# Core Concepts

This page explains the key concepts you need to understand to use Wire effectively.

## Containers

A **Container** is the fundamental unit of Wire. Each container has its own MCP server, content, and access controls. Containers are queryable immediately after creation.

### Container Properties

| Property | Description |
|----------|-------------|
| **Name** | Human-readable name (randomly assigned, can be manually changed) |
| **Description** | What the container is useful for (manually set) |
| **Access** | `private` (requires auth) or `public` (open access) |
| **Paused** | When paused, MCP requests are blocked |
| **Sources** | Entries from agent tools and file uploads |
| **Tools** | 5 tools: explore, search, write, delete, analyze |

:::note
Containers are assigned a random placeholder name like "Prancing Zebra" on creation. You can change the name and description anytime in Container Settings.
:::

### Container Lifecycle

1. **Created** - Container is provisioned and immediately ready
2. **Ready** - Container accepts MCP connections and agent interactions
3. **Paused** - MCP requests blocked (can be resumed)
4. **Trashed** - Soft-deleted with a 14-day recovery window
5. **Permanently Deleted** - Container and contents removed forever

## Sources

Sources are the content you add to containers. There are two ways to add content.

### Agent Tools

Available on every container from creation. Agents interact with the container directly through MCP tools:

- **`wire_explore`** - Structured canonical access: discover schema, list rows, get by id, filter by field, or keyword-search within classified entities
- **`wire_search`** - Fuzzy hybrid retrieval over raw content (file chunks, agent writes)
- **`wire_navigate`** - Raw content traversal from a search match: adjacent chunks, full source, related entries
- **`wire_write`** - Save an entry (text, structured data, or markdown)
- **`wire_delete`** - Remove an entry by ID

Analysis runs passively on a per-container cadence (Wire / Scheduled / Manual). Agents do not trigger it on demand.

### File Uploads

Upload files through the Wire dashboard. Wire processes them into entries automatically:

- **Structured files** (CSV, JSON) are parsed into individual entries, one per record.
- **Unstructured files** (PDF, Word, text, markdown) are chunked into text entries.

After analysis, structured records are available through `wire_explore` and unstructured chunks are searchable through `wire_search`.

#### Supported File Formats

- **Documents**: PDF, Word (.docx), Text, Markdown
- **Data**: JSON, CSV
- And more

See [Supported File Types](/reference/file-types/) for the complete list.

### Examples

| Container | Content | Result |
|-----------|---------|--------|
| [Wire Docs](https://usewire.io/explore/wire-docs/) | Markdown docs, CSVs, JSON | Entity types like features, use cases, and organizations discovered with structured and semantic search |
| [Lenny's Podcast](https://usewire.io/explore/lennys-podcast/) | RSS feed + transcripts | Companies and people extracted as entity types, 286 episodes searchable by topic |

### Processing Pipeline

When you upload a file, Wire:

1. **Validates** - Checks format and size limits
2. **Stores** - Saves the file securely
3. **Parses/Chunks** - Structured files are parsed into entries. Unstructured files are chunked into text entries.

Analysis runs separately. Each pass examines a portion of entries, discovering entity types and relationships. Over time, repeated passes build a complete schema available through `wire_explore` and `wire_search`.

## MCP Tools

Every container ships with 5 tools. No analysis required to start using them.

| Tool | Description |
|------|-------------|
| `wire_explore` | Discover entity types, fields, and relationships |
| `wire_search` | Fuzzy hybrid retrieval over raw content |
| `wire_navigate` | Traverse from a search match: adjacent chunks, source, related entries |
| `wire_write` | Save an entry to the container |
| `wire_delete` | Remove an entry by ID |

See [Tools Reference](/reference/tools/) for full details and parameters.

### Tool Costs

Wire uses a credit system for tool calls. See the [pricing page](https://usewire.io/pricing) for current rates.

## Organizations

Organizations contain users, containers, and billing information.

### Roles

| Role | Capabilities |
|------|-------------|
| **Owner** | Full control, billing, delete org |
| **Admin** | Manage members, containers, and billing |
| **Member** | Full container management, read-only org settings |

See [Roles & Permissions](/reference/roles/) for details.

## Authentication

Containers can be **public** or **private** (default).

- **[Public containers](/guides/public-containers/)** are accessible without authentication (read-only)
- **Private containers** require OAuth or API keys

For private containers, Wire uses OAuth 2.1:

1. AI tool initiates OAuth flow
2. User authorizes in browser
3. Token issued with container scopes
4. AI tool makes authenticated requests

See [Authentication](/mcp/authentication/) for details.