What is PDI Brew?
PDI Brew is a platform that lets anyone at PDI create internal web tools using plain English. You describe what you need, an AI assistant (Claude) builds it, and PDI Brew deploys it instantly with a shareable link.
Every app gets its own web address (like my-tool.pdi-brew.dev.platform.pditechnologies.com) and is protected by your PDI Microsoft sign-in — only people you choose can access it.
What people are building
Internal Dashboards & Portals
Team KPI dashboards that pull live data from Excel, project status boards, initiative trackers with charts and filters — shared with your team in seconds.
Workflow & Approval Tools
Expense approval forms, leave request workflows, equipment inspection checklists, training completion tracking — with data that persists between sessions.
Data Collection & Reporting
Survey and feedback forms, event registration, team assessments, compliance audits — collect responses and view summaries in a shared dashboard.
How it works: Describe what you need in plain English. Claude AI builds it as a working app. Click "Share this app" to deploy instantly. Your team signs in with their PDI Microsoft account — access is controlled by Excel file sharing.
Getting Started
Creating an app takes about 5 minutes. Here's how:
1 Register your project
Go to PDI Brew and click "Create an app".
Enter:
- Project name — A short name like
expense-tracker (letters, numbers, hyphens). This becomes your app's web address.
- Excel sharing link — Create or pick an Excel file in OneDrive/SharePoint, share it with the people who should use your app, then paste the sharing link.
Click "Register Project".
2 Build your app in Claude
Open Claude.ai and type /pdi-brew-app-builder to activate the skill.
Claude will ask for your project name — enter the same name you just registered.
When Claude asks about access settings, say "already registered".
Then describe what you want! For example:
- "I need a calculator that converts Fahrenheit to Celsius"
- "Build me a form to track team training completions"
- "I want a dashboard showing our quarterly metrics"
Claude builds a live preview. Ask for changes until you're happy with it.
3 Deploy your app
Click the "Share this app" button that appears in Claude's preview. Your app will be live at its own web address in about 30 seconds!
Share the link with your team — they'll sign in with their PDI account, and only people you've shared the Excel file with can access it.
How Access Works
PDI Brew uses a simple model: if someone can open your Excel file, they can use your app. Think of the Excel file as a guest list — anyone on the list can sign in and use the app.
Setting up access
- Create an Excel file in OneDrive or SharePoint (it can be empty — only the sharing permissions matter)
- Share it with the people or groups who should have access
- Copy the sharing link and provide it when registering your project
Give someone access
Open the Excel file in OneDrive or SharePoint, click Share, type their email, and send. They can now use your app.
Remove access
Open the Excel file, go to Manage access, and remove the person. Next time they visit, they'll be denied.
Give access to a whole team
Share the Excel file with a Microsoft 365 group or SharePoint site. Everyone in that group gets access.
Signing in to an app
When you visit a PDI Brew app for the first time, you'll be redirected to sign in with your PDI Microsoft account. The system checks whether you have access to the app's Excel file — if you do, the app loads. If not, you'll see a message explaining how to request access.
Important: If you re-deploy with a different Excel file, everyone who had access before will need to be shared on the new file too. The old link won't work for access anymore.
Updating Your App
To change your app after it's deployed:
- Open Claude.ai and type
/pdi-brew-app-builder
- Use the same project name as before
- Describe what you want to change
- Click "Share this app" again — it updates the existing app at the same address
Lost your Claude chat? Go to
PDI Brew →
"Manage Apps" → select your app →
"Download app source". You can use this file to start fresh in Claude.
Managing Your Apps
Go to PDI Brew and click "Manage Apps" to:
- Download your app's source — Save the HTML file for editing or backup
- Restore a previous version — View the last 10 versions of your app and restore any one with a single click. The current version is saved before restoring.
- Delete an app — Permanently remove an app you no longer need
- View details — See the URL, deploy date, and project name
Made a bad deploy? Go to Manage Apps, select your app, and scroll to Version History. Click Restore on any previous version to roll back instantly.
Building Apps That Read Excel Data
PDI Brew apps can read data directly from Excel spreadsheets. This lets you build dashboards, trackers, and reports that pull live data from an Excel file your team already uses.
How Excel data access works
The app uses the same Excel file that controls who can access the app. This means:
- No separate data connection needed — the Excel file serves as both the access list and the data source
- Data is read securely using each user's own Microsoft sign-in
- Users can only read data they already have access to
- Data is always fresh — the app reads from Excel every time it loads
How to create an Excel-connected app
- Put your data in an Excel file in OneDrive or SharePoint (use named tables for best results)
- Share the file with the people who should access the app
- Register your project on PDI Brew with the sharing link
- In Claude, type
/pdi-brew-app-builder and mention that your app should read data from Excel:
- "Build a dashboard that reads initiative data from my Excel file"
- "Create a tracker that pulls data from the project spreadsheet"
- "I want to display the data from my Excel table as a chart"
- Claude will build an app that automatically reads from your Excel file when a user opens it
Tips for Excel-connected apps
- Use named tables in Excel — Claude's generated code works best with data organized into Excel tables (Insert → Table). Give tables meaningful names.
- Sessions last about 1 hour — if the app shows "session expired," just refresh the page to continue.
- Read-only access — apps can read data from Excel but cannot write to it. To update data, edit the Excel file directly.
- No extra setup needed — the platform handles all the authentication and data access automatically.
Tips for Great Apps
- Be specific when describing your app to Claude — mention inputs, outputs, and layout preferences
- Ask Claude to iterate — "Make the button bigger" or "Add a dark mode" works great
- For apps that save data (trackers, forms), tell Claude you need to "save" or "track" data
- Pick descriptive project names like
training-tracker instead of my-app
- Include any branding requirements (colors, logos) in your description
Setup Instructions
Most PDI employees use Claude.ai Teams where the skill is pre-loaded — no setup needed. If you use a Claude Max account, follow the steps below to install the skill manually.
Claude Max — Download and upload the skill
Step 1: Download the skill file from the PDI Marketplace:
Step 2: Upload to Claude.ai:
- Go to claude.ai
- Click Customize (left sidebar) → Skills
- Click the + button → Create skill → Upload a skill
- Select the downloaded
.skill file
- The skill appears as pdi-brew-app-builder — toggle it on
Not sure which account you have? If you log into
claude.ai and see your PDI organization name in the sidebar, you're on Teams — the skill is already available. If you see
CCMAX as your account name, you're on a Max account and need to follow the steps above.
Ready to build?
Register your project and start building in minutes.
Open PDI Brew
For Administrators
Members of the PDI Brew Admins Microsoft 365 group have access to additional management features via the Admin tab on the PDI Brew directory.
Accessing the Admin Panel
- Sign in to the PDI Brew directory with your PDI Microsoft account
- If you are a member of the PDI Brew Admins group, you will see an "Admin" tab next to "Your Apps"
- Click the Admin tab to view the admin panel
What admins can do
- View all apps — see every app on the platform, not just your own
- Summary stats — total apps, active apps, and stale apps (not accessed in 90+ days)
- Search and filter — find apps by name, owner, or status
- View app details — Excel sharing URL, deployment date, sharing permissions, recent activity log
- Disable an app — temporarily block access. Users see "This app has been disabled by an administrator." The owner can re-enable by re-deploying.
- Enable an app — restore access to a disabled app
- Delete any app — permanently remove an app and all associated resources (S3 files, Lambda, API Gateway, DynamoDB table for fullstack apps)
App status
| Status | Meaning |
|---|
| Active | Live and accessed within the last 90 days |
| Stale | Not accessed in 90+ days, or no access data (deployed before analytics was enabled) |
| Disabled | Temporarily blocked by an administrator — users cannot access it |
Usage Analytics
PDI Brew tracks usage via CloudWatch metrics and structured logs. Admins can view analytics in two ways:
- Per-app activity log — visible in the admin panel when you expand an app's detail row. Shows recent view events with timestamps and user names.
- Grafana dashboard — provides platform-wide analytics including views per day, deploys per day, top 10 most-used apps, top 10 users, auth failures, and admin actions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need any technical skills?
No. If you can describe what you want in plain English and share a file in OneDrive, you can build an app.
What is /pdi-brew-app-builder?
It's a Claude AI skill that teaches Claude how to build and deploy apps to PDI Brew. For Claude.ai Teams users, it's pre-loaded at the org level. For Claude Max users, download the .skill file from the PDI Marketplace and upload it via Customize → Skills → Upload a skill. Use it at the start of every new conversation — without it, Claude won't include the "Share this app" deploy button.
My app doesn't have a "Share this app" button. What happened?
You probably started the conversation without typing /pdi-brew-app-builder first. Start a new Claude conversation, type /pdi-brew-app-builder, then describe your app. The deploy button will appear automatically.
Is there a cost?
PDI Brew is free for all PDI employees. The platform is managed by the Platform Engineering team.
Can I update my app after deploying it?
Yes. Open Claude, type /pdi-brew-app-builder, and use the same project name. The updated version replaces the existing app at the same URL.
Can someone else take my project name?
No. Once you register a project name, it's yours. Only you can update or delete it.
Who can see my app?
Only people who have access to the Excel file you linked during registration. Everyone must also sign in with their PDI Microsoft account.
What if I delete the Excel file?
Nobody (including you) will be able to access the app. Create a new Excel file, share it, register a new project with the same name, and re-deploy to restore access.
What if I lose my Claude conversation?
Your app is still live. Download the source from "Manage Apps" and start a new Claude conversation with the same project name.
How do I delete an app?
Go to Manage Apps on the PDI Brew directory, select your app, and click "Delete App." This permanently removes the app and its URL.
Can my app read from Excel?
Yes! Tell Claude something like "read data from my Excel file" or "use the Excel file as a data source." Your app will automatically pull live data from the same Excel file that controls access.
Data is read securely using each user's Microsoft sign-in. Sessions last about 1 hour — if the app says "session expired," just refresh the page.
What if my app says "temporarily disabled"?
An administrator has disabled the app. Contact the app owner or raise a DevOps case to find out why.
Where can I see all available apps?
Visit the PDI Brew directory. After signing in, you'll see all the apps you have access to.