Connect Services
Connect Apptor Flow to external APIs, databases, email providers, AI models, and more so your workflow nodes can call them.
The full reference for the Connections UI is on the Connections page. This guide covers the typical setup path.
How Connections Work
There are two levels:
- Integration definition (admin creates) — a template that defines the type and auth structure of a service (e.g., "REST API with Bearer auth")
- Connection (you create) — a named instance of that template with actual credentials for each environment
Once a connection is configured, it appears in the properties panel dropdowns for compatible node types.
Step 1: Ensure an Integration Template Exists
Go to Administration → Integrations. If a suitable integration already exists (e.g., "OpenAI", "Gmail", "Stripe REST API"), skip to Step 2.
If not, an admin must create one:
- Click New Integration
- Choose the type (REST API, Email, Database, AI Provider, etc.)
- Set the name, auth method, and environment configuration
- Click Create Integration
Step 2: Create a Connection
Go to Connect in the top navigation bar.
- Click New Connection
- Search for and select the integration template
- Enter a Connection Name (e.g., "Stripe", "Production DB", "OpenAI GPT-4o")
- Set Visibility — Organization (shared) or Personal (only you)
- Click Create Connection
Step 3: Configure Credentials
In the credential configuration step, fill in the values for each environment (Development, Production, etc.):
- For REST APIs: API key, Bearer token, OAuth2 client ID and secret
- For AI providers: API key and model name
- For databases: host, port, database name, username, password
- For email: provider API key and sender address
To use a secret instead of a raw value (recommended), enter @@SECRET:YOUR_KEY@@. See Manage Access to create secrets first.
Click Save Credentials for each environment, then click Done.
Step 4: Use the Connection in a Workflow
Open your workflow in the Designer. Select a node that requires a connection (e.g., AI Agent, Rest API, Send Email, SQL).
In Step Settings, find the integration/connection field and select your connection from the dropdown.
The node will use that connection's credentials when the workflow runs — automatically using Development credentials in a development execution and Production credentials in a production execution.
Connection Types Reference
| Type | Node types that use it |
|---|---|
| REST API | Rest API node, REST API Tool node |
| Send Email node, Email Tool node | |
| Database | SQL node, SQL Tool node |
| AI Provider | AI Agent node, Voice Call node |
| MCP | MCP Tool node |
| Storage | File Manager Tool node |
For full details on creating and managing connections, see the Connections UI Guide.