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":

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 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.

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: build an extension inside Desktop without a separate toolchain.
• Core concepts: resolve a term and jump to its contract.
• Choosing a path: ship a branded binary or integrate from a backend.
• WAMP Cloud: 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 before distributing third-party extensions.