Dapr terminology and definitions

Definitions for common terms and acronyms in the Dapr documentation

This page details all of the common terms you may come across in the Dapr docs.

Term	Definition	More information
App/Application	A running service/binary, usually that you as the user create and run.
Building block	An API that Dapr provides to users to help in the creation of microservices and applications.	Dapr building blocks
Component	Modular types of functionality that are used either individually or with a collection of other components, by a Dapr building block.	Dapr components
Configuration	A YAML file declaring all of the settings for Dapr sidecars or the Dapr control plane. It is here where you can configure control plane mTLS settings, or the tracing, and middleware settings for an application instance.	Dapr configuration
Dapr	Distributed Application Runtime.	Dapr overview
Dapr control plane	A collection of services that are part of a Dapr installation on a hosting platform such as a Kubernetes cluster. Allow Dapr enabled applications to run on that platform and handles Dapr capabilities such as actor placement, Dapr sidecar injection or certificate issuance/rollover.	Self-hosted overview Kubernetes overview
Self-hosted	Windows/macOS/Linux machine(s) where you can run your applications with Dapr. Dapr provides capabilities to run on machines in “self-hosted” mode.	Self-hosted mode
Service	A running application or binary. Can be used to refer to your application, or a Dapr application.
Sidecar	A program that runs alongside your application as a separate process or container.	Sidecar pattern