4F Method
Our termFix Forward Labs’ four-phase process for rescuing AI-built business apps: Freeze, Find, Fix and Forward.
Term coined by Fix Forward Labs.
AI-built app glossary · 30 terms · Updated Oct 2026
AI-built app glossary: 30 terms owners keep hearing, in plain English.
Free. 20-minute video. No call required.
Quick answerAs of Oct 2026
This glossary defines 30 terms business owners meet when an app built with AI tools needs fixing, from Fix Forward Labs. It includes our own terms: the 4F Method, shadow app, prompt patching, the last 20% and App Risk Score. It also covers the tools (Lovable, Bolt, Replit, Supabase) and the security words owners hear most. Updated October 2026.
Our terms
Shadow app
Our termA business tool built with AI outside any IT process, which the company now depends on.
Term coined by Fix Forward Labs.
Prompt patching
Our termFixing an AI-built app by asking the AI again, which tends to create new bugs.
Term coined by Fix Forward Labs.
The last 20%
Our termThe logins, permissions, payments, backups and monitoring AI app builders skip.
Term coined by Fix Forward Labs.
App Risk Score
Our termThe 0 to 100 score from Fix Forward Labs’ free 15-question self-assessment of an AI-built app.
Term coined by Fix Forward Labs.
Everyone else’s terms
AI app builder
ToolA tool that turns written instructions into a working app, such as Lovable, Bolt, Replit, Base44 or v0.
API key
SecurityA secret password one system uses to talk to another, such as your app to Stripe. If exposed, others can use it.
Authentication
SecurityChecking who a user is: real logins, passwords, password reset.
Backup and restore
SecurityA saved copy of your data, and a tested way to put it back after a mistake or failure.
Base44
ToolAn AI app builder for internal tools and simple business apps, with hosting and a database included.
Bolt
ToolAn AI app builder (Bolt.new) that creates and hosts web apps in the browser from chat instructions.
Cursor
ToolA code editor with built-in AI that writes and changes code for developers.
Deploy
ToolReleasing a change to the live app. A safe deploy can be undone in minutes.
Exposed key
SecurityA secret key visible in the app’s code or browser, where anyone who looks can copy it.
HIPAA
SecurityThe US law that sets rules for storing and sharing patient health information.
Lovable
ToolAn AI app builder that creates web apps from chat instructions, usually with a Supabase database behind them.
Monitoring
SecurityAutomatic checks that alert your team when the app breaks or slows, before customers notice.
PCI DSS
SecurityThe card industry’s security rules for any business that stores, processes or sends card data.
Permissions
SecurityRules for what each logged-in user is allowed to see and do.
Replit
ToolAn online coding platform with an AI agent that builds, runs and hosts apps.
Repository (repo)
ToolThe online folder that holds an app’s code and its change history, usually on GitHub.
Row-level security (RLS)
SecurityDatabase rules that decide which records each user can read or change. Missing rules can expose every record.
Runbook
ToolA plain-English manual for an app: each system, where it lives, who has access, what to do if it breaks.
Security questionnaire
SecurityA list of questions clients, insurers or auditors send to check how you protect their data.
Staging
ToolA private copy of the app where changes are tested before real users see them.
Supabase
ToolA hosted database and login service used behind many AI-built apps.
Technical debt
MoneyShortcuts in software that make every later change slower or riskier.
v0
ToolVercel’s AI tool that generates website and app screens from instructions.
Vendor lock-in
MoneyWhen leaving a tool or provider is so costly that you are stuck with its prices and limits.
Vibe coding
ToolBuilding software by describing what you want to an AI tool and accepting what it writes, often without reading the code.
Free Forward Scan · 2 business days
Heard one of these about your app? We’ll explain what it means for you, free.
Free. 20-minute video. No call required. Nothing in your app is changed.