stack/docs-mintlify/docs/concepts/stack-app.mdx

---
title: "Stack App"
description: "The most important object of your Stack project"
---

By now, you may have seen the `useStackApp()` hook and the `stackServerApp` variable. Both return a `StackApp`, of type `StackClientApp` and `StackServerApp` respectively.

Nearly all of Stack's functionality is on your `StackApp` object. Think of this object as the "connection" from your code to Stack's servers. Each app is always associated with one specific project ID (by default the one found in your environment variables).

There is also a page on [StackApp](../sdk/objects/stack-app) in the SDK reference, which lists all available functions.

## `getXyz`/`listXyz` vs. `useXyz`

You will see that most of the asynchronous functions on `StackApp` come in two flavors: `getXyz`/`listXyz` and `useXyz`. The former are asynchronous fetching functions which return a `Promise`, while the latter are React hooks that [suspend](https://react.dev/reference/react/Suspense) the current component until the data is available.

Normally, you would choose between the two based on whether you are in a React Server Component or a React Client Component. However, there are some scenarios where you use `getXyz` on the client, for example as the callback of an `onClick` handler.

```tsx
// server-component.tsx
async function ServerComponent() {
  const app = stackServerApp;
  // returns a Promise, must be awaited
  const user = await app.getUser();

  return <div>{user.displayName}</div>;
}

// client-component.tsx
"use client";
function ClientComponent() {
  const app = useStackApp();
  // returns the value directly
  const user = app.useUser();

  return <div>{user.displayName}</div>;
}
```

## Client vs. server

`StackClientApp` contains everything needed to build a frontend application, for example the currently authenticated user. It requires a publishable client key in its initialization (usually set by the `NEXT_PUBLIC_STACK_PUBLISHABLE_CLIENT_KEY` environment variable).

`StackServerApp` has all the functionality of `StackClientApp`, but also some functions with elevated permissions, eg. listing or modifying ALL users. This requires a secret server key (usually set by the `STACK_SECRET_SERVER_KEY` environment variable), which **must always be kept secret**.

There is also a third type, `StackAdminApp`, but it is rarely used. You can use it for automation or internal tools, and can edit your project's configuration.

<Info>
  Some of the functions have different return types; for example, `StackClientApp.getUser()` returns a `Promise<User>` while `StackServerApp.getUser()` returns a `Promise<ServerUser>`. The `Server` or `Admin` prefixes indicate that the object contains server-/admin-only functionality.
</Info>