# What WAMP is

Build AI applications from extensions, agent runtimes, tools, views, storage, and identity across WAMP hosts.

Source: https://docs.vampikez.fun/start/what-wamp-is/

WAMP is a platform for AI applications. Extend a running host with tools,
React views, agents, skills, and services, then install the extension locally
or bundle it into a branded Desktop product.

## The substrate

| Primitive | What your application uses |
|---|---|
| Agents and runtimes | Configure WAMP's agent loop or contribute an external ACP agent process. |
| Tools | Register functions with JSON-Schema inputs for agents and your UI. |
| Views and commands | Add pages, workbench views, palette actions, and keybindings. |
| Storage | Extension-owned key/value and typed SQLite on the engine machine. Remote records require your own backend. |
| Scheduling | Cron jobs and local HTTP routes while the host is running. |
| Identity | WAMP users in Desktop and Cloud; App installation and app-signed end-user tokens for your own backend. |
| Model access | Host-routed completions and conversations, with credentials and metering outside your UI bundle. |

## The structural idea

The installable unit is an **extension**: a directory with `extension.json`.
A headless tool pack and a full application share that manifest and lifecycle.
An app adds a page with `presentation: "app"`:

```json check title="extension.json"
{
  "name": "Tasks",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "compat": { "pluginApi": "^4.0.0" },
  "contributes": {
    "pages": [{ "id": "tasks", "title": "Tasks", "context": "both", "presentation": "app" }]
  }
}
```

Export a React component as `views.tasks` from `ui/index.tsx` to supply that
page. The [quickstart](/start/quickstart/) includes the complete source.

## Hosts and availability

| Host | Extension authoring contract |
|---|---|
| Desktop | Native app windows, docked pages, workbench views, and Electron-specific extensions. |
| Cloud web workspace | Eligible project pages and `session.dock` views become panels. It uses the same renderer bundle; unsupported calls reject with `host_unsupported`. Use `pluginAPI.ipc` for host-portable extension UI. |
| Headless engine | Activates the `server` entry when present, otherwise an Electron-free `main`; no native window. |

`requiresElectron: true` hides an extension's UI from the Cloud web workspace,
even if it supplies a headless `server` entry. It does not make Electron APIs
available in a browser. See [Pages and windows](/build/pages-and-windows/).

Coding is one application of these primitives. Files, Preview, Terminal, and
chat are shell surfaces; Git Workbench, Browser, Database, Docs and Usage are
extensions that contribute a `session.dock` panel beside them. Product-shipping
guidance is part of the bundled workflow skill pack.
Bundling depends on the host: a Desktop extension's presence does not imply it
is installed in managed Cloud sessions.

## Choose your entry point

- [Quickstart](/start/quickstart/): build an extension inside Desktop without a separate toolchain.
- [Core concepts](/start/concepts/): resolve a term and jump to its contract.
- [Choosing a path](/ship/choosing-a-path/): ship a branded binary or integrate from a backend.
- [WAMP Cloud](https://docs.cloud.vampikez.fun): drive durable managed sessions through HTTP from your own application.

Extensions are trusted installed code. Permission checks constrain particular
host APIs; the JavaScript itself is not isolated as untrusted code. Read
[Permissions](/build/permissions/) before distributing third-party extensions.