Glossary
Created 4 Mar 2026·Updated 31 Jul 2026
Plain-language definitions of the key terms used in TipLink and its documentation.
A
Action: What TipLink does when an alert fires. Examples: show a stream overlay, post to Discord, vibrate a PiShock device, play a sound. An alert can have as many actions as you like. See Actions Overview.
Advanced Mode: The default mode for new alerts. It gives every action its own extra settings, such as a chance percentage and its own cooldown. All of it is optional and collapsed by default.
Alert: A rule you create that says "when this event happens, do these things." See Alerts.
Alert Set: A named group of alerts. Sets keep a long list tidy, and they also gate firing: if an alert is in a set, at least one of its sets must be enabled for it to fire. See Alert Sets.
Always Trigger: A per-alert toggle. When on, that alert fires alongside the highest-priority matching alert instead of being skipped.
Auto Connect: A per-account setting that connects that platform account automatically every time TipLink starts.
C
Canvas: See Overlay Canvas below.
Chat Message: An event type representing a message sent in a streaming chat. Chat messages are excluded from TipLink's processing by default. You must enable them per platform account.
Connect / Disconnect: Activating or deactivating a platform connection. An account must be connected for TipLink to receive its events. Connected accounts show a red "Disconnect" button.
Cooldown: A waiting period that stops an alert firing too often. See Cooldowns & Rate Limiting.
Custom CSS: An optional styling box on every overlay widget, for changing its appearance beyond the built-in settings. You can also save a default per widget type.
Custom Widget: An overlay widget you build or import yourself, made from HTML, CSS and JavaScript files. See Stream Overlays.
D
Duplicate Follow: An event status. A repeat follow from someone who has followed before. It is ignored so viewers cannot farm follow rewards by unfollowing and following back. Controlled by Block Repeat Follow Alerts in Settings.
E
Event: Something that happened on a connected platform, such as a tip, subscription, chat message or raid. Events are received by TipLink, stored in the Activity log, and matched against your alerts.
Event Queue: The internal list of received events waiting to be processed, oldest first. The queue can be paused from the Settings page.
Excluded Events: A per-account setting that stops specific event types being recorded or processed at all.
G
Global Cooldown: A cooldown that applies to a whole alert. Once it fires, nobody can trigger it again until the timer expires. Compare with Per-User Cooldown.
Global Variable: See Variable below. Also the name of the action used to change one from an alert.
Goal: A fundraising or milestone target you create in TipLink. Goals have a current value and a target value, and can be shown on your overlay as a progress bar. See Goals.
L
Live Mode: A toggle in the overlay editor that plays real alerts inside the editor as events arrive, so you can see how your overlay looks without going live.
M
Manual Trigger Only: An alert that never fires on its own. It only runs when another alert calls it with the Trigger Alert action.
Multi-Alert Execution Mode: A setting that decides whether several alerts firing on the same event run one at a time (Sequential) or all together (Simultaneous).
O
Overlay: See Stream Overlay below.
Overlay Canvas: A named screen area at a set resolution, where overlay widgets are placed. Each canvas has its own browser source address for OBS or Streamlabs. You can have several canvases.
P
Per-User Cooldown: A cooldown that applies per viewer. Each person has their own timer, and other viewers are unaffected.
Placeholder: A {{ fieldName }} token in action text that TipLink replaces with live data when the alert fires. For example {{ username }} becomes the viewer's name. See Using Event Data in Actions.
Placeholder Picker: The searchable list that opens from the {{ }} button next to a text field, showing every placeholder available for that alert.
Platform: A service TipLink connects to, such as Twitch, Kick, Fansly, Ko-fi or PiShock. Each has its own setup and its own event types.
Points: A balance TipLink tracks for each viewer. Points can be earned from tips, follows, subscriptions, chat messages and watch time, and spent on Redemptions.
Q
Queue: See Event Queue above. Also a cooldown behaviour: when set to Queue, events that arrive during a cooldown wait and fire once it expires.
R
Rate Limiting: The feature that controls how often an alert can fire, covering global cooldowns, per-user cooldowns and the ignore or queue behaviour. See Cooldowns & Rate Limiting.
Redemption: Something a viewer can buy with their points, using a chat command you choose. Redemptions have a cost and optional cooldowns.
Replay: Re-running a past event from the Activity page. Useful for testing alerts without waiting for a real event.
S
Status (Event): The processing state of an event, such as In Queue, Success, Skipped or Duplicate Follow. See Activity for the full list.
Stream Overlay: A browser-based visual layer that shows alert animations, goal bars, chat, variable values and other widgets on your stream. Added to OBS or Streamlabs as a Browser Source.
T
Trigger: What must be true for an alert to fire: the platform, account, event type and any conditions. See Triggers.
V
Variable: A named value TipLink remembers, which alerts can update and overlays can display. Types are Text, Number, True/False and Countdown. Used in text as {{ var.name }}. See Variables.
Viewer: A person TipLink has seen an event from. Viewers are tracked automatically across platforms, each with a points balance and a name history.
W
Watchtime Points: Points awarded automatically on a repeating timer to viewers who have been active recently.
Webhook (Inbound): A way for other apps to send events into TipLink over your local network. See Using Webhooks.
Widget: A visual element placed on an Overlay Canvas, such as an alert box, goal progress bar, chat box or text block.