Declarative Data Apps

A data app is a JSON config that describes components and their API bindings — not imperative code. The config specifies what components exist, where they sit, what endpoints they call, and how responses map to the UI. The runtime (renderer) interprets this config into a live application.

The distinction matters: in a code-driven dashboard, the developer writes logic that constructs the UI. In a declarative data app, the developer writes data that describes the UI. The config can be stored, versioned, cloned, and rendered anywhere the renderer runs — in a studio, a preview, an iframe, or a future mobile client.

The mental model is "glorified Postman": if Postman let you build a business UI around a saved collection of requests, that is a declarative data app. The saved requests are the config; the UI components are the display layer; the state bus is the wiring between them.

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Source: data-app-factory PRD See also: Config Schema and Runtime Unified in a Single Renderer, Reactive State Bus Pattern