# Mini apps

A mini app is a set of screens with text, images, buttons, input fields and lists. A person opens it with a button in the chat with the bot or via a link and uses it like a regular phone app: flips through screens, fills in forms, picks items from a list.

You build an app in the builder without programming: you place screens and blocks on the scheme and connect them with links. The app stores its data — requests, catalogues, questionnaires — in the project's lists, the same ones the chatbots work with.

![A mini app on the scheme: screens, a window, a condition, a list record and a toast connected with links](https://support.watbot.org/_media/en/02-mini-apps/_images/app-scheme.webp?v=1791781230)

## Where the app opens

| Where | How to open it | Who is in front of you |
|---|---|---|
| Telegram | With a bot button. The app opens inside the messenger | The person is identified: the app knows their name and links them to the bot's contact |
| MAX | With a bot button. The app opens inside the messenger | The person is identified |
| Website chat | With a bot button in the chat. The app opens over the chat | A website chat contact |
| Browser | Via the app link | A guest: they have no name and no bot contact |
| Phone screen | The app the person added to the home screen from the browser | A guest |

In VK and Viber the app does not open inside the messenger: its link opens in the browser.

You can find out where the app was opened from right in the scenario — with the "Launch source" block — and show different screens to different people. See the [Launch source](https://support.watbot.org/mini-apps/blocks/logic/launch-source) page for details.

## Where mini apps live

Apps belong to the project. The list opens with the "Mini apps" item in the project's menu. A click on an app opens its sections — they are listed in the side menu:

| Section | What it contains |
|---|---|
| "Builder" | The app's scheme: screens, blocks and links, preview, versions and publishing |
| "Users" | Who opened the app and from where, each person's variables and tags |
| "Analytics" | Opens, visitors and popular screens by day |
| "Error log" | Requests and code that failed |
| "Settings" | Name, bots, icon, app link |

The app's name at the top of the side menu is a switcher: use it to go to another app of the project, create a new one and change the icon.

![App menu: switcher and sections](https://support.watbot.org/_media/en/02-mini-apps/_images/app-menu.webp?v=1791781230)

## What you need

- **A Pro subscription.** You can create apps, open the builder and publish versions only with a subscription. Without it, the Pro checkout window opens instead of the action. See the [What is available without Pro](https://support.watbot.org/billing/without-pro) page for details.
- **A chatbot — to open the app in a messenger and in a website chat.** The bot is connected in the app's settings: in Telegram, MAX and the website chat, the app opens only from a connected bot. A link in the browser does not need a bot.
- **Team member permissions.** The project owner can do everything. A team member's permissions are set in their role — in the "Mini apps" block:

| Permission group | Permissions | What they give |
|---|---|---|
| "Administration" | "Creating a mini app", "Editing a mini app", "Deleting a mini app" | Create an app; rename it, change its settings, icon and position in the list; delete it |
| "Building" | "Building a mini app" | Open the builder, users, analytics and the error log |

How to give a team member access is covered on the [Team member access](https://support.watbot.org/chatbots/settings/access) page.

## How it works

1. [Create an app](https://support.watbot.org/mini-apps/create) — blank or from a template.
2. Build screens in the [builder](https://support.watbot.org/mini-apps/builder): add [elements](https://support.watbot.org/mini-apps/elements), connect buttons to other screens and [blocks](https://support.watbot.org/mini-apps/blocks).
3. Check the app in the preview — right on the scheme.
4. [Publish a version](https://support.watbot.org/mini-apps/publish), connect the bot and put the app link into a bot button.
5. Keep an eye on [visitors, analytics and errors](https://support.watbot.org/mini-apps/users).

You can also build an app in the AI chat by describing it in words — see the [Building an app in the AI chat](https://support.watbot.org/mini-apps/ai-builder) page.

## Limits

- A project can have no more than 100 mini apps. When the limit is reached, the "Create" button is disabled.
- You can create no more than 20 apps per day.
- An app can have no more than 50 versions.
- One version can have no more than 10,000 blocks, and its size is no more than 50 MB.
- No more than 20 bots can be connected to an app.

## Pages of this section

- [Creating an app](https://support.watbot.org/mini-apps/create) — the list of apps, creating from scratch and from a template, your own template.
- [Builder](https://support.watbot.org/mini-apps/builder) — the scheme and links, the screen editor, windows and tabs, colours and the dark theme, preview and debugging.
- [Screen elements](https://support.watbot.org/mini-apps/elements) — a reference of elements: text and media, input fields, lists, countdown, map and more.
- [Blocks and actions](https://support.watbot.org/mini-apps/blocks) — what a button can do and a block reference: screens and windows, requests, conditions, lists, chatbot, shop, appointments.
- [Building an app in the AI chat](https://support.watbot.org/mini-apps/ai-builder) — the AI builds and fixes the app from a description, in a draft.
- [App data](https://support.watbot.org/mini-apps/data) — variables and templates, lists and forms, tags, conditions.
- [Versions and publishing](https://support.watbot.org/mini-apps/publish) — versions, publishing, connecting a bot, the app link and the button in the bot.
- [Users, analytics and error log](https://support.watbot.org/mini-apps/users) — guests and identified users, the user card, statistics, errors.
- [Code in the app](https://support.watbot.org/mini-apps/code) — for developers: the "JavaScript" block, app code, the HTML element and the HTML screen.