How to give an AI-generated app a real database

Short answer: Most AI-generated apps have no backend, so nothing you type in is saved. To give one a real database, deploy it to a host that provides one — like Croft — and ask your assistant to store the data there. Each app gets its own database, automatically.

That financial model your AI built is the classic example: type in numbers, close the tab, and they’re gone. It looks like an app, but there’s nothing behind it — no server, no database, no memory. For a throwaway calculation that’s fine. For anything your team relies on, the data has to stick.

How to do it

1. Deploy the app to your croft. Connect an assistant (Claude, ChatGPT, or Grok) and ask it to deploy the app. How to connect →
2. Ask for the data to be saved. Say what should persist — “save each quote so I can find it later,” “let the team update this and keep the history.” Your assistant adds a table and wires it up.
3. That’s it. Every Croft app gets its own embedded SQL database on your private server, so data is saved and there next time — for you and everyone you invite.

Why it’s not something you bolt on yourself

You don’t provision a database, manage connection strings, or run migrations. The database comes with the app, it’s backed up continuously, and it’s yours to export any time. Your assistant does the writing; Croft provides the place the data lives.

A database is one of the three things that turn an artifact into a real app — the others being a shareable URL and a login.

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