Help

Common questions

Is this just hosting?

Hosting gives an application somewhere to run. Trellis combines that with application-specific knowledge: how to configure it, diagnose problems, recover data and maintain your changes. The aim is less work to own software that fits your business.

Do you rebuild the applications?

No. Reuse mature applications and the useful choices their developers made. Prefer supported settings, then extensions, then a maintained code change when the need warrants it. The upstream application remains the shared foundation.

Do I work in Trellis or in the apps?

Use the apps for your actual work. Trellis is where you choose them, ask for changes and deal with operating decisions. Chat is one way to request a change, not a replacement for every screen or everyday action.

Who controls the infrastructure and data?

The owner chooses where the applications run and grants the access needed to manage them. Data stays in the applications’ own stores. Trellis’s ownership model includes export, tested recovery and an exit—not a new proprietary database containing your company.

What access does an agent need?

An agent needs the application’s operating knowledge and bounded tools for the task. A request to change an app is not permission to inspect unrelated data, spend without limits or run arbitrary commands across the account. Infrastructure access and access to application content are separate choices.

Can I customise the code?

That is central to the product: go beyond settings when your business needs it. The important obligation is maintaining the change—its purpose, tests and compatibility with upstream releases. The whitepaper explains that design; it is not a claim that arbitrary customisations can be automated reliably.

Can I install Trellis now?

There isn’t a public installable release yet. This site explains the product and publishes its design work; it isn’t a hosted management console or signup service.

For the longer argument and the sources that shaped it, see Writing.