Key concepts

Telflo has a small set of concepts that show up throughout the product. Skim this once and the rest of the docs will read more clearly.

Configuration

A configuration is a named project — one canvas, one generated YAML document, and its full version history. It's the unit you create, name, and open in the editor. Your configurations list is your home screen.

Version

Every time you Save, Telflo records a version — a snapshot of the canvas and YAML at that moment, with an optional note. Versions let you review history and roll back.

• The current version is the one you're editing.
• Save updates the current version; Save as new version branches a new one.
• Older or published versions can be read-only — Telflo prompts you to save changes as a new version rather than overwriting history.

See Versions & publishing.

Pipeline

A pipeline routes one signal type — traces, metrics, or logs — through receivers → processors → exporters. A single configuration can hold many pipelines, including custom-named ones like traces/production. On the canvas, pipeline membership is defined by the edges you draw, and each pipeline is color-coded.

Collector version

Each configuration targets a specific OpenTelemetry Collector version, chosen in the toolbar. This determines which components and fields are considered valid, and which collector build is used when you test.

Publishing

Saving keeps a version private to the editor. Publishing a version marks it as a release that can be deployed. Only published versions appear when you create or update a fleet.

Fleet

A fleet (also called a deployment) is a named group of collectors that share a configuration. Creating a fleet issues an install token and install files. Collectors you install with those files connect back to Telflo and pull their config automatically.

See Deployment overview.

Instance

An instance is a single running collector that has connected to a fleet. The fleet dashboard tracks each instance's health and whether it's running the config you assigned. Instance states include In sync, Pending pickup, Applying, Apply failed, and Stale.

Organization

Work in Telflo belongs to an organization. Members of an org share its configurations, fleets, and vault. Each member has a role — Admin or Contributor — that controls what they can manage.

See Organization settings.

Vault

The vault stores reusable secrets and variables that you reference from your configs with $secret:NAME and $var:NAME, keeping sensitive values and shared settings out of the YAML itself.

See Vault.