What is mk0r?
mk0r is an open-source AI app maker hosted at mk0r.com. You type one sentence, the app streams in front of you, and you iterate by describing changes. There is no account, no dashboard, no project picker. The product is the prompt box and the preview.
Direct answer (verified 2026-05-08)
mk0r is an AI app maker at mk0r.com that generates working web apps from a one-sentence prompt, with no signup. Source: github.com/m13v/appmaker.
Built by Matthew Diakonov. Two generation modes ship today: Quick (streamed HTML) and VM (full Vite + React sandbox). The hosted version requires no account; the codebase is open source.
The two modes, and why both exist
Most AI app makers commit to one output shape. mk0r ships two, because the gap between “a calculator I can show a friend” and “a small React project I can keep editing” is too wide for one generator to cover well.
Quick mode
Lives in src/app/api/. Calls Claude Haiku with a system prompt that asks for a complete single-file HTML app, streams the response token by token, and renders it into a sandboxed iframe as it arrives. The first paint happens before the model has finished writing.
Best for: simple tools, calculators, quizzes, demos you want to link to in a tweet.
VM mode
Lives in src/core/freestyle.ts. Boots a Freestyle cloud sandbox preloaded with Vite, React, and TypeScript, hands control to a Claude agent that can edit files and run commands, and uses a Playwright-driven browser to verify the app actually renders. You watch the whole loop live.
Best for: anything that needs more than one file, real dependencies, or a normal React component tree you want to keep.
What the streaming actually looks like, in code
The interesting part is not the model call. It is that the response is piped to the browser as it generates, so the iframe paints partial HTML while the rest is still being written.
VM mode is structurally different. The model is not generating a single artifact; it is operating a project the way an engineer would, and the sandbox state survives across prompts.
What using mk0r actually looks like
- 1
Open mk0r.com
No signup screen. The prompt input is the homepage.
- 2
Describe your app
One sentence. 'A pomodoro timer with break reminders.' Hit enter.
- 3
Watch it stream
Quick mode streams HTML token by token. You see the app appear as the model writes it.
- 4
Iterate in words
Tell it what to change. The app updates. Repeat until it matches what you wanted.
How mk0r compares to the rest of the category
The honest version: every tool in this space generates apps from prompts. The differences are about friction, output, and openness.
| Feature | Typical AI app builder | mk0r |
|---|---|---|
| Account required | Yes | No |
| First build appears | After project setup | Streams in seconds |
| Output format | Proprietary or React project | HTML/CSS/JS or full React app |
| Source code | Closed | Open source (m13v/appmaker) |
| Iteration loop | Plain English follow-ups | Plain English follow-ups |
Where the typical builder wins: persistent multi-project storage, built-in deployment, hosted databases. mk0r intentionally does not try to be a SaaS dashboard. The bet is that a no-friction prompt and a real-code output is the entire product.
Where mk0r is honestly not the right tool
A few things one prompt cannot deliver, and where you should not try to make mk0r the answer:
- Real authentication with sessions, password reset, and email flows. A login form rendered in HTML is a mock, not a system.
- Persistent multi-user data. Generated apps store state in localStorage by default, which is per-device.
- Native iOS or Android. Output is web. Wrappers can take you partway, but mk0r is not a native app generator.
- Anything that depends on a private API, a vendor SDK, or a database schema you have not described.
The reasonable usage pattern: prototype the idea in mk0r, take the generated code into a normal repo when it stops fitting on one screen, keep iterating from there.
What mk0r itself runs on
Worth saying because it explains some of the product behavior. The site is a Next.js 16 app deployed to Google Cloud Run behind an HTTPS load balancer. Sessions are persisted in Firestore, which is why a page refresh in the middle of a VM build does not throw away your sandbox: the session key resolves the same VM on the next request.
Generated apps that need to call out to the live web do so through an in-VM Chromium with optional residential proxy egress, so the preview behaves like a real browser visit instead of a datacenter fetch. That is overkill for a calculator and exactly right for any prompt that asks the AI to scrape, log in to a public site, or test a real flow.
Want to talk through what to actually build with mk0r?
15 minutes on Cal. Bring an app idea, we will figure out whether Quick mode or VM mode fits and what part of it should live outside mk0r.
Frequently asked questions
What is mk0r?
mk0r is an open-source AI app maker hosted at mk0r.com. You type one sentence describing an app and watch it stream into a working preview. No signup, no setup, no credit card. The source code is at github.com/m13v/appmaker.
How do you pronounce mk0r?
Most people read it as 'maker' (m-k-zero-r). The zero is a stylized 'a-e' middle, so the brand reads as 'maker' with a numeric twist. Either way works in conversation.
Is mk0r free to use?
Yes. You can build apps at mk0r.com without an account or payment. The product is open source under the m13v/appmaker repository on GitHub. There are usage limits on the hosted version because it calls a real model on every request.
What does mk0r actually build?
Quick mode generates a single HTML file with embedded CSS and JavaScript, streamed live from Claude Haiku. VM mode boots a Freestyle cloud sandbox running Vite, React, and TypeScript, and a Claude agent edits files inside it while a Playwright-driven browser shows you the result.
What stack does mk0r itself run on?
Next.js 16 deployed to Google Cloud Run, behind a Google Cloud HTTPS load balancer. Generation modes live in src/app/api/ for the streaming HTML route and src/core/freestyle.ts for VM orchestration. Sessions are persisted in Firestore so a refresh does not lose your sandbox.
Where is the limit of what mk0r can build?
Anything that fits in a single static HTML file or a small React app is in scope: trackers, calculators, quizzes, dashboards, prototypes. Things that need real auth, multi-user state, payments, or complex backend logic outgrow what one prompt can produce. Generated apps are a starting point you can take into a normal codebase, not a finished SaaS.
Is mk0r the same thing as Lovable, Bolt, or v0?
Same category, different shape. Those tools require an account, a project dashboard, and a multi-step setup before you see a build. mk0r is the no-account, no-dashboard version: you land on the page, type a sentence, and the app starts streaming. Tradeoff is you do not get persistent project storage out of the box on the hosted version.