Look around the demo

Applaud Employee recognition

Thank you, specifically.

Applaud is employee recognition with the details left in. Co-workers name the person, choose the company value they lived and say exactly what they did. Points follow, rewards follow, and leaders get to see the good work that usually goes unsaid.

Look around the demo Sign in

The demo is Trail Post, a convenience-store chain we made up. Walk in as one of four people. No account, nothing to set up.

From the Trail Post demo

To Dario

For Work Ethic

Dario jumped in during our busiest Friday rush without being asked - stocked three cooler sections and handled register backup at the same time. Never broke stride once.

From Kavya Sent in the app

+ 100 Kudos

Recognitions from Trail Post, the invented company in the Applaud demo, quoted as their givers wrote them.

The real thing

Nothing on this page is a mockup.

Every screen here is a capture of Applaud running its demo workspace, taken by walking in through the demo as the person named beneath it. You can open every one of them yourself.

Kavya’s home page in Trail Post: a welcome, her Kudos to spend and to give away, a live recognition feed, the birthdays and anniversaries coming up this week, and the campaigns open to her.

/dashboard as Kavya, Co-Worker

  1. The workspace is the company’s own: Trail Post’s name, logo and color, not ours.
  2. Points in the workspace’s own currency. Trail Post calls them Kudos.
  3. What Kavya has earned and can spend on rewards.
  4. Her recurring allowance, which is what she gives away.
  5. Recognition from across the company, as it happens.
  6. The birthdays, anniversaries and promotions coming up this week.

What people did, in their words · Trail Post demo

  • stocked three cooler sections and handled register backup at the same time
  • found a $40 overage in his till and reported it immediately
  • noticed a spill hazard near the coffee station before anyone got hurt
  • rebuilt the whole beverage endcap in under an hour
  • came in at 3am for six straight weeks to cover the bakery
  • mentored two part-time co-workers through their first solo closing shift
  • de-escalated a frustrated guest with nothing but patience and a fresh coffee
  • flagged a vendor invoice mismatch nobody else caught
  • covered two back-to-back shifts when we were short-staffed
  • knows our regulars by name and remembers their orders

01What Applaud is

Applaud is a recognition platform for the whole company. Co-workers thank each other for living your values, in their own words, with points they can spend. Managers get a budget and a queue. The people who run the program get all of it in one place: values, campaigns, awards, rewards, pulse surveys and the numbers behind them.

Who it is for

  1. 01 Co-workers Give recognition, read the feed, react and comment, spend points. The part most people ever see, and it takes about a minute. In the demo: Kavya
  2. 02 Managers See who on the team has gone longest without recognition, award bonuses from a budget of their own, and approve what is waiting in their queue. In the demo: Lena
  3. 03 Program admins Run the core values, campaigns, badges, awards, reward stock and approvals, and read what the program is doing. In the demo: Mina
  4. 04 Workspace admins Own the workspace itself: its name, brand and address, its roster, roles, departments, locations, allowances and budgets. In the demo: Greta

02How it works

How a thank-you
travels.

Five steps, from the moment somebody notices to the moment the points turn into something real.

  1. Notice

    Somebody sees it.

    A shift runs long, a guest leaves happy, a problem gets caught early. The distance between noticing and saying so is kept as short as it can be: a few taps in the app, or a text message for people who never sit at a desk.

    • No app and no login, just a text
    • The line asks who, which value and why

    Try it as Kavya · /text

    A text conversation with the Trail Post line: it lists the core values by number, asks why Dario is appreciated, receives the reason, and confirms the Kudos were sent and are live in the feed.
    /text as Kavya, Co-Worker

  2. Say it

    Name them. Pick the value. Say what they did.

    Choose one person or the whole crew, choose the company value they lived, and describe what they did in your own words. Recognize three people and all three receive the full recognition, not a third of it.

    • Points come from the giver’s recurring allowance
    • Public, or just between the two of you

    Try it as Kavya · /give

    Giving recognition to Dario Mensah, Pilar Okonkwo and Simone Cho: the message about a late truck and a stocked cooler wall, a choice of 50 to 250 Kudos, and a line explaining each of the three gets 100, so it costs 300 of Kavya’s allowance.
    /give as Kavya, Co-Worker

  3. Check

    The big ones get a second look.

    Above a threshold the workspace sets, a recognition waits for approval before it reaches the feed. Its points are held while the decision is pending, and a decline hands them straight back.

    • The threshold is the workspace’s own
    • Decided from one approvals queue

    Try it as Lena · /approvals

    A recognition waiting in Lena’s approvals queue: 400 Kudos from Simone Cho to Milo Vega for Work Ethic, with the message and buttons to approve and publish or decline.
    /approvals as Lena, Manager

  4. Celebrate

    Everybody gets to join in.

    Published recognition lands in the feed, where co-workers react and comment underneath. The person it is about finds it in their inbox, and the value it names counts toward what the program can see.

    • Reactions and comments
    • Filter the feed by value

    Try it as Kavya · /feed

    A recognition in the feed from Lena Ferreira to Dario Mensah, Kai Boone and Salma Doyle for Work Ethic, worth 100 Kudos each, with applause, heart and party reactions and a comment from Mina Marchetti.
    /feed as Kavya, Co-Worker

  5. Spend

    Points become something real.

    Points collect in a balance people spend from your own rewards catalog. Requests move through a fulfilment queue, and a cancelled request returns the points and puts the stock back on the shelf.

    • Gift cards, charity matches, merchandise
    • Experiences, time off, whatever you stock

    Try it as Kavya · /rewards

    The top of the Trail Post rewards catalog: Kavya’s Kudos available and lifetime figures, filters for gift cards, charity, merchandise, experiences and time off, and the first rewards with their prices.
    /rewards as Kavya, Co-Worker
A text conversation with the Trail Post line: it lists the core values by number, asks why Dario is appreciated, receives the reason, and confirms the Kudos were sent and are live in the feed.
/text as Kavya, Co-Worker
Giving recognition to Dario Mensah, Pilar Okonkwo and Simone Cho: the message about a late truck and a stocked cooler wall, a choice of 50 to 250 Kudos, and a line explaining each of the three gets 100, so it costs 300 of Kavya’s allowance.
/give as Kavya, Co-Worker
A recognition waiting in Lena’s approvals queue: 400 Kudos from Simone Cho to Milo Vega for Work Ethic, with the message and buttons to approve and publish or decline.
/approvals as Lena, Manager
A recognition in the feed from Lena Ferreira to Dario Mensah, Kai Boone and Salma Doyle for Work Ethic, worth 100 Kudos each, with applause, heart and party reactions and a comment from Mina Marchetti.
/feed as Kavya, Co-Worker
The top of the Trail Post rewards catalog: Kavya’s Kudos available and lifetime figures, filters for gift cards, charity, merchandise, experiences and time off, and the first rewards with their prices.
/rewards as Kavya, Co-Worker

03For everyone

Made for the people
doing the work.

Most people only ever see the part that takes a minute: say thanks, read the feed, spend the points. It is built to stay that way, on a desk or in a pocket.

The top of the recognition feed: filters for each core value, the newest recognition with its reactions and two comments, and this month’s leaderboard beside it.
/feed as Kavya, Co-Worker

A feed worth reading

Recognition lands where everybody can see it, with reactions and comments underneath. Filter by value to see what the company actually celebrates.

Celebrating this week: two birthdays and Kai Boone’s five-year work anniversary, each with a button to send a kudo.
/celebrations as Kavya, Co-Worker

Milestones, on time

Birthdays, work anniversaries, promotions and new starters come up in time to say something, with a button to say it.

The recognition feed on a phone, with value filters and the most recent recognition card.
/feed as Kavya, Co-Worker

In a pocket, too

The whole workspace works on a phone, and people without a desk can recognize a co-worker by text message.

In Slack, too

Mention a co-worker with an emoji, or react to a message with it, and it counts like any other kudos. A team moving from HeyTaco brings every taco and every balance with it.

Private, when it should be

Some thanks are for one person. A private recognition is read by the two people it is between, and by nobody else.

Two awards: Co-Worker of the Month, taking nominations until its deadline with last month’s winner below, and Safety Star, closed and being decided.
/awards as Kavya, Co-Worker

Awards with a real ballot

Nominate a co-worker in your own words. The ballot stays sealed until the deadline, and then somebody wins.

04For managers and program owners

The back office. (Where the program gets run)

Budgets, approvals, campaigns, awards, rewards, pulse surveys and the numbers behind them, in the same workspace everybody else uses.

Lena’s team: her people listed with the one recognized longest ago first, each with an award bonus button, beside her monthly bonus budget and the bonuses she has given.
/team as Lena, Manager

Managers see their people ordered by how long it has been since anybody recognized them, and award bonuses from a budget that is separate from their giving allowance.

Open it as Lena, Manager

  1. 01

    Team

    Who has gone longest without a word

    Managers see their people ordered by how long it has been since anybody recognized them, and award bonuses from a budget that is separate from their giving allowance.

    Lena’s team: her people listed with the one recognized longest ago first, each with an award bonus button, beside her monthly bonus budget and the bonuses she has given.
    /team as Lena, Manager

  2. 02

    Approvals

    High-value recognition, with the points held

    Recognition above the workspace’s threshold waits for a decision. The points are held while it waits, and declining returns them.

    A recognition waiting in Lena’s approvals queue: 400 Kudos from Simone Cho to Milo Vega for Work Ethic, with the message and buttons to approve and publish or decline.
    /approvals as Lena, Manager

  3. 03

    Campaigns

    Values, campaigns and badges

    Program admins decide what the company celebrates: the core values, the campaigns that run for a season, and the badges that mark what is worth keeping.

    Two campaigns running in Trail Post, Good Neighbor Day and Safety Month, each with who runs it, how many co-workers have taken part and its points multiplier.
    /campaigns as Mina, Program Admin

  4. 04

    Awards

    Nominations, and a sealed ballot

    Open a round, collect nominations in people’s own words, and keep the ballot sealed until its deadline. Then decide, and announce who won.

    Running the awards as a program admin: an explanation of how a round works, and a Safety Star round whose nominations have closed, waiting on a decision with its ballot.
    /awards/manage as Mina, Program Admin

  5. 05

    Pulse

    Honest answers, safely counted

    Collect ratings and comments without attaching anybody’s name. Results stay hidden until at least three people respond, so a small team cannot be read back to one person.

    The pulses Mina runs, with a note that answers stay hidden until three people have responded, and each survey’s response count.
    /pulse as Mina, Program Admin

  6. 06

    Celebrations

    The dates that should never slip

    Birthdays, work anniversaries, promotions and new starters, surfaced while there is still time to celebrate them.

    Celebrating this week: two birthdays and Kai Boone’s five-year work anniversary, each with a button to send a kudo.
    /celebrations as Kavya, Co-Worker

  7. 07

    Rewards

    Your catalog, your stock

    Stock what you want to offer and work the fulfilment queue. A cancelled request returns the points and restores the stock.

    The fulfilment queue on the rewards page: redemptions still owed, split between those waiting to be accepted and those accepted but not yet handed over.
    /rewards as Mina, Program Admin

  8. 08

    Insights

    Whether it is working

    Participation, reach, recognition over time and which values are being recognized. Export the results when somebody needs them.

    Program insights for four weeks: participation, reach, Kudos published and awarded, recognition over time, which values are being recognized, and the top givers.
    /insights as Mina, Program Admin

05Your workspace

Your name
on the door.

Each company gets a workspace of its own, and inside it everything is the company’s: its name, logo, brand color and address, its values, and what it calls its points. Applaud stays in the background.

Identity
Name, strapline, logo and brand color, with a live preview.
Address
Its own address, like trail-post.applaud.today, so people sign in straight to it.
People
Roles, departments, locations and who reports to whom.
Roster
Manage people in the app, or import updates from a CSV.
Money
The currency’s name, giving allowances and leaders’ budgets.
Values
The company’s own core values, which every recognition names.
The workspace identity form: the name Trail Post, its strapline, its logo address and its amber brand color, beside a preview of the nav and buttons they paint.
/admin/workspace as Greta, Tenant Admin

Call your points Kudos.

Trail Post calls them Kudos. The others are examples; a workspace names its currency whatever its people would call it.

06The fine print

The fine print, in large print.

Recognition only works if people trust it. These are the rules Applaud keeps, and every one of them can be seen working in the demo.

  1. § 1

    Recognize a crew of five and each of the five receives the full recognition. Nobody gets a fifth.

    See it as Kavya · /give

  2. § 2

    High-value recognition waits for approval, and its points are held, not spent, while it waits.

    See it as Lena · /approvals

  3. § 3

    Cancel a reward request and the points come back, and so does the stock.

    See it as Mina · /rewards

  4. § 4

    The award ballot stays sealed until its deadline.

    See it as Mina · /awards/manage

  5. § 5

    Pulse answers carry no names, and results stay hidden until at least three people respond.

    See it as Mina · /pulse

  6. § 6

    A private recognition is read by the two people it is between, and nobody else.

    See it as Kavya · /feed

Built to be checked.

Everything above can be tried in the demo. Underneath it, more than a thousand unit tests cover the arithmetic and the rules, and more than five hundred browser tests drive the real app against a real database: they give recognition, redeem rewards, run an award round, answer a pulse and approve a bonus, then check the balances and budgets they moved.

operations shared by the app, the API and the MCP tools
109
unit tests for the arithmetic and the rules
1,000+
browser tests against a real database
500+

07Integrations An advanced capability

Connect it to
what you already run.

Applaud publishes a public HTTP API and a set of MCP tools an AI assistant can call. Both are built on the same 109 operations the app itself runs, under the same permissions, and every write they make lands in the same activity record.

HTTP API

Keep the roster in step with the system that already owns it, read recognition out to the tools people already use, or pull recognition and ledger records into your own reporting.

MCP tools

The same operations, published for assistants, so somebody can ask a question about the program in plain words, or have a recognition drafted for them to send. An assistant signs in as the person it helps, who chooses what it may reach.

POST /api/v1/recognitionsAuthorization: Bearer applaud_4f2a91c7e0b3_...Idempotency-Key: 8f14e45f-ea8f-4b3f-9f2e-1f0e6a4b2c31Content-Type: application/json{  "receiverIds": ["cmg4k1p9r0007qz8v2t1nx6ba"],  "coreValueId": "cmg4k1p8h0002qz8v7m4c9d1e",  "message": "Stayed past close to walk a new hire through the deposit.",  "basePoints": 50}
Sending a kudos over HTTP, as the person the key acts as Example identifiers
A key is a person, not a back door
A key acts as one workspace member and can do what they can do, and no more. It reaches only the areas chosen when it is minted, each one read-only or read-and-change.
Retries are safe
Send an Idempotency-Key and a retried request returns the first reply for 24 hours rather than spending the allowance twice.
Limits are stated up front
Every response carries its remaining budget in RateLimit headers, and the budget is per key, so one busy integration cannot stall another.
The document is generated
The whole surface is published as OpenAPI 3.1 at /api/v1/openapi.json, printed from the same registry the endpoints and tools are mounted from.
Every write is on the record
Workspace admins mint and revoke keys at /admin/api-keys, and see every write each key has made underneath it.

08The public demo

Walk around
Trail Post.

Trail Post is a convenience-store chain we invented so you can see Applaud working before you talk to anybody. It has a feed full of recognition, a rewards shelf, budgets, an award round and a pulse survey in progress.

Everything in it is fictional: the company, its stores, its people and what they say to each other. The workspace is rebuilt from its seed regularly, so nothing you do in there needs undoing.

Choose one of four people

  1. Rung 1 Co-Worker Kavya Iyer Store Co-Worker · Store #412 · Alder Bay What almost everybody sees Send a kudos out of a monthly allowance, read the feed and your inbox, and spend what you have earned in the rewards catalogue. Walk in as Kavya, Co-Worker
  2. Rung 2 Manager Lena Ferreira Assistant Store Leader · Store #205 · Birch Landing Running a team Everything a co-worker has, plus your own people, an approvals queue and a bonus budget you decide out of. Walk in as Lena, Manager
  3. Rung 3 Program Admin Mina Marchetti Talent Wellbeing Lead · Home Office · Birch Landing Running the programme Campaigns, the rewards shelf and its fulfilment queue, an award round, a pulse survey and the insights behind all of it. Walk in as Mina, Program Admin
  4. Rung 4 Tenant Admin Greta Voss People Operations Manager · Home Office · Birch Landing Running the workspace The admin console: people and roles, core values, allowances, org structure, the branding, the email channel and the API keys. Walk in as Greta, Tenant Admin

The door you’ll walk through

The demo’s entrance, headed Look around Trail Post: a note that the company is invented and four people to choose between, from a store co-worker to the workspace’s administrator.
/demo before choosing anybody

On the next page, pick one of the four. You land on their home page, signed in as them, with a line across the top of every screen saying you are in the demo and whose eyes you are looking through.

  • No account
  • No setup
  • Nothing to undo
Look around the demo

Somebody did something
good today.
Say exactly what.

Walk around the demo as one of four people, or sign in to the workspace your company already has.

Look around the demo Sign in