Concepts & Glossary
This page defines the terms used consistently across all Anyknown documentation. When another page references one of these terms for the first time, it links here.
Customer
Section titled “Customer”The person who builds an App on Anyknown. Customers interact with the platform through the Hosted Builder or Local Builder. Customers hold a paid Anyknown account and own the Apps they create.
Visitor
Section titled “Visitor”The end user of a Customer’s App. Visitors interact only with the Customer’s App — they have no direct relationship with Anyknown.
A web application created and hosted on Anyknown. An App is built by AI from a Customer’s description and runs on the Anyknown platform. Each App has its own database, storage, secrets, and runtime.
Builder
Section titled “Builder”The AI interface used to create and modify an App. There are two Builder modes:
- Hosted Builder — a browser-based interface where you describe your App and Anyknown’s AI builds it.
- Local Builder — your own local AI agent (Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI) connected to Anyknown via
@anyknown/cliand the MCP server.
Both Builder modes produce Apps with the same structure and use the same deploy pipeline.
Hosted Builder
Section titled “Hosted Builder”The browser-based App-creation interface served at anyknown.com.
You describe your App in a conversation; the Builder plans it incrementally, generates pages and components, and shows you a live Preview at each step.
Anyknown covers the AI cost for Hosted Builder conversations.
Local Builder
Section titled “Local Builder”Your local AI agent connected to Anyknown via the @anyknown/cli command-line tool and the @anyknown/mcp MCP server.
You run Claude Code, Codex, or Gemini CLI with your own AI subscription; @anyknown/cli handles authentication, App management, and pushing changes to the platform.
Capability
Section titled “Capability”A platform-provided unit of functionality that your App can use.
Capabilities are consumed through the @anyknown/sdk in App handler code.
Examples: Identity, Structured Storage, Object Storage, Payments, Messaging, Scheduling.
A Capability is an abstraction: the underlying provider (Resend for email, Polar for payments, etc.) can be changed without altering your App code.
Iteration
Section titled “Iteration”One complete change cycle triggered by the Builder: the Customer describes a change, the AI produces a diff, a Preview is generated, and the Customer promotes (or discards). Each Iteration results in a new App version.
Preview
Section titled “Preview”A temporary, isolated deployment of a new App version that only the Customer can see. Previews let you inspect the change before it reaches real Visitors. Every Iteration produces a Preview; promoting the Preview makes it the live version.
Deploy
Section titled “Deploy”Pushing App source code to the Anyknown platform and building it into a runnable Worker. A deploy always produces a Preview first.
Promote
Section titled “Promote”Advancing a Preview to become the live production version of the App. Promotion always requires the Customer’s explicit action — Anyknown never promotes automatically. Visitors are unaffected until a Promote happens.