In kintone, you can create an app directly under the portal or inside a space. According to kintone's official help, creating spaces by department or by purpose and building apps inside those spaces can make apps easier to manage as a group, and the real decision point is whether you want to manage your apps together as a set. If you create an app without understanding the difference, you can end up confused later about how it shows up in app lists or how access is restricted (as of October 2026).
List visibility works differently
An app created directly under the portal appears right away in the portal's app list. An app created inside a space, on the other hand, only shows up in lists like "All Apps" for users who are members of that space. If you want an app visible only to a department or project team, placing it inside a space means it simply won't appear in the app list for anyone who isn't a member. If it's an app the whole company uses, placing it directly under the portal makes it easier for everyone to find.
Who can access the app is determined differently
For an app under the portal, access follows that app's own access permissions settings — in other words, you configure who is allowed in on an app-by-app basis. For an app inside a space, access instead depends on whether the space is public or private: in a private space, only the space's members can use the apps inside it. If you make the space private, you don't need to build out detailed access permissions on the app itself — anyone who isn't a member is automatically excluded. Whether it makes more sense to restrict access app by app, or restrict it all at once at the space level, determines which location fits better.
App groups are also handled differently
There's also a difference in how app groups, which are used to organize apps, are handled. For an app under the portal, you can choose an app group when you create the app. For an app inside a space, the app group is always set to Public and cannot be changed. If you want to use groups to organize how apps are arranged, that kind of management assumes the app lives under the portal (as of October 2026).
Checking whether an existing app belongs to the portal or to a space
Open the app in question and check, from the screen display or from the App Settings, whether it sits directly under the portal or inside a space. If it's inside a space, also check that space's settings to see whether it's public or private. Either way, kintone's official help notes that you can change where an app is located later, so if you realize after the fact that the location doesn't fit, there's no need to rebuild the app from scratch.
