Canvas

Ask Nola to build a Canvas — a fully custom page that goes beyond standard layouts, built on your data, with no code for you to write

A Canvas is custom, Nola-built functionality you can add to your app, just by describing what you want. When a standard view, record page, or dashboard can't quite express the layout or interaction you have in mind, you can ask Nola for a Canvas instead.

A Canvas comes in two forms:

• A Canvas page — a full, standalone custom page.

• A Canvas component — a custom section you add to an existing record page or blank page, to give a standard page a bit of dynamic functionality.

Behind the scenes Nola writes and maintains the code for a Canvas, but you never see files, terminals, or build tooling. You describe what you want in plain language, watch it build, and refine it by chatting — exactly like every other conversation with Nola.

The speed and flexibility of AI, with the reliability of Noloco. No code required, and nothing to rebuild — a Canvas is built on the data, permissions, and processes you already manage in your app, so it feels like a natural part of it from the moment it's created.

A Canvas is generated and edited entirely through Nola. There's nothing to install and no code for you to manage — Nola owns the code, you own the outcome.

See it in action

When to use a Canvas

Noloco's standard no-code pages are the right choice most of the time, and they stay the fastest way to build the common patterns. Reach for a Canvas when you want something that config alone doesn't cover, such as:

• A custom dashboard that combines stats, charts, and summaries in a bespoke layout

• A landing or overview page with a designed, marketing-style structure

• A portal home that mixes several data sources and call-to-action sections

• A mini-tool or calculator — a small interactive utility like a link generator, proposal builder, or payment calculator

• An interactive view with a layout or behaviour that goes beyond the built-in display types

Think of a Canvas as the "escape hatch" for the times when you'd otherwise wish you could hand a designer a sketch. You get the freedom of a custom build with the speed of describing it to Nola.

What a Canvas can reuse

Nola doesn't rebuild things Noloco already does well. When she generates a Canvas, she draws on the platform you already have:

• Your data — Nola reads your tables, fields, and relationships and fetches live records for the page

• Charts and visualizations — bring your data to life with charts and custom visual summaries

• Your app's look and feel — a Canvas inherits your app's theme, navigation, and chrome, so it feels native

• Your permissions — a Canvas respects the same user roles, spaces, and visibility rules as any other page

This means a Canvas slots into your app like a page you built by hand — same navigation, same access control, same styling.

Not available in a Canvas yet. Some of Noloco's most advanced components — Kanban boards, timelines, and the data grid — aren't available inside a Canvas for now. If you need one of those, use a standard view instead. A Canvas also can't bring in third-party tools or libraries that Noloco doesn't already support.

How a Canvas fits alongside no-code pages

A Canvas doesn't replace Noloco's no-code builder — it sits next to it. A single app can freely mix standard pages and Canvases. Nola will often suggest the standard, config-first approach first, and use a Canvas only when it's genuinely the better fit.

You don't have to choose one or the other for a whole page, either: with a Canvas component you can keep a standard record page or blank page and drop a custom, dynamic section into just the part that needs it.

A good rule of thumb: start with a standard page. If you find yourself fighting the layout to get a bespoke result, ask Nola to build it as a Canvas — a whole Canvas page, or a single Canvas component on the page you already have.

Get started

Creating a CanvasCanvas componentsEditing a CanvasConfiguring a CanvasTroubleshooting a Canvas