---
title: Create your first application
description: "This walkthrough builds a small but complete application from nothing: an **Accounts** list that your colleagues can open, read, and add to. Each step is introduced only briefly here. Detailed configuration instructions are available in the dedicated documentation sections. ##…"
url: "https://auclio.com/documentation/create-application/"
updated: "2026-10-15"
category: Getting started
---

# Create your first application

This walkthrough builds a small but complete application from nothing: an **Accounts** list that your colleagues can open, read, and add to.

Each step is introduced only briefly here. Detailed configuration instructions are available in the dedicated documentation sections.

## Before you start

You need an Auclio account with tenant administrator permissions. Only a tenant administrator can create an application; pages, widgets, and datasets additionally require administrator rights on the application that owns them. Both checks run on the server, not only in the interface. If the **New application** button does not appear on the tenant homepage, ask your tenant administrator to grant you the required role.

You do not need an external system for this walkthrough. Auclio creates a built-in connection with every new application, and the dataset you build here will use it.

Before you begin, decide what one object in your application represents. In this walkthrough, one object is one company you do business with.

## Create a blank application

To create a blank application:

1. Open your Auclio tenant.
2. Select **New application**.
3. Choose **Blank application**.
4. Enter `Customer management` in **Application name**.
5. Add a short description.
6. Choose an icon and a colour preset.
7. Select **Create**.

Auclio creates an empty application and adds it to the homepage.

![](https://auclio.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/blank-application-dialog-1024x1024.png)
*The blank application dialog, with the application name, description, icon picker, and colour presets*

Select the new card to open the application. It opens on an empty page, because it does not have any pages yet.

To create an application with AI or to import an app, check: [Applications](https://auclio.com/documentation/applications/).

## Add the first page

Pages are added in layout edit mode.

To add the first page:

1. Select the layout edit icon in the top-right corner to enable **Layout edit mode**.
2. Select **Add new page** above the navigation on the left.
3. Enter `Accounts` in **Page title**.
4. Choose an icon for the page.
5. Leave **Parent page** empty so the page sits at the top level.
6. Select **Create**.

Auclio creates the page and opens it. It is empty, and it now appears in the navigation on the left.

Leave layout edit mode on. You need it for the next steps.

## Create the first dataset

A page has nothing to show until a dataset exists, so build the dataset next.

To create the first dataset:

1. Select the settings icon in the top-right corner to open **Application settings**.
2. Open **Datasets**.
3. Select **Create dataset**, then choose **Blank dataset**.
4. On the **Dataset** step, leave **External connection** switched off so the objects are stored in Auclio, and enter `Accounts` in **Dataset title**.
5. Select **Next** to reach the **Properties** step.
6. Select **Add Property** and create the properties described below.
7. Select **Next** to reach the **File Properties** step, and leave **Allow Files** switched off.
8. Select **Create**.

Add four properties to start with:

- `Account name` — data type String, with **Required** and **Name** ticked;
- `Country` — data type String;
- `Industry` — data type String;
- `Customer` — data type Boolean.

Every dataset needs exactly one property marked **Name**. That is the property Auclio uses to label an object wherever it appears, so choose the one a person would read first. Ticking **Name** also makes the property required.

![](https://auclio.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/dataset-properties-step-1024x534.png)
*The Properties step of the dataset dialog, showing each property with its data type and its Required, Readonly, Unique and Name checkboxes*

After saving, Auclio offers to add objects straight away. Add two or three example accounts now, so you have something to look at on the page. You can also skip this step and add objects later.

See [Create a dataset](https://auclio.com/documentation/create-a-dataset/) and [Manage properties](https://auclio.com/documentation/manage-properties/) for detailed instructions on data types, required properties, default values, and file settings.

## Add the first widget

Widgets are what users actually see and use. A Table widget is the natural choice for a list of accounts.

To add the first widget:

1. Return to the **Accounts** page.
2. Confirm that **Layout edit mode** is still enabled.
3. Select **Add a widget** in the toolbar at the top of the page.
4. Select the **Table** tile, or drag it onto the page where you want it.
5. Enter `Accounts` in **Widget Title**.

The widget configuration opens as a series of steps. Leave the settings on the first step as they are for now, and continue to the data source.

## Connect the dataset to a widget

A widget shows nothing until it is told which dataset to read.

To connect the dataset:

1. Move to the **Data Source** step.
2. Leave **Use External Connection** switched off. Auclio then uses the application's built-in connection and lists the datasets stored in it, so no **Connection** field appears.
3. Select `Accounts` in **Dataset**.
4. Select **Next** to reach the **Columns** step.
5. Select **Add Column** for each property you want to show, and set its **Column Label** and **Dataset Field**.
6. Select **Next** through the **Table Properties** and **File Management** steps, leaving their defaults as they are.
7. Select **Create**.

Auclio adds the widget to the page and fills it with the objects from the dataset.

Drag the widget by its header to move it, and drag its bottom-right corner to resize it. When the layout looks right, select the save icon in the toolbar to **Save page layout changes**.

![](https://auclio.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/layout-edit-mode-1024x640.png)
*The Properties step of the dataset dialog, showing each property with its data type and its Required, Readonly, Unique and Name checkboxes*

See [Widgets](https://auclio.com/documentation/widgets/) for detailed instructions on each widget type and its available settings.

## Configure basic access

A new application is not automatically available to your colleagues. Access is granted with a permission rule.

To give a group of users access:

1. Open **Application settings**.
2. Open **Permissions**.
3. Open the **Access lists** tab and select **Create access list**.
4. Enter a name such as `Customer management readers` in **Name**.
5. Add the users or groups who need access in **Subjects**.
6. Tick **Read**, and tick **Modify** as well if they should be able to add and edit accounts.
7. Select **Create**.
8. Open the **Rules** tab and select **Create rule**.
9. Set **Resource type** to Application and select `Customer management` in **Entity**.
10. Add the access list under **Self NACLs** so those users can open the application itself, and under **Children NACLs** so it cascades to the pages and widgets inside.
11. Select **Create**.

Auclio grants access the next time those users open the tenant.

A cascade reaches one level only, and a dataset hangs off its connection rather than off the application, so this rule alone does not let anyone read the accounts. Add a second rule on the built-in **Local** connection with the same access list under **Children NACLs** to reach the `Accounts` dataset, and a third rule on the `Accounts` dataset to reach its objects.

Permissions use four flags: **Read**, **Modify**, **Delete**, and **Create**. Create is separate from Modify — the ability to create an object comes from a **Create** grant that cascades to children, so someone who can edit accounts cannot necessarily add them.

See [Understanding permissions](https://auclio.com/documentation/understanding-permissions/) and [Configure permissions](https://auclio.com/documentation/configure-permissions/) for detailed instructions on rules, access lists, groups, and object-level access.

## Test the application

Always check an application the way a user will see it, not the way you built it.

To test the application:

1. Disable **Layout edit mode**.
2. Open the **Accounts** page.
3. Confirm the table lists your example objects.
4. Add a new account and confirm it is saved.
5. Edit a value and confirm the change appears.
6. Ask a colleague with the access you granted to open the application and repeat these checks (as an administrator, you bypass permission checks, so an application can look correct to you and be invisible to others).

## Where to find more detailed instructions

Your application now has the basic structure needed for further configuration.

- See [Applications](https://auclio.com/documentation/applications/) for detailed instructions on application settings, importing, exporting, and managing applications.
- See [Pages](https://auclio.com/documentation/pages/) for detailed instructions on page settings, navigation, details pages, and page organization.
- See [Widgets](https://auclio.com/documentation/widgets/) for detailed instructions for each widget type and its available settings.
- See [Datasets](https://auclio.com/documentation/understanding-datasets/) for detailed instructions on properties, objects, relationships, data types, and data management.
- See [Connections](https://auclio.com/documentation/understanding-connections/) for detailed instructions on available connection types, M-Files connectivity, and connection troubleshooting.
- See [Users and permissions](https://auclio.com/documentation/manage-users-and-groups/) for detailed instructions on users, groups, application access, and permission rules.
- See [Workflows](https://auclio.com/documentation/understanding-workflows/) for detailed instructions on moving objects through the states of your process.