Blog
Notes from the croft.
Why we built Croft, how people use it, and what's new — in plain English.
What is an AI artifact — and why it isn't an app
Artifacts are the pages, calculators, and dashboards your AI builds right in the chat. Here's what they are, how the AI uses them, and where they run out of road.
Read Aug 18, 2026Turn an AI artifact into a real app
Your assistant built a brilliant artifact — a financial model, a calculator, a dashboard. Here's how to deploy it to Croft so your team can actually use it, with the data saved.
Read Aug 18, 2026How to turn a Google Sheet into an app
That spreadsheet doing a job it was never built for? Here's how to turn a Google Sheet into a real app — with a database, a login, and a shareable link — by chatting with AI.
Read Aug 18, 2026How to share an app you built with AI — privately
A screenshot or a file isn't sharing. Here's how to share an AI-built app as a real link that only the people you invite can open.
Read Aug 18, 2026How to send email from an app you built with AI
Want your AI-built app to send a confirmation, a reminder, or a report? Here's how to send email from an app on Croft — without putting an email API key in the app.
Read Aug 18, 2026How to schedule automated reports from an app you built with AI
Stop pulling the same numbers by hand every week. Here's how to make an app you built with AI send a report on a schedule — a weekly summary that just arrives.
Read Aug 18, 2026How to host an app built with Microsoft Copilot
Give your whole team the power to build apps from inside Microsoft Teams. Here's how to connect Copilot to Croft so anyone can build apps that are hosted, private, and shared.
Read Aug 18, 2026How to host a Grok-generated app
Grok can write you a working app, but it can't host it. Here's how to deploy a Grok-built app online, with a database and a login, in a few clicks.
Read Aug 18, 2026How to host a Claude-generated web app
Claude can build you a working web app, but it can't host it. Here's how to put a Claude-generated app online — with a URL, a database, and a login — in a couple of minutes, without a developer.
Read Aug 18, 2026How to host a ChatGPT-generated app
ChatGPT can generate a working app, but not host it. Here's how to deploy a ChatGPT- or Canvas-built app online, with a real database and a login, in a few clicks.
Read Aug 18, 2026How to give an AI-generated app a real database
AI-built apps and artifacts don't remember anything you type in. Here's how to give an AI-generated app a real database so its data is saved and shared.
Read Aug 18, 2026How to deploy an app from ChatGPT Canvas
ChatGPT Canvas is great for building an app, but it runs in the chat. Here's how to deploy a Canvas app to a real web address with a database and a login.
Read Aug 18, 2026How to connect an AI-built app to Stripe
Your AI can build an app that takes payments or reads your Stripe data — safely — if the key never lives in the app. Here's how to connect an AI-built app to Stripe on Croft.
Read Aug 18, 2026How to build an internal tool without a developer
The little app your team needs isn't worth a developer's time — but you can build it yourself, by chatting with AI. Here's how to build and host an internal tool without code.
Read Aug 18, 2026How to build a private client portal with AI
Give each client their own login to see their projects, files, and updates. Here's how to build a private client portal by chatting with AI — no developer required.
Read Aug 18, 2026How to add a login to an AI-generated app
Don't ask the AI to write your login — it's the easiest thing to get wrong. Here's the safe way to put an AI-generated app behind a login your team can use.
Read Aug 18, 2026Connectors now pass through custom headers
Some APIs need a specific header or an unusual request body. Croft's connector broker now forwards custom headers (and raw bodies) from your app — with the key still held by Croft.
Read Aug 18, 2026A private, self-owned alternative to Replit and Lovable
Replit and Lovable are built for shipping public products. If you want AI-built apps that stay private and run on a server that's yours, here's the alternative.
Read Aug 15, 2026The official Croft agent plugin
One step to make any compatible AI agent a Croft builder — the tools and the know-how, on an open standard, secured with per-user sign-in.
Read Aug 12, 2026Your data is yours — export and no lock-in
Cancel any time and take everything: code, database, files, packaged to run anywhere Docker does. Leaving should be boring.
Read Aug 8, 2026Connectors & data governance: shared data, on your terms
Let your apps use the tools you already run on — Stripe, your CRM, your email — with the keys held by Croft and admin approval for the sensitive stuff.
Read Aug 4, 2026Who can do what: roles on Croft
Owner, Admin, Creator, Member — a small, clear set of roles for giving your team the right access without turning it into a security project.
Read Jul 24, 2026Enterprise-grade security, none of the enterprise
Everything starts locked. Single sign-on, least-privilege access, approval gates, and audit trails — built in, so there's nothing for anyone to wire up or get wrong.
Read Jul 15, 2026Automations: apps that work while you sleep
Give any app a schedule and it runs on its own — reminders, nightly syncs, weekly reports — and, with your own AI, it can read and decide for you too.
Read Jul 1, 2026A public form out front, private results behind your login
Ask your assistant for a survey and it ships the whole thing — a public link anyone can open, with every response kept private to you.
Read Jun 17, 2026Bring your own AI
Croft doesn't resell AI or meter tokens. You build with the Claude, ChatGPT, or Grok account you already have — no markup, no lock-in to one model.
Read Jun 3, 2026Turn a pricing spreadsheet into an app
The quarterly spreadsheet you email around, turned into a real app your team can use — in one conversation, with no file to lose track of.
Read May 20, 2026Why we built Croft
An AI can write you an app in minutes. Giving that app a home — a server, a login, a database, a way to share it — is the hard part. That's the gap Croft fills.
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