# Create an App

> Part of the NocoDB documentation (Apps). Index of all pages: https://nocodb.com/llms.txt. Any docs page is available as Markdown by adding `.md` to its URL.

URL: https://nocodb.com/docs/apps/create-app
Last updated: 2026-10-05

Create a NocoDB app with AI: describe the app, and NocoAI builds it on your data. Start from the App tile in a base, with Build with AI, or in the NocoAI chat.

<AskNocoAI>
  <Prompt>
    Build an app for [the front desk] to book [appointments] and see [today's schedule]
  </Prompt>

  <Prompt>
    Build this base as an app for [the field team], with a page to log [site visits]
  </Prompt>

  <Prompt>
    Build an app where [customers] can see the status of their [orders]
  </Prompt>
</AskNocoAI>

You can create a NocoDB app in three ways:

* From the **App** tile in a base.
* With **Build with AI** when you create a base.
* By asking [NocoAI](/docs/product/noco-ai) in the chat.

All three ways open the [AI app builder](/docs/apps/app-builder). There, NocoAI builds the app from your description.

## Before you begin

* You need the **Owner** or **Creator** role in the base.
* Each base has at most one app. To build a second app, use a different base.
* The app uses the name of the base. To change the name of the app, [rename the base](/docs/product/bases/actions-on-base#rename-base).
* NocoAI uses [credits](/docs/product/workspaces/credits) when it builds the app.

## Create an app in a base

1. Open the base.
2. In the mini sidebar, click **App**. NocoDB creates the app and opens the AI app builder.
3. In the chat, describe what the app must do and who uses it.

When the base already has an app, the **App** tile opens that app.

<img alt="The App tile in the mini sidebar" src={__img0} placeholder="blur" />

## Create a base and an app with AI

**Build with AI** creates the tables, the views and the app together, from one description.

1. On the workspace **Projects** page, click **New Project** → **Build with AI**.
2. Describe what you need, for example "A CRM to track leads, deals, and contacts for my agency". You can also select a starter, for example **Build a CRM**.
3. Click **Send**. NocoDB shows the progress of each step: **Design the data model**, **Create tables**, **Add fields**, **Set up views** and **Assemble the app**.
4. When the build is complete, click **Open your app**.

<img alt="Build with AI" src={__img1} placeholder="blur" />

## Ask NocoAI to build an app

1. Open a base and open the NocoAI chat.
2. Ask NocoAI to build an app. NocoAI shows the **Build this as an app?** card.
3. Click **Build the app**. NocoAI starts to build and the AI app builder opens.

   To stop, click **Not now**.

After the app exists, you do not have to approve each change. Ask NocoAI for a change and it changes the app.

<img alt="The Build this as an app card in the NocoAI chat" src={__img2} placeholder="blur" />

## Describe the app well

NocoAI builds a better app from a clear description. Tell it:

| Topic                       | Example                                                     |
| --------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Who uses the app**        | "The front desk staff and the clinic manager."              |
| **What they must do**       | "Book, move and cancel appointments. See today's schedule." |
| **Which data it uses**      | "The Patients, Appointments and Dentists tables."           |
| **What is public**          | "Patients can book a visit without an account."             |
| **Which services it calls** | "Send a confirmation email when a booking is made."         |

You can add and change things later. Each message in the chat changes the same app.

## Show the app first in the sidebar

By default, the **App** tile shows after **Interfaces** in the mini sidebar. To show it above **Data**:

1. Open the [base context menu](/docs/product/bases/actions-on-base#base-context-menu) → **Settings**.
2. Go to **Admin** → **Data Display**.
3. Turn on **Show app first in the sidebar**.

## Related

* [AI app builder](/docs/apps/app-builder)
* [Deploy an app](/docs/apps/deploy-app)
* [Create Base](/docs/product/bases/create-base)
* [Vibe coding with NocoDB Apps](/docs/apps/vibe-coding)
* [Data for apps](/docs/apps/data)

---

## Related pages

- [Apps](https://nocodb.com/docs/apps.md): NocoDB Apps is an AI app builder for creating enterprise-grade work apps: describe the app, and NocoAI builds it on the data you already have, with teams, permissions, an API and an MCP server.
- [Vibe Coding with NocoDB Apps](https://nocodb.com/docs/apps/vibe-coding.md): Vibe coding is making software by describing it to AI. NocoDB Apps bring vibe coding to enterprise-grade work apps, on your own data, with teams, permissions and safe deploys.
- [AI App Builder](https://nocodb.com/docs/apps/app-builder.md): Build and change enterprise-grade work apps in NocoDB's AI app builder: describe a change to NocoAI in the chat, and test it in the live preview.
- [Data for Apps](https://nocodb.com/docs/apps/data.md): Build NocoDB apps on the data you already have: NocoDB tables, your own PostgreSQL or MySQL database, and data that syncs from tools such as GitHub and HubSpot, with no record limit.
- [Secure Vibe Coding](https://nocodb.com/docs/apps/security.md): How NocoDB Apps keep AI-built work apps safe: teams and action grants, record rules, reviewed public pages, secrets in connections, scoped API tokens, environments and version restore.
- [Members and Teams](https://nocodb.com/docs/apps/members-and-teams.md): Control who can use a NocoDB app and what they can do in it with app teams, members and action grants.
- [Public Access](https://nocodb.com/docs/apps/public-access.md): Make pages of a NocoDB app public, and choose which actions visitors can run without signing in.
- [Deploy an App](https://nocodb.com/docs/apps/deploy-app.md): Deploy a NocoDB app to make the current build live at its address, review risky changes before they go live, and restore an earlier version.