Deployment Options

Deploy your apps across your business stack

Overview

Apps built with the App Builder can be deployed in multiple ways, making them accessible wherever your team works. Each deployment mode serves a different use case—from quick internal tools to marketplace-published applications.

Deployment Modes

1. Inside Operator

The simplest deployment. Your app runs directly within the Operator interface, accessible by selecting it from the agent/app dropdown in the header. This is ideal for personal tools and quick utilities.

How to access: Select the app from the agent dropdown → it opens in Execution Mode.

2. Full-Screen

Apps can be launched in a dedicated full-screen browser tab using a direct URL. This is useful for apps that need more screen space or that you want to bookmark for quick access.

URL format:

https://erpnet-operator.lovable.app/?app={slug}

For instance-specific execution, the URL can include the instance parameter:

https://erpnet-operator.lovable.app/?app={slug}&instance={base_url}

These URLs are bookmarkable and can be shared with other users.

Installable to the home screen. Full-screen apps can be installed as their own app on the phone or desktop (via the browser's "Install app" / "Add to Home Screen"). Each installation is scoped to one app on one instance — the same app installed against a different instance appears as a separate icon. Every installed app uses a shared Operator-family tile (rounded square with the Operator mark and the app's initials) so the whole set reads as one family on the home screen. No offline support is included.

Installable apps run on a dedicated address (app.operator.net/a/{app}/{instance}) so they are completely separate from the main Operator site (operator.net) — installing Operator will never capture your app icons, and installing an app will never capture Operator. Because the two live on different addresses, opening a full-screen app while signed out will bounce you through the main Operator sign-in page and then automatically return you to the app; you never lose the URL you started from.

Apps installed before the dedicated app address was introduced may keep their old shortcut details even after the browser cache is cleared. Remove that old shortcut and install the app once from its current full-screen page; future launches then use the app name and icon stored by Operator.

3. ERP.net Web Client

An app can be placed inside the ERP.net Web Client in three different ways. You configure them in the App Builder under Deploy → Web Client Integration Points, then press Deploy to Web Client. One app can use several placements at the same time.

Main menu — best for standalone applications everybody should find on their own. Example: a "Delivery planner" app placed in the Logistics category appears next to the standard Logistics applications.

Forms navigation — best for an app that belongs to one area of work. Example: a "Quote approvals" app registered for the Crm.Sales module appears in the Extensions section of the Sales navigation, together with the standard Sales forms.

Entity side panel — best for an app that adds context to the record the user is looking at. The app is told which record is open (the repository and the record id), so it can load the right data by itself. Example: a "Customer risk score" app registered for General.Contacts.Parties opens as a panel beside every customer form; leaving the repository empty shows the panel on every record form.

Version differences. Each placement requires a minimum ERP.net version. Operator reads the version of the connected instance and marks any placement the instance is too old for — both in the editor and in the Deploy confirmation. You may still save and deploy such an entry (useful when preparing for an upcoming upgrade); it simply will not appear until the instance is updated.

Set while the app is built. When the App Builder builds an app whose place is evident — a document printout panel, a screen for one module, a standalone application — it fills the placement in for you and says in one line where the app will appear and why. Nothing is registered with your instance at that point: the entry simply waits on the Deploy tab, and you can edit or remove it before deploying.

Guess with AI. When an app has no placement yet, the Guess with AI button proposes both the placement and its target, based on everything known about the app — its name and description, its display form, who can open it, and, for Pro apps, its pages, tables, web requests and memory notes.

The suggestion always comes with a short explanation of why that placement was chosen. It appears as a message right after the suggestion and stays saved as the note on the entry, so you can review the reasoning later and change the placement if you disagree. Example: for a phone-shaped app showing delivery risk for the open order, the suggestion is the record side panel on sales orders, explained as "The app provides delivery risk and margin insights specifically for the open sales order, and its phone display form is optimized for the side panel."

4. ERP.net Marketplace

For apps intended for broader distribution, you can publish them to the ERP.net Marketplace. This makes your app discoverable and installable by other ERP.net users and organizations.

Publishing to the Marketplace involves additional review and quality requirements to ensure a consistent experience for all users.

Choosing a Deployment Mode

You can deploy the same app in multiple modes simultaneously. For example, an app might be available both in the Web Client main menu and as a full-screen bookmark.

Open in New Tab

The Deploy tab in the App Builder includes an Open in New Tab feature that generates a URL with both the app slug and instance parameters pre-configured. This provides a quick way to test full-screen deployment or share a direct link with colleagues.