---
nav: wcp_docs
parent_url: /wcp_docs/
title: Build an Extend App Fast with Developer Agent
layout: subsection
---
Workday Developer Agent is an AI-powered assistant embedded in the Workday developer experience. Developer Agent will help you quickly find answers to your questions, surface relevant Extend documentation, explore Workday APIs, and generate code. Developer Agent can significantly speed up the development of an Extend app.
In this activity, you’ll use Developer Agent to generate an edit page that will enable users to enter and submit an employee reward nomination. To tell the Developer Agent what you want, you must construct a prompt. A prompt is the specific input, written in natural language, that you provide to Developer Agent to guide it toward a desired output.
Developer Agent doesn’t create an edit page in your tenant from your prompt. Instead, it generates page definitions and related artifacts (examples: queries, validations) in App Builder, based on your prompt. You then add those components to your app and configure them (examples: mark the page as an Edit page, bind to data, wire endpoints).
## Before You Begin: Create an Account on the Workday Build Platform
To do this activity, you must have an account on the Workday Build platform and a development tenant. If you’ve already created an account and a tenant, you can go to the first task of this activity.
If you haven’t already created an account, you can do so now. It’s free!
1. Go to the [Workday Build Platform](https://developer.workday.com) and create an account with your personal email address.
2. Once you have created an account, sign in to the [Workday Build Platform](https://developer.workday.com).
3. In the upper-left corner, select the hamburger menu, and under Console, select Tenants.
4. On the Tenants page, select Create Tenant. It will take 1 to 2 minutes for the development tenant to be created.
5. Check your personal email for a link to change your tenant password.
Note: Remember the password. You’ll need to sign in to the tenant while you do this activity.
6. Sign in to the tenant with the username lmcneil and the password that you just created.
Note: When you sign in to the development tenant with the username lmcneil, you’re signing in as the persona Logan McNeil. Logan is one of several user accounts that you can use to test the agents and app that you create and deploy to your development tenant.
## Task #1: Build an Extend App
1. On the Developer Site home page, select Build an Extend App, then select Start from Scratch.
2. In the Name field, enter Developer Agent - . The Reference ID automatically populates based on the app's name.
3. Select Create and Edit. This launches App Builder.
4. In the middle of the content window, select Connect to Tenant and sign in to the tenant.
✅ Expected result: Once you’re connected to your development tenant, you can access data in the tenant that you can use to build and test your app.
## Task #2: Ask Developer Agent to Create a Home Page
You can use natural language to ask Developer Agent questions, or to prompt it to create components of your app. Let’s ask it to create a home page for an app that managers can use to nominate employees for an award.
Important Tip: Creating a prompt for AI is similar to talking to another human. You get better results when you clearly state your goal, share relevant context, and specify constraints. Just as when you ask a teammate for assistance, the more concrete, structured, and unambiguous your request is, the more likely the AI engine will return what you want.
1. Copy this prompt:
```
Create a home page that will serve as the landing page when users launch the app.
Functional requirements:
Add a title to the page: Employee Nomination App.
Add a heading: Welcome to the Employee Nomination App.
Add a rich text description that explains the app's purpose — enabling managers to nominate employees for rewards, with context on why recognition matters.
Add a navigation button with a label that says “Get Started”.
```
2. In App Builder, paste the prompt into the box that says, What do you want to build?
3. Press Enter.
4. Paste the prompt into the Developer Agent chat field and press Enter. In a few moments, you’ll see the Developer Agent think through a number of tasks and generate new code.
1. In the left-hand Componentspanel, see the components that were added (green) or updated (yellow).
2. Select each added or updated component and notice that the newly generated code is highlighted in green.
3. In the chat window, review the list of What was built.
5. In the Componentspanel, select the App Metadata (AMD) component, look at the “tasks”: [ ] array, and check that a new task id was added that defines a page route (“routingPattern”: “/”) for the newly generated page. This makes the home page the app’s root page, the page where users will land first when they launch the app.
Note: If Developer Agent gave the page a different name, that’s OK as long as the task “id”, the “page” : { “id”}, and page name match.
6. In the left-hand Components panel, select the home page. In the Content window, you’ll see the JSON structure that defines how content is displayed on the page.
7. In the upper-right corner of the content window, select the App Preview icon. This will enable you to preview the page.
8. If you’re satisfied with the page that Developer Agent generated, select Apply Changes… and when the Apply Changes pop-up window appears, select Confirm.
✅ Expected result: Use App Preview to review Developer Agent’s proposed changes. If you’re satisfied, select Apply Changes.
## Task #3: Add a Security Domain
An Extend security domain controls access to the custom objects, tasks, and data by defining who is authorized to view or act on them. It enforces the same permission model used elsewhere in Workday, so custom applications inherit consistent, centrally managed security, rather than relying on ad hoc access rules.
Let’s add a security domain to the app:
1. In the middle of the content window, select Create a Component.
2. In the Type box, search and select Security Domain.
3. In the Name field, enter NominationData and select Done.
4. In the Enabled For: section, check the Page Security box. When enabled, page security will allow access to users who are members of security groups that have permission to open and view the pages. You’ll create the security policy and add security groups to it later in this activity.
5. In the upper-right corner of App Builder, select Save to App Hub.
✅ Expected result: Your security domain should look like the image below.
## Task #4: Create a Business Object
In this task, you’ll create a Business Object that will store the employee nomination data and secure it with the NominationData security domain.
1. In App Builder in the left-hand Components panel, hover over the Business Objects section and select the Add Business Object icon (+) when it appears. (See the image below.)
2. In the Add Business Object modal, name the business object Nomination and select Done. This specific naming convention is crucial as we plan to use Workday Developer Agent to generate pages in subsequent steps.
3. In the Default Security Domains field, select the NominationData security domain.
✅ Expected result: When you create a business object, you must secure it with a security domain.
## Task #5: Add Fields to the Business Object
In this task, you’ll add 4 fields to the business object. The 4 fields correspond to the data entry fields on the nominationCreate page: date, employeeName, reason, and value.
1. Click the Fields tab and click Add Field.
2. In the Add Field property box, enter these values:
- Name: "date"
- Label: "Date"
- Type: "DATE"
- Precision: "Day"
3. Select Done.
4. Add a second field, employee name:
- Name: “employeeName”
- Label: “Employee Name”
- Type: “SINGLE_INSTANCE”
- Filter Targets: Workday Delivered Targets
- Target Business Object: “WORKER”
- Enable Security (By Target): Check (true)
5. Select Done.
6. Add a third field that will store the reason for the nomination:
- Name: “reason”
- Label: “Reason”
- Type: “TEXT”
7. Select Done.
8. Add a fourth field called Organization Value:
- Name: “organizationValue”
- Label: “Organization Value”
- Type: “TEXT”
9. Select Done.
10. Select Save to App Hub.
✅ Expected result: Your business object should now contain four fields, as shown below.
## Task #6: Configure the Security Policy
In Workday Extend, a Domain Security Policy acts as the gatekeeper for the custom data and tasks within your application. Since Extend apps live directly inside your Workday tenant, they must follow Workday’s core security philosophy: no one has access to anything unless access is specifically granted.
In this task, we'll configure the domain security policy permissions to view the nomination data in our business object.
1. Select Save and Deploy, which is located in the upper right-hand corner of App Builder.
2. Select your tenant and then select Deploy to Tenant. You may need to enter your tenant credentials.
3. In the Deploy Successful modal, select Manage in Tenant. This will launch the App Manager report in your tenant.
4. In the App Manager report, find your app and select Configure.
5. Find the Security Domains section near the bottom of the page. In the Actions column, select Create.
6. On the Create Security Policy for Domain modal, check the Confirm box, and select OK.
7. On the Create Security Policy for Domain page, navigate to the Report/Task Permissions table and click the (+) icon to add a new permission.
8. In the Security Groups column, search for and select HR Administrator.
9. Check the box for Modify. The View and Modify permissions on this page affect any REST API security for your model business object as well as pages in your app.
10. Select OK and select Done to return to the configuration settings.
11. Scroll down to the Security Domains section and select Activate Pending Security Policy Changes.
12. In the Comment field, enter Create security policy, and select OK.
13. On the following page, check the Confirm box and select OK.
✅ Expected result: Add the HR Administrator security group to the security policy and give it View and Modify permissions.
## Task #7: Generate a Create Nomination Page with Developer Agent
In the previous activity, you created a business object that defines the fields that will store employee nomination data. Based on that data model, Developer Agent can generate a create page where users can create and submit an employee nomination. You’ll do this by creating a prompt, which is a natural language request describing what you want Developer Agent to do.
Remember: Think of writing a prompt for the AI as delegating a task to a colleague. To achieve the best outcome, provide a clear objective, include necessary background information, and define specific parameters. Your request will be most effective when it is precise, organized, and free of ambiguity, which helps the AI deliver exactly the results you need.
1. On App Builder’s top navigation bar, select the Manage Tenant Connections icon (located to the right of Validate) and connect to your development tenant, if it’s not already connected.
2. In the upper right-hand corner of App Builder, to the left of the Manage Tenant Connections icon, select the Chat with Developer Agent icon. This will open the Developer Agent chat window.
3. Copy this prompt:
```
Build a Workday Extend edit page to create new instances of the Nomination business object.
Functional requirements:
* The page creates new Nomination records.
* Expose these four fields as inputs, all required: date (date picker), employeeName, (worker reference, single select), reason (text), organizationValue (text)
* The user must be able to a) Pick a date from a date field, b) select an employee from a searchable worker list, and c) enter text for reason and organizationValue.
* On Save/Create, collect the four values and POST them to NominationData to create the record.
```
4. Paste the prompt into the Developer Agent chat field and press Enter. In a few moments, you’ll see Developer Agent think through a number of tasks and generate new code.
1. In the left-hand Components panel, see the components that were added (green) or updated (yellow).
2. Select each added or updated component and notice that the newly generated code is highlighted in green.
3. In the chat window, review the list of What was built.
5. In the Components panel, select the App Metadata (AMD) component, look at the “tasks”: [ ] array, and check that a new task id was added that defines a page route (“routingPattern”: “createNomination”) for the newly generated page.
Note: If the Developer Agent gave the page a different name, that’s okay so long as the task “id”, the “page” : { “id”}, and page name match.
6. In the Components panel, select the new createNomination page.
7. In the upper-right corner of the content panel, select the App Preview icon, and at the top of the App Preview window, select the Open in a New Tab icon. This will open App Preview in a new browser window.
8. In the App Preview window:
1. Verify that the page displays four required fields: Date, Employee Name, Reason, and Organization Value.
2. In the Date field, select the Calendar icon to test the calendar pop-up.
3. In the Employee Name field, search for “Brown” and verify that it displays a list of workers with the name Brown.
4. The Reason and Organization Value fields should display empty text boxes.
5. By default, the bottom of an Edit page should display a Cancel button and an OK button, which enables users to cancel or submit their data entries.
9. At the bottom of the Components panel, in the Testing section, you may see Mock Data files. These enable you to test the page with dummy data, without connecting to the development tenant.
10. If you are satisfied with the generated components, select Apply Changes… (If you don’t get the expected results, select Reject Changes and submit the prompt again).
11. On the Apply Changes… pop-up window, review the components to be added and select Confirm.
12. Select Save to App Hub.
✅ Expected result: You have successfully used Developer Agent to generate a page that collects user inputs and submits them to a custom business object. In the next task, you’ll test the page to ensure that it submits data to the Nomination business object.
Based on the prompt you give it, the Developer Agent proposes changes to your app. You can read about the proposed changes in the Developer Agent chat window, and you can inspect and test the new and added components.
## Task #8: Test the App: Nominate an Employee
Let’s test the app you’ve developed so far. In this task, you’ll enter data into the Create Nomination form and submit it to the Nomination business object via the createNomination outbound API endpoint, which you can find on the Page Submit tab.
An Outbound API Endpoint is a component configured to submit data from a page to a Workday business object or a custom business object. Its primary purpose is to enable users to submit form data, ensuring that the information is successfully persisted within Workday.
1. Return to App Builder and select the newly created createNomination page.
2. If you’re not already connected to your development tenant, select the Manage Tenant Connections icon, choose your tenant, and select Connect. If necessary, sign in.
3. Open App Preview and then select Open in New Tab.
4. Complete all the fields in the Create Nomination form:
1. In the Date field, enter a date or open the Calendar and pick a date.
2. From the Employee Name list, search for and select a worker’s name.
3. In the Reason field, enter a reason for the nomination. For example, “They did a great job supporting the meeting.”
4. In the Organization Value field, enter Teamwork .
5. Select OK to submit the nomination. When you select OK, you’ll automatically be routed to the home page. The View Nominations page is not yet created, so let’s use App Manager to verify that the nomination data was submitted to the Nomination business object.
6. In your development tenant’s Search bar, search and select the App Manager task. (To launch your development tenant, go to the upper-left corner of App Builder, select the related actions (hamburger) icon, select App Overview, and on the App Overview page, select Tenants. Find your Tenant Alias and select the Launch Tenant icon.)
7. In App Manager, find your app and select Configure.
8. On the App Details page, select the Extend Business Object Instance Count tab.
✅ Expected result: In the Business Object / Attachment Object table, you can see how many instances are created. A little later, you’ll use Developer Agent to create a View page that will get and display the employee nominations.In App Details, you can see how many business object instances are created.
## Task #9: Create a Manage Page for Viewing and Updating Nomination Records
In this final task, you’ll use Developer Agent to create a page that will enable users to view and update records stored in the Nomination business object.
1. In App Builder, select the Chat with Developer Agent icon.
2. In the Developer Agent chat window, enter this prompt:
```
Create a page for the "Nomination" custom business object that lets users view a list of existing nominations and create or update individual nomination records.
Functional requirements:
* A list/table view (grid) showing all Nomination records, with columns for Date, Employee Name, Reason, and Organization Value. Support sorting by Date and searching/filtering by Employee Name.
* Each row should link to a detail/edit view for that record.
* Include a button to create a new Nomination record, opening a form with all four fields.
* The create/edit form should let users update all four fields and save changes back to the Nomination object, with a Cancel option that discards changes.
* Include basic client-side validation: date and employeeName should be required before saving.
```
3. Press Enter.
4. Select the newly created page and open App Preview. You should see a table displaying the nomination record that you created in Task #8.
5. Select Save to App Hub.
✅ Expected result: You’ve used Developer Agent to generate a Manage page that enables users to view and update records retrieved from the Nomination business object.
