Optimizely Opal glossary

This glossary defines key terms and concepts used in Optimizely Opal. Use it as a reference when exploring Opal Chat, building agent workflows, or configuring instruction-based tasks across Optimizely.

• Agent – A specialized, pre-configured capability within Opal with clear instructions and tools to handle specific requests or tasks. They can perform advanced actions, and you can include them in agent workflows. Examples include the following:
  • Campaign brief generation agent – Create high-quality briefs that are on-format.
  • Content translation agent – Convert existing content to a different language, considering cultural, company, and grammatical differences.
• Agent directory – A central hub where you can browse, view, and install default agents for Optimizely Opal. See Agent directory.
• Agent workflow – A predefined, structured sequence of steps and decisions that a specialized agent within Opal follows to address a specific type of request or achieve a particular goal.
• Ask Opal – A feature available in the global navigation bar of supported Optimizely products that launches Opal Chat for in-context support, guidance, or content generation. See Access Optimizely Opal Chat.
• Baseline quality score – The lowest acceptable quality percentage you expect the specialized agent output to achieve. See Baseline quality.
• Connection – A link between Opal and a specific Optimizely product instance. A connection is required for Opal features to function within that product. You must create a connection before you customize Opal.
• Context details – Any additional information provided along with your message that helps Opal understand the context of your request. This might include your active Optimizely product, the current page or URL, your organization ID, or any previously stored data relevant to the conversation. This additional context helps provide more personalized and relevant responses.
• Chat agent – An agent primarily designed for real-time interaction with users that answers questions, provides information, and assists with inquiries in a conversational manner. It engages in dialogue and is multi-response (not a one-off work). Opal Chat is a Chat agent.
• Credits (also called Opal Credits) – Units that track usage of Optimizely Opal's AI-powered features. You consume credits each time Opal calls an API to an AI model, such as a large language model (LLM). This includes generating responses, running agent workflows, retrieving data, or performing AI-driven actions. See Optimizely Opal credits.
• Custom tool – A tool built and maintained by your organization. See Custom tools.
• Default agent – A ready-to-use agent built by Optimizely that helps you quickly get started with common tasks and workflows. See Default agents overview.
• Global navigation bar – The horizontal menu available across Optimizely One products, which includes shortcuts such as Ask Opal and drop-down lists to change your organization and Optimizely product. See Overview of Opti ID.
• History – Your past interactions within the current Opal conversation. By keeping track of the conversation history, Opal can maintain context, avoid redundant information, and offer more tailored assistance based on previous requests and responses.
• Instructions – Internal guidelines, rules, and constraints that govern how Opal behaves and makes decisions. See Instructions overview. These ensure Opal operates consistently, adheres to best practices, and provides relevant responses. See Sample instructions for ready-made examples you can copy, customize, and use to create your own instructions quickly.
• New chat – A button in Opal Chat that clears the current session and starts a new interaction. See Opal Chat user interface. Examples include the following:
  • You want to discuss a completely new topic.
  • The conversation has gone off-topic.
  • You feel Opal is getting confused or stuck.
  • You want to ensure a clean slate for a critical query.
• Opal App – The central interface for accessing Opal's features, including chat, instructions, agents, tools, and connections.
• Opal Chat – The conversational interface where you interact with Opal using natural language to ask questions, get insights, and perform tasks. See Optimizely Opal Chat.
• Opal credits dashboard – The UI where admins can monitor credit usage, allocation, and remaining balance. See View Opal usage.
• Opal SDK – A way to simplify the creation of tools compatible with the Opal tools management service. See Create custom tools. There are three SDKs currently available and delivered through the following services:
  • Python through pip.
  • JavaScript (TypeScript) through npm.
  • C# through NuGet.
• Optimizely Opal – Optimizely's agent orchestration platform that helps you explore complex questions, provides clear answers about the Optimizely platform, and offers instructions with links to relevant articles. Opal automates tasks, surfaces insights, and guides decision-making. Opal adapts its communication style to your technical expertise, helping you work smarter and complete tasks more efficiently. See Optimizely Opal overview.
• Persistent chat– Opal maintains the same chat context as you move between supported Optimizely products. This means your conversation history, selected product instance, and relevant instructions carry over.
• Prebuilt instructions – Predefined instructions created by Optimizely that serve as reusable prompt frameworks. You can enable these instructions and tailor them to match your brand voice, content goals, or product needs. See Default instructions for information and Prebuilt instructions for a list of instructions.
• Preferred output – A manually selected, high-quality output from a specialized agent execution that serves as the gold standard for evaluation. See Preferred output examples.
• Product instance – A particular deployment of an Optimizely product within your organization's environment where Opal Chat is configured (for example, a specific Experimentation project).
• Prompt – The natural language input you provided to Opal, initiating a request for information, assistance, or an action.
• Quality score – A qualitative measure indicating how well an agent's output aligns with the provided output examples for correctness, relevance, and tone. See Specialized agent logs.
• Regenerate – The request to receive a different response to the same prompt. Use this option when you want alternative wording, phrasing, or ideas without changing your original query. See Opal Chat user interface.
• Response – The output generated by Opal in reply to your prompt, which can include textual answers, suggested actions, data retrieved from Optimizely products, or interactive elements.
• Response format – The specific way Opal presents the information it provides, dictating the structure and styling of Opal's output. Opal can present information in various formats, including the following:
  • Plain text – Simple, unformatted text.
  • Markdown – Default formatting and can include rich text like bold, italics, lists, headings, and tables.
  • HTML – Complex or specific web-friendly formatting.
  • Tables – Organized data in rows and columns.
  • Code snippets – Examples of code or scripts.
• Retrieval engine – The underlying system or component responsible for finding and fetching relevant information from its knowledge base and other data sources. Examples include the following:
  • Analytics retrieval engine – Retrieves quantitative data from analytics sources within Optimizely, such as experiment results, website traffic data, and conversion rates. Works in conjunction with the other components to provide data-driven insights and recommendations.
  • Knowledgebase retrieval engine – Searches Optimizely's documentation, tutorials, best practices, and knowledge base to return helpful articles, guides, and reference materials.
  • Opti data retrieval engine – Accesses your organization's configuration data within Optimizely, for example, experiments, feature flags, campaigns, or other Optimizely-specific configurations.
• Sample instruction – Ready-made instruction examples you can copy and customize to quickly create your own instructions. See Sample instructions.
• Slack – A messaging platform that enables teams to communicate, collaborate, and integrate with tools like Optimizely Opal for real-time conversations and task management. See Slack.com.
• Slack integration – A connection between Opal and Slack that lets you chat with Opal and complete tasks directly in Slack channels or DMs. See Optimizely Opal in Slack.
• Specialized agent – A customized AI agents that complete a single, well-defined task. They operate in a single-shot model. You provide inputs, and the agent runs once and returns a result. There is no multi-turn conversation. Each agent can use targeted tools, adjustable reasoning and creativity settings, and defined inputs to finish its task accurately and efficiently. See Specialized agents overview.
• System tool – A tool built and maintained by Optimizely. See System tools.
• Thread (also called chat session) – A continuous interaction with Opal Chat, consisting of one or more messages exchanged between you and Opal. Click New Chat to create a session. See Opal Chat user interface.
• Thread ID – A unique identifier for a specific Opal chat session. To get your thread ID, see Copy your Opal Chat thread ID.
• Tool (also called Opal Tools) – A discrete, API-exposed function or service that Opal can invoke to perform actions, retrieve information, or interact directly with Optimizely products and external services. System tools are built and maintained by Optimizely, and Custom tools are built and maintained by your organization. See Tools overview. Examples include the following:
  • Search web results and browse live URLs.
  • Take a screenshot of a webpage for analysis.
  • Upload files (video, image, .txt, .pdf, and so on) for context and analysis.
• Tool orchestration – The process where Opal selects, sequences, and executes its available tools in response to your request, ensuring the most effective and efficient completion of a task or retrieval of information.
• Tool manifest – A structured declaration (often a JSON object) that describes your tool to Opal. Think of it like a blueprint or a resume for your tool. It tells Opal what your tool does and how to use it. See Tool manifest.
• Tone – A configurable option in Opal Chat that controls the style of the generated content, such as professional, casual, or technical. Useful when generating emails, documentation, or other written content. You can change the tone Opal uses through instructions.