What is an Airbyte Actor?

An Airbyte Actor is a core component in the Airbyte Protocol, representing either a Source or a Destination. A Source is an application that extracts data from an underlying data store (such as a database or API), while a Destination is an application that loads data into a data store. Both Sources and Destinations are referred to as Actors in Airbyte. Actors interact through a series of standard interfaces and communicate using serialized JSON messages. They use key concepts such as Catalogs (which describe available data streams), Streams (which represent schemas of resources), and Fields (which are columns or fields within a stream). Actors can also advertise information about themselves through an Actor Specification, which details the configuration required for the Actor to operate[Airbyte Protocol - Key Concepts](https://docs.airbyte.com/platform/understanding-airbyte/airbyte-protocol#key-concepts). In summary, an Airbyte Actor is a standardized component (either Source or Destination) that participates in data extraction or loading within the Airbyte ecosystem.