FAQ
Frequently asked questions about agent-native apps, development, and the framework.
General
What is agent-native?
Agent-native is a framework for building apps where the AI agent and the UI are equal partners. They share the same database, the same state, and they always stay in sync. Everything the UI can do, the agent can do — and vice versa. See What Is Agent-Native? for the full explanation.
How is this different from adding AI to an existing app?
Most apps bolt AI on as an afterthought — an autocomplete here, a chat sidebar there. The AI can't actually do things in the app. In an agent-native app, the agent is a first-class citizen. It can create emails, schedule events, build forms, generate slides, and modify the app's own code. The architecture is designed for this from the ground up.
Do I need to know AI/ML?
No. You don't train models, fine-tune, or deal with embeddings. You build a regular web app with React, TypeScript, and SQL. The framework handles the agent integration — routing messages, running actions, syncing state. You write standard web code and the agent just works.
Is this open source?
Yes. The framework and all templates are open source. You can run everything locally, self-host, or use Builder.io's cloud for managed hosting, collaboration, and team features.
Development
Which AI coding tools work with agent-native?
Any AI coding tool that reads project instructions. The framework uses AGENTS.md as the universal standard and auto-creates symlinks for specific tools:
- Claude Code — reads CLAUDE.md (symlinked from AGENTS.md)
- Cursor — reads .cursorrules (symlinked from AGENTS.md)
- Windsurf — reads .windsurfrules (symlinked from AGENTS.md)
- Codex, Gemini, and others — work via the embedded agent panel
- Builder.io — cloud-hosted agent with visual editing and collaboration
Can I use my own database?
Yes. Set DATABASE_URL and the framework auto-detects your database. Supported databases include SQLite, Postgres (Neon, Supabase, plain), Turso (libSQL), and Cloudflare D1. All SQL is dialect-agnostic via Drizzle ORM — the same code works everywhere.
Where can I deploy?
Anywhere. The server runs on Nitro, which compiles to any deployment target: Node.js, Cloudflare Workers/Pages, Netlify, Vercel, Deno Deploy, AWS Lambda, and Bun. You can also use Builder.io's hosting for managed deployments. See the Deployment guide.
Can I migrate an existing app to agent-native?
You can, but agent-native works best when built from the ground up. The architecture — shared database, polling sync, actions, application state — needs to be integrated throughout. Starting from a template and customizing it is the recommended path. Think of it like the shift from desktop-first to mobile-first: you can retrofit, but building native is better.
Architecture
Why polling instead of WebSockets?
Polling works in every deployment environment — including serverless, edge, and container platforms where persistent connections aren't available. The framework polls every 2 seconds using a lightweight version counter. When changes are detected, React Query caches are invalidated and components re-render. It's simple, reliable, and universal. SSE is also supported as an alternative.
Why can't the UI call an LLM directly?
AI is non-deterministic — you need conversation flow to give feedback and iterate, not one-shot buttons. The agent has your full codebase, instructions, skills, and conversation history. An inline LLM call has none of that. Plus, routing everything through the agent means the app can be driven from Slack, Telegram, or another agent via A2A — not just the UI.
Why single-tenant?
Because the agent can modify code. In a multi-tenant SaaS, you can't let one customer's agent change the source code — it would affect everyone. With single-tenant, each organization gets their own fork. The agent can safely evolve the code, add integrations, and customize the app because it's your app. Per-user data isolation still exists within an organization via the owner_email convention.
Why is this a framework and not a library?
The shared database, polling sync, actions system, and application state all need to work together as a cohesive architecture. A library could give you pieces, but agent-native requires that the agent and UI are wired together from the ground up. Multiple agents need to be able to communicate, the UI needs to react to agent changes instantly, and the agent needs to understand what the user is looking at. That's an architecture, not a utility.
Agent Capabilities
Can the agent really modify the app's own code?
Yes, and it's a feature. Because every agent-native app is single-tenant — your team's own fork — the agent can safely edit components, routes, styles, and actions. There's no shared codebase to break. You ask "add a cohort analysis chart" and the agent builds it. You ask "connect to our Stripe account" and the agent writes the integration.
Can agents talk to each other?
Yes, via the A2A (Agent-to-Agent) protocol. Every agent-native app automatically gets an A2A endpoint. From the mail app, you can tag the analytics agent to query data. An agent discovers what other agents are available, calls them over the protocol, and shows results in the UI. No configuration needed — the agent card is auto-generated from your template's actions.
What can the agent see in the app?
The agent always knows what the user is currently viewing. The UI writes navigation state to the database on every route change — which view is open, which item is selected. The agent reads this via the view-screen action before taking action. If an email is open, the agent knows which email. If a slide is selected, the agent knows which slide. See Context Awareness.
Templates
What templates are available?
The framework ships with production-ready templates that you can use as daily drivers:
- Mail — full-featured email client (like Superhuman)
- Calendar — Google Calendar + Calendly-style meeting links
- Content — Notion-style documents
- Slides — presentation builder
- Video — video composition with Remotion
- Analytics — data platform (like Amplitude/Mixpanel)
Each template is a complete app with UI, agent actions, database schema, and AI instructions. See all Templates.
Can I customize templates?
That's the whole point. Fork a template and customize it by asking the agent. "Add a priority field to forms." "Connect to our Salesforce instance." "Change the color scheme to match our brand." The agent modifies the code, and your app evolves over time.
Can I build from scratch without a template?
Yes. Run npx @agent-native/core create my-app without the --template flag. You get the framework scaffolding — React frontend, Nitro backend, agent panel, database — but no domain-specific code. See Getting Started.