Explain My BuildHow to document your Base44 app
Last updated: July 26, 2026
To document a Base44 app, export your frontend code to GitHub and point Explain My Build at it. It reads the React/Tailwind front end Base44 generated and writes an end-user guide, a founder runbook and a code-verified fix-list — while honestly flagging the managed back end that stays on Base44.
What is Base44, and what does it export vs keep?
Base44 is an all-in-one, no-code AI app builder, now owned by Wix (acquired in 2025). You describe an app in plain English and Base44 generates the code and the infrastructure. The critical detail for documentation is what it lets you take out:
- Front end: commonly a React + Tailwind interface.
- Back end: a managed backend Base44 runs for you — a NoSQL database, authentication, file storage and serverless functions — plus native integrations for things like Stripe and email.
- Export: this is Base44-specific — export is frontend-only. The frontend code can be exported via GitHub, while the backend and database stay locked to the Base44 platform.
So documenting a Base44 app is partly about reading the frontend you can export, and partly about being honest that a chunk of the app lives server-side where the code read can't reach.
How do you document a Base44 app when part of it is locked?
Explain My Build reads the frontend code you exported and documents everything it can see there: your screens, forms, navigation, the calls your app makes to Base44's backend, and the integrations it triggers. From that alone it can write a genuinely useful end-user guide, because the end-user experience is largely the front end.
Where the managed backend isn't in your export, the tool does the honest thing: it flags the gap rather than inventing what the server does. That's the product's core promise — it refuses to guess. You get an accurate guide to what you can see, plus a clear list of what stayed on Base44.
What Base44 keeps server-side
Base44's database and backend logic run on Base44's platform, and export is frontend-only. Explain My Build reads your exported frontend faithfully and explains it; for the managed backend it flags what it can't see rather than asserting details it can't verify. It's a code read, not a live test, and you review the end-user guide before publishing.
What three artifacts do you get for a Base44 app?
From reading your exported Base44 frontend you get:
- End-user guide — plain-English help built from your actual screens and flows, with share link and access code, in-app Help widget and portable export. $19/month ($12/month founding for the first 100).
- Founder runbook — how your frontend is structured, what it calls on the Base44 backend, and which integrations it uses. Free.
- Code-verified fix-list — ranked, cited issues in the code it can read: for example an API key exposed in the frontend for an integration that should be called server-side. Free.
Frequently asked questions
How do I create a user guide for my Base44 app?
Export your Base44 frontend to GitHub and point Explain My Build at the repo (or run the folder in your browser). It reads the React/Tailwind frontend and writes a plain-English end-user guide from your real screens and flows, flagging anything that lives on Base44's managed backend. You review it before publishing.
Base44 keeps my backend — can I still document my app?
Yes. Most of the end-user experience is the frontend, which you can export and which Explain My Build reads faithfully. For the managed backend Base44 keeps, the tool flags the gap rather than guessing what the server does, so your documentation stays honest and accurate.
Is Base44 the same as Wix?
Base44 is a separate AI app builder that Wix acquired in 2025. It uses a chat-based, no-code approach with a managed backend, distinct from Wix's traditional website builder. Explain My Build documents the frontend code Base44 lets you export.
Turn your app into a guide your users can follow.
Paste a public GitHub link and get your founder runbook + fix-list free in about a minute — no sign-up. Private code runs entirely in your browser.