Frontline staff rarely sit at a desk with a base open. Work Mini Apps solve that: add two configuration tables to any base, and it becomes a lightweight mobile app that staff can open, browse, and update records in, straight from their phone.
Note: Work Mini Apps are available on the Starter, Basic, Pro, and Enterprise plans, with a 7-day free trial for Starter and Pro. The Basic plan is limited to specific countries and regions, and the feature itself is only available in English, Simplified Chinese, and Japanese.
What a Work Mini App Is
A mini app is powered entirely by an existing base. Two configuration tables, App settings – Card and App settings – Link, decide what shows up on the mobile homepage: which of your base’s tables appear as browsable cards, and which cards link out to a dashboard, document, or other page. You can build this from scratch, or start from a ready-made template in the template gallery and adjust it to fit.
Practical Use Cases for SMEs and Startups
- Inventory checks: Let staff view stock levels and log new purchase or sales records directly from the warehouse floor.
- CRM on the go: Give a sales team a phone-friendly view of leads and opportunities, with follow-up notes recorded in real time.
- Store inspections: Frontline staff complete daily checks, log results, and flag problems without needing a laptop.
Setting Up a Work Mini App
Open a base, click the More icon in the upper-right corner, and select Work Mini Apps.
To start from a template, click Use on any mini app in the template gallery. Templates automatically include the two configuration tables, and their table and field names can’t be changed. To build one from an existing base instead, add two new tables named App settings – Card and App settings – Link, with fields matching a mini app template.
Once set up, a QR code appears. Scan it with the Lark mobile app to open the mini app, or click Explore Mini Apps to browse the template gallery instead.
Configure the App settings – Card table
This table controls which of the base’s tables appear as cards on the mini app homepage, and how each one behaves.
- Table name: Must exactly match a table name already in the base.
- Card title: The heading shown on the card. Falls back to the table name if left blank.
- Card description: Optional text shown under the card title.
- Allow adding records: When selected, a + button appears on the card’s detail page so users can add new records from their phone.
- Filter by “Date”: When selected, a date filter appears at the top of the card. It looks for a field titled Date, or falls back to the first date field in the first view if there isn’t one.
- Button text: Lets you customise the label on the button at the bottom of each record’s detail page.
Note: Any table with more than 30,000 records won’t display on the mobile app, and users will see an error instead. The mini app homepage shows only the first 20 table cards from this table; split larger setups across multiple mini apps if you need more.
Configure the App settings – Link table
This table configures the link cards on the homepage, recognisable by a small planet image. Card title and description work the same way as above, and the Link URL field accepts any hyperlink, internal or external, such as a dashboard or document.
Accessing the Mini App on Mobile
Once both tables are configured, click the More icon on the base again, select Work Mini Apps, and scan the QR code to open it on a phone. Table cards, generated from your base’s tables, open into a browsable record list. Link cards, marked with the planet image, open straight to whatever page they point to, such as a dashboard.
Note: Tapping Work Mini Apps again opens whichever mini app you used last, not a menu of every mini app you have access to.
Customising the Mini App
Let users add records from their phone
Select Allow adding records for a table in App settings – Card, and a + button appears on that card’s detail page for adding new records on the spot.
Customise the submit button
Set a value in the Button text field for a table to change the label on its record detail page, useful for making the action match what users are actually doing, such as “Submit” for a form-style table.
Add status labels to a card
Add a single-option field titled Status to any table in the base, and the mini app automatically shows a count of records per status right on that table’s homepage card, with the same grouping available on the detail page.
Controlling Who Sees What
Mini apps inherit whatever basic and advanced permissions are already set on the base. A base administrator can control which cards a member sees on their mobile homepage by adjusting that member’s advanced permissions for each table; set a table to “No permissions” for someone, and its card simply won’t appear for them.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Which mini app opens when I tap Work Mini Apps on mobile?
Whichever one you used last. To open a different one, go to the bot chat that messaged you when you first scanned that mini app’s QR code.
Which date field does the date filter use?
A field titled Date, if one exists. Otherwise it falls back to the first date field in the first view, even if that field is hidden.
How many table cards can a mini app homepage show?
Twenty, taken from the first 20 records in the App settings – Card table. If you need more, split the tables across separate mini apps.
How do I control who can see specific cards in the mini app?
Through the base’s own permission settings. Setting a member’s advanced permission for a table to “No permissions” hides that table’s card from their mobile homepage entirely.
Can I use Work Mini Apps in any language?
No. The feature is currently only available in English, Simplified Chinese, and Japanese.
A Base Your Team Can Carry in Their Pocket
Work Mini Apps don’t replace the base itself, they just put the parts frontline staff need in front of them, on the device they already have in hand. Two configuration tables is a small setup cost for a much shorter path between “I need to check this” and actually checking it.
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Lark Base is just one part of an all-in-one platform that brings messaging, meetings, documents, approvals, and automations together for your entire team.
As the Platinum Partner for Lark in Malaysia, Exabytes offers tailored Lark plans, hands-on onboarding, and dedicated local support to help your team put the right data in front of the right people, wherever they’re working from.
