> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.carto.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.carto.com/carto-user-manual/app-studio.md).
# App Studio
Build the operational tools your team works in by describing them, on your own data, and publish them to your organization
{% hint style="info" %}
**Private Preview:** App Studio is available to selected accounts during its Private Preview. To request access, contact your CARTO representative.
{% endhint %}
App Studio lets you build a custom spatial application by describing it in plain language. An AI assistant writes the app on your own data and shows it working in a live preview. When it's ready, you publish it and share it with your organization, the same way you share a map or a workflow.
Use it to build the tool your team works in every day, shaped around how your process actually runs. For example:
* An **underwriting tool**: review each new submission against risk layers, record a decision, and move on to the next one.
* A **planning review app**: step through incoming applications, check each site against constraints, and save the assessment.
* A **field operations app**: triage incidents on a map, assign them to a team, and track their status.
* A **site selection tool**: score candidate locations, compare them side by side, and keep a shortlist.
Apps read live data from your data warehouse, and can also save results back to it and run your workflows, all through your existing CARTO connections. See [Data in your app](/carto-user-manual/app-studio/data-in-your-app.md).
## How it works
1. **Describe the app** in **Applications**: what it's for, who uses it, and the data it needs.
2. **Watch it build.** The assistant finds the data in your connections, writes the app and shows it in a live preview.
3. **Refine it.** Keep chatting, or click an element in the preview and say what to change. Every change is saved as a [version](/carto-user-manual/app-studio/version-history.md) you can go back to.
4. **Publish it** at its own URL inside CARTO and [choose who can open it](/carto-user-manual/app-studio/publishing-and-sharing.md). People sign in to CARTO to use it.
## Builder or App Studio?
Use **Builder** when a map with widgets covers what you need, such as exploring data or sharing a dashboard. Use **App Studio** when your team needs an interface of its own: a step-by-step process, several pages, forms that save results, or a button that runs a workflow.
If your developers build apps in code, they can host them in CARTO with [Hosted Apps](/carto-for-developers/key-concepts/hosting-your-application.md). Apps published from App Studio are hosted apps too, with the same login and sharing.
## Requirements
* App Studio and Hosted Apps are enabled for your organization.
* [CARTO AI](/carto-user-manual/settings/carto-ai.md) is enabled, and an Admin has turned on **AI Assistant in App Studio** in **Settings > CARTO AI**. It's off by default.
* You have the **Editor** or **Admin** [role](/carto-user-manual/settings/users-and-groups/managing-user-roles.md) to build apps. Anyone you share an app with can open it, including Viewers.
---
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