# Try it safely on Playground

Build and test your app against demo data on COHO Playground before it goes near your real COHO.

**Playground** is a separate copy of COHO for building and testing apps. It comes with a demo organisation already full of properties, tenancies and rent, so you can see exactly what your app does, and nothing you do there touches real customers, tenants or money.

- It's at **[playground.coho.life](https://playground.coho.life/)**.
- It's completely separate from your real COHO: different logins, different organisations, different data.
- It's the best place to try an app before you put it live.

## Request an invite

Playground is invite-only. Tell us a little about yourself and what you'd like to build.

<RequestByEmail
	to="support@coho.life"
	subject="Playground invite request"
	greeting="Hi COHO team, I'd like an invite to COHO Playground to build and test an Atrium app."
	buttonLabel="Request an invite"
	confirmation="Once you've sent the email, we'll get back to you with your Playground invite."
	fields={[
		{ name: 'name', label: 'Your name', required: true },
		{ name: 'email', label: 'Email for the invite', type: 'email', required: true },
		{ name: 'organisation', label: 'Your COHO organisation', placeholder: 'If you already use COHO' },
		{ name: 'code', label: 'Do you write code?', placeholder: 'Yes, no, or a bit' },
		{ name: 'idea', label: 'What would you like to build?', multiline: true },
	]}
/>

## Once you have your invite

<Steps>

1. **Accept the invite**

   Follow the link in the invite email and set a password. Accepting it creates your own demo organisation on Playground.

2. **Log in to Playground**

   Log in at [playground.coho.life/app/login](https://playground.coho.life/app/login), open the **developer portal**, then choose **Open sandbox Store**.

3. **Build your app with your AI**

   Your AI builds the app on your computer and packages it as a zip for you to upload.

   ```text title="Prompt" wrap
   Read the COHO Atrium app developer spec:
   https://raw.githubusercontent.com/CompanyForLife/atrium-app-samples/main/docs/atrium-app-developer-spec.md
   Help me build an Atrium app that [describe it], starting from the hello-go sample
   (https://github.com/CompanyForLife/atrium-app-samples/tree/main/samples/hello-go), which already has the Dockerfile COHO Hosting needs.
   Explain your plan in plain English first. When it's built, package it as a zip:
   include the Dockerfile, leave out anything that isn't source (dependencies folders,
   .git), and make the app listen on the port in the PORT environment variable.
   Don't upload it anywhere: tell me where the zip file is and what its Dockerfile path is.
   ```

4. **Upload it in the Playground Store**

   In the sandbox Store, choose **Register app**, then **Hosted**, then **Zip upload**. Upload the zip and enter the Dockerfile path your AI gave you. COHO builds and hosts it on Playground.

5. **Connect it and try it**

   When it's ready, **Connect** it from **My apps**, use **Run test** to send it a test event, and check its **logs**. If it has a panel, open it from the Store.

</Steps>

:::note[Your AI's COHO connection doesn't reach Playground]
The COHO connection for AI tools (MCP) works with your real COHO organisation, not Playground. On Playground, you upload the app yourself in the Store, as above.
:::

## When you're ready to go live

Playground is separate from your real COHO, so your app needs creating again in your real organisation. Use the same zip:

- **Yourself:** in your real COHO Store, choose **Register app → Hosted → Zip upload**, then connect it.
- **With your AI:** follow [Build your first app](../first-app/), which uses your AI's COHO connection to create and host it.

Either way it starts **private** to your organisation.

Stuck? See [Get help](../get-help/).