# Agentic local cloud glossary

> Plain definitions of GCP emulators, AI agent sandboxes, MCP servers, agentic CI, credentialless development, and other local cloud terms.
>
> Source: https://local.cloud/glossary/

Glossary

Precise terms help agents avoid unsafe assumptions. These definitions keep LocalCloud positioned as a local development, CI, and demo runtime with real-GCP validation before production.

[AI onboarding](https://local.cloud/ai/) [Compatibility](https://local.cloud/compatibility/) [Docs](https://local.cloud/docs/)

## Terms

Glossary

### [GCP emulator](https://local.cloud/glossary/gcp-emulator/)

A local implementation of a Google Cloud service API used for development and testing before code touches real Google Cloud.

Glossary

### [AI agent sandbox](https://local.cloud/glossary/ai-agent-sandbox/)

A constrained environment where an AI coding agent can run commands, write code, and verify behavior without causing unwanted external side effects.

Glossary

### [MCP server](https://local.cloud/glossary/mcp-server/)

A Model Context Protocol server exposes tools, resources, or prompts that agent clients can call through a structured protocol instead of ad-hoc shell instructions.

Glossary

### [Agentic CI](https://local.cloud/glossary/agentic-ci/)

A CI workflow where an AI agent helps create or maintain validation steps, while the actual job remains deterministic, reviewable, and bounded.

Glossary

### [Localhost cloud API](https://local.cloud/glossary/localhost-cloud-api/)

A cloud SDK endpoint override that sends service calls to a local process such as LocalCloud instead of a public cloud endpoint.

Glossary

### [Credentialless agent testing](https://local.cloud/glossary/credentialless-agent-testing/)

Running an AI agent's generated code against local service endpoints without providing cloud credentials, service-account keys, or a billing project, so a mistake cannot create cloud resources or charges.

Glossary

### [Local cloud API surface](https://local.cloud/glossary/local-cloud-api-surface/)

The set of cloud service endpoints, protocols, and operations a local runtime actually implements.