Agent-native app vs GPT apps
Agent-native app vs GPT apps comes down to one distinction: a GPT app, a Claude app, or any model provider's store listing is an app distributed inside one Host. An agent-native application is a portable, inspectable, user-owned package designed to move between compatible Hosts. Directories are distribution channels. The ANA is the artifact they could distribute.
Last updated: 2026-08-07
What's the difference between a GPT app and an agent-native app?
A GPT app lives inside one provider's runtime, under that provider's account, rules, and continuity. An agent-native app is defined outside any single Host: its package, constitution, custody, and state travel with the user through adapters to compatible Hosts. One is a listing in a channel; the other is a portable artifact.
Provider directories are genuinely useful, and the specification treats them as valuable distribution: publish through their channels when it serves the app. The point is what happens to the user afterward. When the artifact is portable, changing Hosts is a move, not a loss.
Who owns the app's memory and customizations?
In a Host-locked app, accumulated context lives in the provider's account and generally stays there. In an agent-native app, corrections, extensions, and durable state are user-owned by definition, with export and fork rights written into the lifecycle. Continuity is a property of the artifact, not a courtesy of the platform.
Do you need a provider's approval to run one?
Not technically. A user-hosted adapter can prove an agent-native app works with a Host without acceptance into that provider's official directory. Directory acceptance remains valuable distribution and partnership, and nothing on this site implies we have any provider's endorsement. Approval is a channel decision, not a prerequisite of the artifact.
| Dimension | Agent-native app | GPT apps / Claude apps / store listings |
|---|---|---|
| Where it's defined | An open specification, outside any single Host | One provider's platform and terms |
| Portability | Designed to be portable; adapters connect it to compatible Hosts | Runs where it's listed |
| Ownership | User owns data, corrections, and durable state, with exit rights | Context typically lives in the provider account |
| Inspection | Agent card, constitution hash, and declared custody, readable before running | Varies by platform; listing metadata |
| Distribution | Any channel, including provider directories | The provider's directory |
| Relationship | Can be distributed through a directory | A channel an ANA can publish into |