# Create an app

> Set up a Bonnard app, the MCP server AI clients such as Claude and ChatGPT connect to, on one of your databases, and see what it starts with.

Updated: 2026-10-12

To query your database from Claude, ChatGPT or another AI client, create an app on it: an MCP server with its own URL, which AI clients
connect to. Each app reads one database, chosen when you create it and fixed after that. One database can serve several
apps, each with its own audience and tools.

[Video: Creating an app: the New app form with the name typed, Create & configure, and the new app's Overview]

## Requirements

- The Admin role in your Bonnard workspace.
- A database connected on the **Data** page, with its setup finished. Until there is one, the **Apps** page says
  "Connect a database first." and has no **+ New app** button.

## Create the app

1. In the console at `app.bonnard.ai`, select **Apps**, then **+ New app**. With no apps yet, select the
   **Create an app** tile.
2. Enter a **Name**. It labels the app in the console and in the Claude and Cursor install links. Bonnard builds the
   app's URL from it.
3. Choose the **Database**.
4. Choose the **Audience**, who can connect. The choices depend on the database's tenancy: on **No tenancy**, the form
   starts at **Internal**, members of your workspace only. See [Audience](https://bonnard.ai/docs/apps/audience.md).
5. Select **Create & configure**. The app opens on its **Overview** tab.

[Image: The New app form with the name Acme analytics (sample), the Acme sample database, the Internal audience, and the Create & configure button]

**Connection saved**, the last step of connecting a database, offers **Create an app** under **Next step**. A PostHog
connection has **Create app** on its **Used by** card. Both open the form with that database chosen. With the
[sample data](https://bonnard.ai/docs/connect-data/sample-data.md), the name starts as Acme analytics (sample).

If the database's setup is unfinished, the form shows `Complete database setup before creating an MCP server.` Finish
it on the **Data** page, then select **Create & configure** again.

## What a new app starts with

Table: A new app's settings

| Setting | Starts as | Change it on |
| --- | --- | --- |
| URL | `https://app.bonnard.ai/mcp/<slug>`, and a staging URL ending in `/staging` | Cannot be changed |
| [Published](https://bonnard.ai/docs/apps/publish-and-staging.md) | Off. The production URL does not answer until you publish. | The header's **Publish** button |
| [Audience](https://bonnard.ai/docs/apps/audience.md) | Your choice on the form | **Overview** tab |
| Tools | All on, except **Personal dashboards** and **Published dashboards** | **Tools** tab |
| [Tables](https://bonnard.ai/docs/connect-data/table-curation.md) | Every table Bonnard found in the database, shown to AI clients | **Data** tab |

### The URL

Bonnard makes the slug from the name: lowercase, with each run of other characters turned into one hyphen, up to 48
characters. Acme analytics (sample) becomes `acme-analytics-sample`.

Slugs are unique across Bonnard, deleted apps included. If the slug is taken, or is `mcp` or `staging`, Bonnard adds a
hyphen and six random letters and digits, such as `acme-analytics-sample-4k9x2m`. Check the URL on the **Overview**
tab.

[Image: The Overview tab of the app Acme analytics (sample): the Endpoints card with the Staging and Production URLs, and the Audience card set to Internal]

## Rename an app

The name at the top of the app's page is a field. Edit it, then select **Save** next to it. The URL stays the same.

AI clients that already have the app keep the name it was installed under.

## Delete an app

1. Open the app's **Settings** tab.
2. Under **Danger zone**, select **Delete app**, then **Delete** in the dialog.

[Image: The Settings tab with the dialog Delete app "Acme analytics (sample)"? open over the Danger zone, and its Delete button]

Both URLs stop answering straight away, so AI clients with the app installed stop working. Deleting also:

- Removes the app from the **Apps** page, from its database's **Used by** card, and from each customer's
  **App access**.
- Revokes the API keys scoped to the app.
- Keeps the charts and dashboards people saved through the app. They belong to the database, which is unchanged.

The console cannot restore a deleted app. Bonnard keeps a record of it, so past activity still names it and its slug
stays taken.

To remove a database, delete its apps first. Bonnard refuses to delete a database while an app uses it.

## Related

- [Publish and staging](https://bonnard.ai/docs/apps/publish-and-staging.md): make the production URL answer.
- [Install in AI clients](https://bonnard.ai/docs/apps/install-in-ai-clients.md): add the app to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, or Codex.