App limitations

Vybe apps are internal tools for your organization. That focus rules out a few things, and some others need a different approach. Check this page before you plan an app around one of them. For most of them, the AI tells you when a request runs into a limitation and suggests an alternative.

Who can open apps

Limitation	What to do instead
No public apps. Everyone who opens an app must be signed in to Vybe as a member of your organization.	Share with people outside your organization by adding them as Guests. Sharing a single page by email (Share externally) is also available: contact support to enable it. See Access and sharing.
No public sign-up or separate app accounts. Apps have no login page, registration or per-app passwords. Vybe handles sign-in.	Use the signed-in person’s email to tailor the app to them.
No built-in user management. The app has no list of its users with roles or profiles.	Ask the AI to keep a table of people, keyed by email, with whatever fields you need, such as a role or team.
No custom domains. Every app lives at `https://<app-slug>-<org-slug>.vybe.build`, and the app URL can’t be changed after creation.	Pick the app URL carefully when you create the app. See Creating apps.

Code and packages

Limitation	What to do instead
No arbitrary npm packages. Only packages on Vybe’s approved list can be installed.	Most needs are already covered. See Tech stack for what’s included and what the AI can install.
No terminal. Neither you nor the AI can run commands in the sandbox.	Ask the AI for the outcome you want. It has its own tools for installing packages, running tests and restarting the preview.
Locked configuration files. Files like `package.json`, `next.config.js` and `.env` can’t be edited.	See Locked files.
No environment variables or secrets in code.	Store credentials in a Custom API or an integration. Vybe adds them to each request, so the key never appears in the app’s code.

Running work

Limitation	What to do instead
No long-running server connections. The app’s server can’t hold WebSocket or server-sent event connections open.	For real-time collaboration (live cursors, who’s online, shared state, collaborative editing), use the built-in Liveblocks support. See Building UIs. For data that changes now and then, refresh it periodically.
No background processes outside background jobs.	Use background jobs for scheduled and long-running work.
No built-in webhook receiver. Apps can’t subscribe to events from other services.	Outside systems can call your app’s API routes with an app API token sent in a request header. See Analytics and APIs. For a service that can’t send that header, check it on a schedule with a background job.

Files and data

Limitation	What to do instead
No file storage. Apps have no place to keep uploaded files.	Process uploads in memory, for example to read a CSV and save its rows to the database. Store links to files hosted elsewhere, or send files to a storage service through an integration or Custom API.
Integrations come from Vybe’s catalog.	For any other service with an API, add a Custom API.
One database for preview and live app. There’s no separate test database.	Test with clearly labelled records and clean them up, or ask the AI to add a way to filter them out. See App data.

Changes and versions

Limitation	What to do instead
No one-click rollback of a published app.	Restore an earlier checkpoint, then publish again. See Version history.
Restoring a checkpoint doesn’t restore the database.	Ask the AI to adjust the database after a restore.

What apps are good for

Apps work best as tools your team uses every day:

Dashboards: KPIs, pipelines, monitoring.
Record management: customers, inventory, orders, vendors.
Admin and review tools: approvals, moderation, quality checks.
Data tools: imports, exports, report builders, data explorers.
Workflow tools: request forms, ticket queues, task trackers.
Integration hubs: one view across your CRM, ticketing and billing tools.

For a one-off answer, a report or a quick chart, an AI coworker is usually faster than an app. See Artifacts.

Get started

AI coworkers

Automations

Channels

Connections

Apps

Organization

Security

Tips

Reference

Who can open apps

Code and packages

Running work

Files and data

Changes and versions

What apps are good for

​Who can open apps

​Code and packages

​Running work

​Files and data

​Changes and versions

​What apps are good for

Who can open apps

Code and packages

Running work

Files and data

Changes and versions

What apps are good for