Agentless: Ansible doesn't require any agents or software to be installed on the managed nodes. It communicates with them via SSH (for Linux/Unix) or WinRM (for Windows).

Declarative Language (YAML): Ansible uses YAML to define playbooks, which describe how a system should be configured or how tasks should be performed. YAML is easy to read and write, making it accessible for system administrators.

Idempotency: Ansible ensures that operations are idempotent, meaning that running the same task multiple times will produce the same result, without causing unintended side effects.

Inventory Management: Ansible keeps track of all the machines it manages through an inventory file, which can be static or dynamic. This file contains a list of target systems, including groups and variables.

Playbooks: Playbooks are Ansible's configuration, deployment, and orchestration language. They define the tasks and actions Ansible should execute on the target systems in a sequential order.

Modules: Ansible uses modules to perform tasks such as installing software, managing services, and configuring files. There are built-in modules for various tasks, and custom modules can be created if needed.

Orchestration: Ansible can orchestrate complex multi-tier deployments where different services need to interact or be deployed in a particular order.

Extensibility: Ansible can be extended using plugins, custom modules, and scripts to perform more complex or custom operations.