What a qube is
A qube is one resource your project needs.
Examples of qubes:
- A domain qube registers and renews a domain on your behalf.
- A DNS qube holds your DNS records.
- An email qube lets you send and receive email on your domain.
- A static website qube hosts and serves your site’s pages.
- An analytics qube counts visitors to your site without tracking them.
- A monitoring qube watches your site, or anything else with a URL, wherever it is hosted, and alerts you when something breaks.
- A custom connection qube brings numbers from a service you already run onto your dashboard, with the same charts and automation rules as everything else.
A project is a collection of qubes that belong together. When you set up “my portfolio site”, that project might have a domain qube, a DNS qube, an email qube, a static website qube, and an analytics qube, all wired up so they reference each other automatically.
Why we use the word “qube”
Section titled “Why we use the word “qube””Most platforms talk about “services”, “resources”, or “addons”. Those words have ten different meanings depending on who you ask. We picked something neutral so we could give it one clear meaning here. A qube is one thing your project depends on.
Qubes vs widgets
Section titled “Qubes vs widgets”Two related ideas you will see in the dashboard:
- Qubes are resources you actually use. They cost money. They show up in your invoices.
- Widgets are read-only views of your data: the analytics chart, the most recent emails, the list of failing checks. They live in the right sidebar and are toggled, not provisioned.
If something costs money, it is a qube. If it just shows you data, it is a widget.