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Loom Apps

Loom Apps are how you build and distribute applications on CSA Loom — the Azure-native answer to Microsoft Fabric's Apps surface (including the Build-2026 "Rayfin" data-app shape), with no Microsoft Fabric or Power BI dependency (.claude/rules/no-fabric-dependency.md).

There are two shapes of app, mirroring what Fabric's Apps surface offers:

  • Org apps — bundle items you already have (reports, dashboards, notebooks, semantic models, …) into a distributable, audience-scoped experience.
  • Data apps — scaffold a runnable, full-stack, data-driven application on Azure-native services (Functions + Cosmos DB + Static Web Apps).

The four Loom app items

Loom item Shape Maps to (Fabric) Azure-native backend
Loom app (loom-app) Org app Fabric / Power BI org app Cosmos-persisted definition + Loom's existing per-item routes and access model
Data app (rayfin-app) (Preview) Data app Fabric Rayfin data app (Build 2026) Azure Functions (API) + Cosmos DB (store) + Static Web App (web), wired together
Workshop app (workshop-app) (Preview) Operational app Fabric IQ Workshop Low-code app bound to a Loom Ontology — object views, link traversal, write-back actions
Slate app (slate-app) (Preview) Data app template Fabric IQ Slate Scaffolds a real Workshop app + Data API builder stack over a query surface; deploys to Azure Static Web Apps

Loom app — the org app

A Loom app packages the items already in a workspace into a single, navigable experience for consumers — the equivalent of a Fabric / Power BI org app, built entirely on Azure-native services. You:

  1. Add content — pick items from the workspace (the real, live Cosmos-backed inventory: reports, dashboards, notebooks, semantic models, and every other item type).
  2. Arrange navigation — group content into named sections and order the entries; this is exactly what consumers see in the app's left nav.
  3. Define audiences — create one or more audiences, each with its own access list (users / groups) and, optionally, a subset of visible content — the Fabric org-app "audiences" model, on Loom's access layer.
  4. Publish — mint a consumer app view at /apps/<id>; each publish records a version.
  5. Open as a consumer — the published view resolves the caller's audience membership, renders the navigation, and deep-links each tile to the live item under the consumer's identity, network, and governance.

The definition and audiences persist to Cosmos DB; the published view reuses Loom's existing per-item routes and access model, so every tile opens the real item — no static snapshots.

Data app — the Rayfin-shape full-stack app

A Data app scaffolds a full-stack, data-driven application on Azure-native services — the Loom equivalent of Fabric's Rayfin data-app shape, with no Fabric workspace required. Picking it instantiates three real, editable Loom items and wires them together:

  • a user-data-function item — the API tier on Azure Functions;
  • an azure-cosmos-account item — the data store on Cosmos DB;
  • a slate-app item — the web tier on an Azure Static Web App.

The web app calls the Functions route, and the Functions item reads/writes the Cosmos store. Every scaffolded item is a runnable Loom item, not a stub. Any unprovisioned runtime surfaces each editor's honest infra-gate while the full UI still renders.

OSS Rayfin remains an opt-in path

Fabric's open-source Rayfin SDK/CLI (TypeScript + @microsoft/rayfin-core decorators, deployed with npx rayfin up) stays available as an explicit alternative for teams that specifically want it — but it is never required and never the default.

Workshop app and Slate app — operational apps over an Ontology

Workshop and Slate apps come from the Fabric IQ family and are built over a Loom Ontology:

  • A Workshop app is an operational, low-code application bound to an Ontology — it presents object views, lets users traverse links between objects, and supports write-back actions against the underlying data.
  • A Slate app is a backed template that scaffolds a real Workshop app plus a Data API builder stack over a query surface, deploying the web tier to Azure Static Web Apps.

Both are Azure-native and require no Fabric workspace. See Fabric → Azure-native mapping for how the Fabric IQ family maps onto Cosmos + ADX graph + Azure-native services.