Install
On macOS or Linux, with Docker running:
curl -fsSL https://onedrop.io/install | sh
That's it. OneDrop opens at http://localhost:8000, and the first account you create is the admin.
| Command | What it does |
|---|
drop update | Get the latest version and restart. Your projects are kept. |
drop stop | Stop OneDrop. |
drop uninstall | Remove OneDrop. It asks before deleting your projects and data. |
drop help | Everything else: start, logs, open. |
[!TIP]
Putting it on a server for your team? Add a domain and you get HTTPS. auto uses a free <ip>.sslip.io address:
curl -fsSL https://onedrop.io/install | sh -s -- --domain auto
Works on any Ubuntu 24.04 machine, or on AWS with Pulumi.
Why OneDrop
Hosted app builders are great until you need to own the result. OneDrop gives you the same "type it and watch it appear" loop, on your terms.
| OneDrop | Typical hosted builder |
|---|
| Your AI | Your ChatGPT, Claude, or API key. No credits, no markup. | Their credits, their price |
| Where it runs | Your laptop, any Ubuntu server, or AWS | Their cloud |
| What you get | Standard React or Laravel code, with tests, in git | Code tied to their stack |
| Built-in production plumbing | Sign-in, database, secrets, storage, feature flags, monitoring | Varies, often add-ons |
| Price to self-host | Free, source available | n/a |
Features
Chat on the left, your running app on the right
Every project gets its own sandbox. The agent reads, writes, and runs code there, and you watch each step in the chat while the app updates live in the preview. The files, a shell, and a console are one click away when you want them.
Real apps, not mockups
The agent builds standard, reviewable code: React, or Laravel with a database when the app needs one. It writes tests and keeps them green. This project tracker, with a board, calendar, team, and live notifications, was built entirely from chat:
Production tools, built in
Everything an app needs to go live sits next to the chat: Database browsing and SQL, Users & Auth, Secrets, App Storage, Feature Flags, Monitoring, Growth analytics, Domains, Git, and one-click Publishing.
Start from a sentence, or a template
Type what you want, or pick a starter: CRM, project tracker, content calendar, inventory, hiring pipeline, help desk, and more. Choose your agent and model right in the prompt box.
And a lot more
How it works
flowchart LR
You([You]) -->|chat| OD[OneDrop<br/>Laravel + React]
OD -->|starts| SB[Sandbox<br/>your app + agent]
SB -->|events| OD
SB -->|live preview| You
OD -->|publish| URL[Your app's URL]
SB -. your AI key or plan .-> AI[(Claude · ChatGPT ·<br/>Gemini · OpenRouter)]
- Connect your AI. Sign in with ChatGPT or Claude, or paste an API key. Guide
- Describe your app. OneDrop creates a project and a sandbox for it. Guide
- Watch it get built. The agent works in the sandbox; you see each step in the chat and the app in the preview.
- Share it. Publish to give it its own URL. Guide
Sandboxes run in Docker on your machine, or on Blaxel or Runtime Cloud when you'd rather not run the containers yourself. Your AI credentials go to your provider, never to us. Architecture →
[!NOTE]
OneDrop is built for trusted teams: people in a company building internal tools without setting up a development environment. It isn't designed to host apps for anonymous strangers.
Develop
Want to work on OneDrop itself? It's Laravel 13, Inertia + React, Tailwind, and Pest.
git clone https://github.com/onedrop-io/onedrop.git && cd onedrop
composer install && npm install
cp .env.example .env && php artisan key:generate
php artisan migrate:fresh --seed # dev login: [email protected] / password
php artisan sandbox:build-image # the Docker image every project runs in
composer run dev # http://localhost:8000
Run the tests with php artisan test. Read Contributing for the house rules (every feature starts in SPEC.md and ships with tests) and the quickstart for the full setup.
| Path | What's there |
|---|
app/Sandbox/ | Sandbox providers (Docker, Blaxel, Runtime), agent runners |
app/Jobs/ | Creating sandboxes, running agents, publishing |
resources/js/pages/ | The React UI |
docker/sandbox/ | The sandbox image, event forwarder, and host proxy |
infra/ | Server bootstrap and AWS (Pulumi) |
docs/ | docs.onedrop.io, in Mintlify |
docs/plans/ | Plans, including the original build plan |
License
Elastic License 2.0 (ELv2). Use, change, and self-host OneDrop for your own team or company. You may not offer it to others as a hosted or managed service, circumvent any license key features, or remove the licensing notices. See elastic.co/licensing/elastic-license.
The planet maps in public/images/earth, public/images/mars, and public/images/planets are by Solar System Scope, resized, under CC BY 4.0, not ELv2. The Moon maps in public/images/moon are by NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio (CGI Moon Kit), and the hurricane in public/images/hurricane is from a NASA Earth Observatory photo of Hurricane Isabel (Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC). The Voyager and Pioneer models (public/images/voyager, public/images/pioneer) are NASA's, the Golden Record photo is NASA/JPL's, and the Pioneer plaque drawing is a public-domain tracing by Oona Räisänen. Laniakea's galaxies (public/images/laniakea) are from the 2MASS Redshift Survey (Huchra et al. 2012), via VizieR. See the CREDITS.md in each folder.
