You find a small app that does almost what you need. The layout works. The interaction makes sense. You want a different calculation, a few extra fields, or your own version for your team.
Starting with another blank prompt feels wasteful. There is already a working example to build from.
drobek lets an owner make a published gallery app duplicable. Someone else can then copy it into their own workspace and ask their agent to change it. The copy gets its own identity and version history.
The copy starts with the published files. You do not inherit the original owner's users, records, or API keys.
The owner chooses whether an app can be copied
A public URL alone doesn't make an app duplicable.
The server must have its gallery enabled. The owner lists a published app and turns on Allow duplicates. The app must remain eligible for the public gallery; a private or removed listing isn't a back door to its source.
In the dashboard, the Gallery section on the app's Overview page holds those choices. An agent can also use set_gallery_listing, but listing the app and allowing copies require the user's explicit confirmation.
The gallery entry then supplies a duplicate URL. A visitor signs in, chooses a workspace where they can edit apps, and gives the copy a name.
Version one is the published app
The new app starts unpublished, with the source app's published files as version 1. It does not take the author's newer preview edits.
The person making a copy starts from what they saw running, while the original author can keep unfinished changes in preview.
The copy remembers its source through duplicated_from. It is still a separate app. The copy operation does not establish a Git remote, a branch, or an automatic stream of updates from the original.
Through MCP, the tool is duplicate_app. For a gallery app with the example slug pixel-wall, the arguments look like this:
{
"from": "pixel-wall",
"name": "My pixel wall"
}
Use the slug or URL of a real, duplicable app on the server your agent is connected to. This is an example call shape, not a promise that a particular gallery entry is available. The tool does not import apps from another drobek server by URL.
What transfers, and what needs attention
| Item | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Published source and build output | Become version 1 of the new app. |
| Newer preview edits | Stay with the original app. |
| Saved module settings | Proposed through the copy's configuration flow, after filtering. |
| Settings that need confirmation | Wait on the copy's Modules page. |
| Email addresses in configuration | Removed. |
| Proxy configuration and upstream assignments | Not copied. |
| Secret values, records, end users, uploaded files | Not copied. |
| Uploaded app assets, domains, gallery listing | Not copied. |
An image uploaded as an app asset won't appear in the copy. A frontend that calls a named proxy upstream needs a suitable upstream configured for its new workspace. The original owner's external service is not yours to use.
The tool response separates module settings into applied, pending, and skipped. An agent should inspect all three. “The copy exists” does not mean “every integration is ready.”
These rules are in the agent contract and the copy configuration implementation.
Give the agent a small change
For a first attempt, I would choose a simple app without private integrations. Then give the agent a bounded request:
Duplicate this gallery app into my personal workspace.
Rename the copy and change its heading and color palette.
Keep the existing interaction working.
Inspect applied, pending, and skipped module settings.
Tell me which configuration or assets need replacing.
Give me the preview URL before publishing.
You can then change the useful part: the calculation, the workflow, or the fields. Test the copy with its own data. If it needs an external API, register the upstream in your workspace and supply your own credentials through the dashboard.
When the result works, publish the copy. It gets its own production URL. Listing that copy in the gallery is another deliberate choice.
This fits small tools that already do most of what you need. You can inspect a working starting point, make the change you actually need, and keep your own version. Browse the gallery for apps whose owners have enabled duplication, or read the source.
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