We have been quiet for most of 2025. That silence was intentional.
While the software world was swept up in the hype of "Probabilistic AI" (chatbots that guess and hallucinate) we were in the lab, solving the hard problem: How do we make AI safe, deterministic, and useful for the Enterprise?
The answer wasn't to build a better chatbot. It was to build a better Engine.
We are proud to announce Release 8.9.46.0, the first major milestone in our transition to the Digital Workforce Platform. This release delivers the App Studio (App Mode) and App Explorer, the browser-based tools that replace the legacy project designer.
But more importantly, this release exposes the Axiom Engine, the infrastructure we have built over the last year to ensure that the applications you build today are ready for the Agents of tomorrow.
Built-In, Not Bolt-On The Axiom Engine is not an external plugin, a cloud service, or a third-party dependency. It is built directly into the server-side framework of every application created with Code On Time. It runs entirely within your application, on your own infrastructure (or localhost), ensuring that the intelligence that powers your Digital Workforce is yours to own and control.
1. Visual Studio 2026 Support
The engine is only as fast as the workshop. That is why Release 8.9.46.0 includes full support for Visual Studio 2026 (released November 2025).
The Code On Time app generator now automatically detects Visual Studio 2026 on your workstation and uses it to build your projects. For our customers who write custom business rules in C# or VB.NET, this upgrade is a game-changer:
- 20-40% Faster Load Times: Open your generated solutions instantly. VS 2026’s optimized parallelization means you spend less time waiting for projects to load and more time coding.
- Reduced Memory Footprint: Experience a smoother workflow with significantly lower RAM usage compared to VS 2022, even with large enterprise solutions.
- AI-Native Editing: Leverage new features like Adaptive Paste (which automatically formats pasted code to match your project's style) and deeply integrated GitHub Copilot to write business logic faster than ever.
Your Code On Time applications are standard .NET solutions. When Microsoft innovates, you benefit immediately. Upgrade to Release 8.9.46.0 to unlock the full power of the latest IDE.
2. App Studio & App Explorer: Your New Workbench
For years, you have relied on our Windows-based project designer. It was powerful, but it required you to switch contexts constantly - compile, run, stop, design, repeat.
App Studio changes everything. It is a completely browser-based IDE that runs inside your live application.
- Live Inspection: Click any element in your running app (a field, a grid, a button) and App Studio instantly locates it in the configuration hierarchy.
- Instant Updates: Change a label, move a field, or adjust a property in the App Explorer, and see the result immediately.
- The "Glass Box": App Explorer visualizes your application exactly as the Axiom Engine sees it. This is not just for you; this metadata structure is what allows our future AI Agents to "read" your application without hallucinating.
3. SACR: The Laws of the Universe
Back in May, we introduced Static Access Control Rules (SACR). If you missed it, now is the time to pay attention.
Security in the age of AI cannot be "hidden" in C# or VB.NET code. It must be declarative. It must be a "Law of Physics" that no user (human or Agent) can break.
- What it does: SACR allows you to define complex security filters using standard SQL in a simple JSON configuration file.
- Why it matters: It removes the need for complex
EnumerateDynamicAccessControlRules methods.
- The Agent Connection: When a Digital Co-Worker (our upcoming AI agent) queries your database, it inherently obeys SACR. You don't need to teach the AI security; the Engine enforces it automatically.
4. Static Pick Lists: A Shared Vocabulary
In June, we reimagined how you define data relationships. Static Pick Lists are no longer just a UI convenience; they are the dictionary for your application.
- The Feature: Define status codes (
0="Draft", 1="Submitted") directly in the App Studio property grid. No more lookup tables for simple enumerations.
- The Agent Connection: This prevents "Data Hallucinations." By strictly defining allowed values in the metadata, you ensure that an AI Agent never tries to insert a status that doesn't exist.
5. Custom Actions: The Skills Matrix
Your application needs "Verbs" - actions like Approve, Reject, or Calculate. In this release, we have unified the workflow for creating these Custom Actions.
- SQL-Driven UI: You can now drive user interactions (toast notifications, confirmations, focus changes) entirely via SQL.
- The Agent Connection: Think of a Custom Action as a Skill. When you define a Confirmation Controller for an action, you are effectively writing a "Prompt" that tells the AI exactly what information it needs to collect before it can execute that task.
Here is the draft for the "Data and Models (January 2026)" chapter to be included in your Release 8.9.46.0 announcement.
It is positioned as a "teaser" for the immediate future, sitting right before the "Workspace Mode" chapter.
Data and Models
Release 8.9.46.0 delivers the App Explorer, which currently visualizes your application's Settings, Controllers and Pages. In January 2026, we will expand the explorer with two powerful new hierarchies: Data and Models.
This update introduces the Unified Data Modeling Workflow, ending the distinction between internal SQL tables and external APIs.
- The "Data" Hierarchy: The new anchor for all data connections. You will use this to manage traditional SQL Data Sources (Oracle, SQL Server) alongside API Data Sources (SharePoint, Google Drive, REST services).
- The "Models" Hierarchy: A dedicated design library for your
*.model.xml blueprints. Whether the data comes from a physical table or a JSON endpoint, it lives here as a standardized model.
- API Entities: You will be able to define "Virtual Tables" backed by APIs. The AI Co-Worker will assist you by analyzing raw JSON responses and automatically mapping complex structures into flat columns.
- The "Pending" Workflow: To keep your design and runtime perfectly synchronized, we are introducing an intelligent "Pending" state. When you modify a model, the app will visually guide you to the Generate trigger, ensuring your application never runs on stale definitions.
By standardizing how data is defined, we allow the Digital Workforce to operate on any data source (SQL or API) using the exact same tools and logic.
The Road to v9: Workspace Mode
Release 8.9.46.0 delivers App Mode, the ability to edit a running, functional application. But we know the reality of development: sometimes, you break things. Sometimes, the app won't compile.
Coming in January 2026, we will release Workspace Mode.
- The "Safe Haven": Workspace Mode runs independently of your live app. It allows you to work on the "broken" parts, perform deep architectural changes, and manage your projects in a local browser dashboard.
- Goodbye, Legacy: With the arrival of Workspace Mode, we will officially retire the old Windows-based Project Designer. The transition to Code On Time v9.0.0.0 will be complete.
Introducing the "Builder Edition"
As part of this evolution, we are renaming the Community Edition to the Builder Edition.
The Builder Edition is now available for Commercial & Nonprofit Use. It allows you to build unlimited database web applications using a pre-compiled server-side framework without source code, excluding certain Professional features. Despite these limitations, it is a fully functional platform installed on your machine (localhost) that includes the Axiom Engine, App Explorer, 100 Free Digital Co-Workers, and 100 Free Field Workers. Apps created with the Builder Edition can be published to your own production server.
For our existing customers with a standard license or higher, you continue to get the full source code generation and edition-specific capabilities you are used to. However, you will notice new options in our Services portal: Builder Credits.
- What are they? These credits will power the AI generation features (The Builder persona) inside App Studio.
- Why use them? You can use the Builder to "Vibe Code" - describe a change in plain English ("Move the status field to the top and make it red") and watch the Engine execute it. It is the perfect way to speed up the mundane parts of development.
- For New Prospects: The Builder Edition is free to download. It is an excellent tool for Agile Requirements Gathering (ARE). Use the free credits to prototype a "Realistic Model App" in minutes, generating high-fidelity Product Requirement Documents (PRD) and Project Estimates (LOE) automatically.
The Field Worker (Now Available)
The Digital Workforce isn't just about AI; it's about empowering every agent of your business to operate autonomously. For years, our Offline Sync technology has enabled applications to run without a network connection. Today, we are elevating this capability to its rightful place as a core pillar of the platform: The Field Worker.
- The "Carbon" Co-Worker: Just like a Digital Co-Worker runs autonomously on the server, a Field Worker runs autonomously on the edge. Whether they are inspecting wind turbines, visiting patients, or managing inventory in a shielded warehouse, they carry the full intelligence of your application in their pocket.
- Connection-Independent: This is not just "caching." When a user assigned the Field Worker role signs in, the application downloads the entire front-end and their specific dataset to the device. They can search, edit, and capture complex data (including Master-Detail records) with zero latency.
- The Smart Envelope: Every action taken by a Field Worker is captured in a transactional "Smart Envelope." These envelopes are stored securely on the device and synchronized with the server only when the user chooses to, giving them complete control over bandwidth and battery life.
New Licensing Model To support this vision, we are simplifying how you deploy this capability.
- 100 Free Field Workers: Every application created with the Builder or Enterprise edition now includes 100 Field Worker licenses at no cost. You can deploy a mission-critical field app to an entire department today without a procurement cycle.
- Scale on Demand: For deployments exceeding 100 users, additional Field Worker licenses are available for $100 per user/year. This simple, flat pricing aligns perfectly with the Digital Co-Worker model, allowing you to scale your human and digital workforce using the same predictable economics.
Existing Enterprise customers already have this power. It is time to unleash your workforce.
Summary
You have been building "Agent-Ready" applications with Code On Time for years - you just didn't know it. The HATEOAS architecture, the structured metadata, and now the Axiom Engine are the keys to the future.
We spent 2025 building the engine. Now, you get the keys.