8 min read

Building with Threads & Agents

A step-by-step walkthrough of creating a client workspace from scratch — using AI chat threads to shape a portal, configure a worker agent, and get ready for real users.

The scenario

You run a marketing agency and want a workspace where your team can manage clients while customers get a branded portal — plus an agent that handles common questions and creates tasks when someone needs help. By the end, clients can:

View their active projects and status in the portal
Access and download deliverables
Chat with an agent for quick answers and support requests
View their invoices and payment history

Let's build it

Describe your app

Start at stacker.ai and describe what you want in the prompt box — include both the portal and the agent:

"A client portal for my marketing agency. Clients should see their projects, download deliverables, and view invoices — each client only sees their own data. Add a support agent that answers common questions and creates a task when someone asks for help."

Click Build my app and wait for the AI to scaffold your app. This typically takes 30–60 seconds and creates tables, a starting portal, and an initial agent you can refine in threads.

Name the outcomes for both sides — what portal users should see and what the agent should do. The more context you provide, the better the starting structure.

Start your first thread

Open your new app in the workspace. In the left sidebar, click New thread under Threads — or open the Agents tab and start a thread with an existing agent.

Your first message can refine what the AI already built or ask for something new. Example follow-ups:

"Wire up the client dashboard with real project data."
"Make the support agent friendlier and ask for a project name before creating a task."
"Add a deliverables page with download buttons."

Thread conversation where the user asks the AI to build a client portal and refine pages — A builder thread — describe the outcome; the agent wires pages and iterates with you.

Review what the AI created

After your first thread (or the initial build), review the structure the AI put in place. For our agency example, you might see:

Clients

Name, email, company, status

Projects

Name, status, client, due date

Deliverables

Name, file, project, approved

Support agent

Instructions, tools, in-app chat channel

Under Setup → Data, review tables and add sample rows. Open the Agents tab to see the agent the AI created — you'll tune it in the next steps.

Shape the portal in a builder thread

Switch to the Portals tab and continue (or start) a builder thread. Ask for layout and branding changes in plain language while you watch the live preview:

Branding

"Use our navy and gold colors and add our logo to the header."

Navigation

"Hide the internal admin pages from the client menu."

Page layouts

"Show project status and due date on each project card."

One thread per goal keeps history clean — e.g. a branding thread separate from a data model thread. You can always start a new thread from the sidebar.

Configure your agent

Open the Agents tab and select your support agent. Refine it in a thread or in the settings panel:

Instructions — what the agent should do, tone, and when to escalate
Tools — grant Write records to create tasks, Read records to look up projects, and any integrations it needs
Channels — keep in-app chat for portal users; add Slack or email later if your team needs them

Agent settings showing General, Instructions, Tools, Channels, Knowledge, and Schedule tabs — Agent settings — identity, tools, and channels for each agent in your app.

Test by starting a thread with the agent from the Agents pane. Ask the kinds of questions a client would — the agent should answer or create a task when appropriate.

Set permissions and invite users

Before sharing the portal, lock down data access and add your first portal users:

Open Portal Settings and go to the Permissions tab
Under Data Permissions, add per-user filters so each client only sees their own projects, deliverables, and invoices
Use Preview as to confirm one client never sees another's rows
In Setup → Data, add a row per client with their email filled in
Copy the Login URL from the Users tab and share it with clients

Agents sidebar with New thread, agent list, and recent threads — Keep testing in agent threads while you onboard real portal users.

Portal users sign in with a magic link, one-time code, or another method you configured. See Managing Users and User login flow for details.

Congratulations!

You've built a client workspace with a branded portal and a support agent — all through AI chat threads. Clients can log in, view their projects, and talk to the agent; your team keeps iterating in new threads as requirements evolve.

Keep building

Now that you have the basics, explore these guides to go deeper: