ObjectOSIntroduction
ObjectOS is the commercial runtime environment built on ObjectStack, hosted (ObjectOS Cloud) or self-managed (ObjectOS Enterprise). You own the ontology.
The ontology is the software. One executable business ontology. AI writes it, the runtime runs it, agents operate it, you own it. Want the same loop hosted, in the browser, nothing to install? That's ObjectOS, the commercial runtime environment built on ObjectStack. ObjectOS runs hosted in the browser with nothing to install (ObjectOS Cloud) or self-managed on your own infrastructure (ObjectOS Enterprise), and on either edition you can export your ontology and run it on the open-source ObjectStack runtime.
Describe what the business needs to the built-in AI Builder — a helpdesk, an approval flow, a CRM — or install a template, and the ontology it writes is live at once: REST APIs, generated screens, authentication, RBAC, audit logs, file storage, background jobs, webhooks, and every object exposed as an MCP tool your agents can call. Each change is a small, readable diff that a person approves before it runs.
The open-source (Apache-2.0) ObjectStack stack — protocol, kernel, CLI and production runtime — is what executes the ontology and what ObjectOS is built on. Everything you build on ObjectOS is ordinary ObjectStack metadata, so it is portable to that runtime by construction.
Start
| You want … | Do this |
|---|---|
| ObjectOS, nothing to install | Sign in to ObjectOS Cloud — the Free plan is enough to build your first app |
| ObjectOS on your own infrastructure | ObjectOS Enterprise, from the single-node Business Self-Managed option up, runs the licensed runtime image on your servers — see License & Pricing and Deployment |
| The open runtime, locally, free | That is ObjectStack, not ObjectOS: npm i -g @objectstack/cli && os start boots it with a SQLite database and no configuration — see Quickstart |
Either ObjectOS edition then takes you to the same place — sign in, and:
- Talk to the AI Builder — "I need to track support tickets with priority and assignee" — and watch it write your ontology, the object and its fields, as a small diff you approve. See Build → AI Builder.
- Install a template from the built-in marketplace (Todo, Contracts, Helpdesk, …) and have a real app in one click.
- Fork a template if you want TypeScript source under your control — the same metadata, authored in your repo with your coding agent.
Why ObjectOS instead of …
| You're using | Pain point | What ObjectOS gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Retool / Appsmith | UI builder is great, but your data sits in their cloud and their pricing scales with users | Hosted (ObjectOS Cloud) or inside your network (ObjectOS Enterprise); built on open-source ObjectStack (Apache-2.0), so the ontology is yours to export; no seat tax — AI seats only |
| Supabase / Firebase | Backend-as-a-service is fast but vendor-locked; multi-tenant SaaS by design | Same DX (auto APIs, auth, storage), but the definition is yours: export it and run it on the open ObjectStack runtime, or run ObjectOS Enterprise on your own database |
| Salesforce / NetSuite | Powerful platform, painful customization, eye-watering per-seat cost | A familiar vocabulary (objects, fields, permission sets, sharing rules), but the definition is an open ontology that AI writes, agents operate, and you can export to the Apache-2.0 runtime; hosted or self-managed, no seat tax — viewers and non-AI users are free |
| Rolling your own (Next + Prisma + NextAuth) | You rebuild RBAC, audit, file uploads, settings, webhooks, jobs every time | Ship the actual business logic; the platform plumbing is already there |
What you get out of the box
| Surface | What it is |
|---|---|
| Auto REST API | Every object you declare gets /api/v1/data/<object> with filter/sort/paginate |
The UI (/_console/) | Generated screens: browse and edit records, and Setup to manage users/roles/permission sets, view audit log, sessions, API keys, settings |
| Account (inside the UI) | Login, register, password reset, OAuth, OIDC/SSO, passkeys, 2FA |
MCP server (/api/v1/mcp) | On by default: every object is a tool, and so is every action you expose to AI; an agent connects as a user, under that user's permissions — see Connect AI Tools (MCP) |
| 20+ plugins | RBAC + row-level security, audit, file storage, queues, jobs, email, AI, webhooks — declarative, on demand |
What stays yours
On either edition, the ontology: your objects, fields, relations, actions, permissions, flows and agent definitions are ordinary ObjectStack metadata, and you can export them and run them on the open-source ObjectStack runtime. On ObjectOS Enterprise, everything else stays with you too: Data residency lists each class of data, where it lives, and whether it leaves your network.
Self-managed ObjectOS validates its license online; Enterprise air-gapped licenses validate offline. A network with no internet access is therefore a first-class Enterprise deployment target — see Air-gapped.
Find your docs
This documentation serves four audiences — start at the section that matches how you use ObjectOS:
| You are … | You want to … | Start here |
|---|---|---|
| An everyday user | Work in the apps: records, views, dashboards, approvals | Use |
| A builder | Create apps: data models, interfaces, automation, AI agents | Build |
| An administrator | Run the platform: users, permissions, settings, deployment | Configure, Deploy, Operate |
| An agent, or whoever connects one | Operate the app over MCP — read and write records, run the actions exposed to AI — under a user's permissions | Connect AI Tools (MCP) |
Where to go next
| If you want to … | Read |
|---|---|
| Start without installing anything | ObjectOS Cloud |
| See it actually work | Quickstart |
| Understand what's inside the box | Architecture |
| Run it in Docker | Docker |
| Deploy to Kubernetes | Kubernetes |
| Wire it to Postgres / your DB | Runtime Configuration |
| Set up SSO | Authentication |
| Lock down who sees what | Permissions |
| Call it from another service | API Access |
| Send events to other systems | Webhooks |
| Go to production | Production Readiness |
License & pricing
ObjectOS is a commercial product built on the open-source (Apache-2.0) ObjectStack framework — the framework is free to use in commercial products, embed, and self-host, with no per-seat fee and no license server. ObjectOS adds the embedded in-UI AI, governance, and official operations, priced per AI seat only (viewers and non-AI users are free) — no "starting at $50K/year". See License & Pricing.