Key Concepts
This page introduces the fundamental building blocks and mechanisms within Crust AI that you’ll interact with when creating and sharing your data snippets.
What is a Snippet?
At its core, a Snippet is an AI-generated, visually interactive mini-application that represents a specific view of your Airtable data. Think of it as creating a custom-built, live webpage or small app directly from one of your Airtable tables.
The Power of Snippets
Unlike sharing a raw Airtable view or exporting data, a Snippet provides a curated, branded experience for the end-user. It’s designed to be simple for them to consume and interact with, focusing only on the information you choose to share.
- Live Syncing: Snippets stay live-synced with your Airtable base. Changes in Airtable automatically reflect in the Snippet.
- Two-way Updates: If you enable interactive elements, changes made via the Snippet can write back to Airtable in real-time.
- Device Friendly: Optimized for viewing on any device - mobile, tablet, or desktop.
- Secure Access: Control exactly what data is visible and who can see or edit it.
Snippet Types
When you create a new snippet, you must choose its fundamental type, which dictates how the data from your selected Airtable table will be presented:
| Type | Focus | Views | Ideal Use Cases |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single Item | One record | Detail View | Customer profiles, Project details, Product specs, Event info, Property listings |
| Multiple Items | Filtered list | List View, Detail View | Task lists, Property portfolios, Client‑specific matters, Inventory collections, Project dashboards |