General Text & Computing Company

Apps

Apps are web applications that run inside General Text, embedded in your workspace alongside your files. They provide specialized interfaces for working with your data: a spreadsheet viewer for CSV files, a diagram editor, a kanban board, or anything else you can build as a web app.

Installing an app

Most apps come from the gallery (Settings > Apps > Gallery): browse or search, then install one into the current workspace. You can also install a development build directly from a URL. In Settings > Apps, click Add app and paste the address where the app is hosted (a public URL, or a localhost server while you build it). Either way, General Text copies the app's files into your workspace so it runs locally. If you're installing from a local dev server, be sure to serve a production build, not the HMR/dev setup.

Once installed, the app appears in the sidebar under the Apps section. Click it to open it in the main content area, right alongside your files.

How it works

Installing an app copies a specific published version into your workspace:

  • It reads gt.json (the app manifest) for the app's identity, version, and icon
  • It copies index.html and every referenced JS/CSS asset into workspace storage (under _gtApps/)
  • It serves those copied files locally, so the app keeps working even if the original source changes or goes offline

The copy is yours. An app's files sync to every workspace member and device, so you install once and it's available everywhere, and it keeps running exactly as installed even if the publisher later changes or removes it. There is no silent trickle of updates from a source server.

Updating apps

Updating means installing a newer published version: its files are copied in the same way, replacing the previous version's code while your app data is kept. When a newer version is available you'll see an update indicator in Settings > Apps; click Update to install it. Manifest-only changes (icon, name, tags, blurb) ship as small patch versions through the same path.

App data

Each app gets a private data folder at _gtApps/{name}/data/, the only part of the workspace its sandboxed token can read or write. Apps version their own data inside it (for example data/v1/). This data persists across app updates; only the code, under _gtApps/{name}/code/{version}/, is replaced.