace
  • Integrate with CI/CD pipelines
  • Build custom applications using the SDK
API keys grant access to your workspace. Keep them secure and never share them publicly.
Manage API Keys

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How Concepts Relate

Here’s how everything fits together: 
WORKSPACE
    │
    ├── Nira (creates and manages everything)
    │
    ├── CONNECTIONS (installed integrations)
    │   ├── Slack
    │   ├── GitHub
    │   └── Finnhub
    │
    ├── PLAYBOOKS (single tasks)
    │   ├── "Fetch stock data"
    │   ├── "Post to Slack"
    │   └── "Check GitHub issues"
    │
    ├── AGENTS (orchestrate playbooks)
    │   └── "Daily Market Report"
    │       ├── Uses: Fetch stock data
    │       ├── Uses: Post to Slack
    │       └── Schedule: Daily at 9am
    │
    └── API KEYS (for external access)

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Common Workflows

  1. Open Nira (⌘K)
  2. Describe what you want to automate
  3. Nira installs required connections
  4. Nira creates the playbook
  5. Click “Run” to test it
  1. Tell Nira: “Create a daily report that…”
  2. Nira suggests creating an Agent
  3. Configure the schedule
  4. Agent runs automatically
  1. Go to Connections
  2. Click “Connect” on a server
  3. Copy the configuration
  4. Paste into Claude Desktop config
  5. Restart Claude Desktop

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Glossary Quick Reference

TermDefinition
WorkspaceIsolated environment containing all your automations
NiraAI assistant for building and managing automations
PlaybookSingle automation task with natural language instructions
AgentMulti-playbook orchestrator with scheduling
ConnectionIntegration providing access to external APIs and services
ExecutionSingle run of a playbook or agent
API KeyToken for programmatic workspace access

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Next Steps

Quickstart Guide

Build your first automation in 5 minutes

Meet Nira

Learn how to work with your AI assistant

Browse Connections

See what tools are available

Playbook Examples

Explore playbook patterns and best practices