​
Describe the workflow, not the stack

App Builder turns a request such as “build a cold-email manager” or “improve my existing CRM” into a local web product. In Rudder it appears and behaves as an App; underneath it remains an ordinary website running on your computer. The source stays conventional and can still be opened in an IDE, terminal, or regular browser. For a new App, App Builder uses Rudder’s maintained Next.js full-stack scaffold so a non-technical user does not have to choose infrastructure. For an existing Next.js, React, Vue, Astro, SvelteKit, Nuxt, or other web project, App Builder preserves the current framework and helps improve the product or prepare its development script for Rudder.

​
Open Apps, then start from Apps

App Builder is available by default. Select Hub in the Primary Rail, then choose Build App from the empty Plugins view or the App showcase. Rudder opens the Apps workspace; you can also return directly to an App from its card in Hub > Plugins after it is ready. Select the + icon in the Apps sidebar:
  • Build with Agent opens a normal Chat with an editable App Builder prompt. Use it to clarify, create, or improve the product before source changes begin.
  • Add local web project opens a folder picker. Use it to load a frequently used web project from this computer and open it directly inside Rudder.
Rudder discovers the project’s package manager and supported development script, then shows the complete launch definition for review before running anything. Registered Apps appear in the sidebar and open in the main Apps workspace with closable tabs. Their More menu contains settings, source, current link, browser, data, and Stop actions when those actions apply. Apps Home also provides Turn ideas into applications. Sending that brief creates the managed App record and opens a normal $app-builder Chat. When its development, debugging, review, and verification finish, Desktop repeats the maintained checks, starts the loopback-only website, and opens the finished App automatically. Continue in the originating Chat whenever you want to improve it. If verification or startup fails, Rudder preserves the source and offers a causal retry or Chat recovery path. While an App is running, Copy App link gives you its current loopback address so you can open the same page in another browser on this computer.

​
The App owns its data

Generated Apps can use SQLite, migrations, imports, background jobs, and external integrations. Rudder does not store your CRM contacts, email bodies, or marketing rows in Rudder’s own database. New Apps start with synthetic development data. When you already have real data, use Chat to choose whether the App should work with a copy, redacted records, or direct access. Record-keeping Apps include JSON export and import conventions for portability.

​
Development data recovery

The maintained scaffold keeps development data under data/development/ and reserves data/production/ for formal data. The Apps inspector can back up, export, import, and restore the stopped development-data directory without replacing the reserved production directory. The App owns any integrations, business-side effects, and background behavior. The current App Builder version does not provide immutable release promotion, production migration/rollback, a Rudder job scheduler, or Secret binding UI. Use Chat and the generated App’s own controls for real-data and side-effect decisions.

​
Machine-resident, not cloud-hosted

App Builder does not provide cloud builds, hosting, public URLs, tunnels, custom domains, managed remote databases, or cross-device sync. Model providers, package downloads, and integrations may still use the network. The copied App link is not a public sharing link. It works only on the same computer while that App generation is running, and it may change after a stop or restart. Existing web projects and normal coding workflows remain available when a user wants a different stack or already has a product worth keeping in Rudder.