Integrations
Connect any API
Use services that aren't in the Connectors catalog, from public APIs to services that need a key, or add your own connector that the AI can build with.
The Connectors catalog covers more than 100 services, but your app can work with almost any service that has an API (a way for other software to talk to it). This page shows the three ways to do that, from the quickest to the most reusable.
| Your situation | What to do |
|---|---|
| The API is public and needs no key | Ask for it in the chat |
| The API needs a key, and you only need it in one app | Let the AI ask for the key, and it's saved as a secret for that app |
| You'll use the service in several apps, or want the AI to understand it well | Create your own connector on the Connectors page |
Whichever you choose, keys are only used in your app's server code, so they don't end up in your visitors' browsers.
Use a public API
Many services, like weather, public holidays or open data, need no key at all. Name the service and say what you want from it.
Show a 5-day weather forecast for the visitor's city on the home page, using the Open-Meteo API.
If the AI needs details about an API it doesn't know well, paste the relevant part of its documentation into the chat, such as one example request and the answer it gives back, or attach the docs as a file. See Add images and files.
Use an API that needs a key
When a feature needs a key for a service that isn't in the catalog, the AI shows a key card in the chat with the name it will use, for example ACME_API_KEY. Paste the key and click Save, or click Skip to carry on without it.
The card says it plainly: the key is saved securely and encrypted, it never appears in the chat or in your app's code, and you can change it later in Manage → Secrets (teammates are told the project owner can change it).
Add a contact form that creates a new lead in our CRM through its API. Ask me for the API key.
You can also add keys yourself before you ask: open the Manage tab, choose Secrets and add one under Add new secret. Your preview picks up changes automatically; your published app gets them the next time you publish. See Secrets and API keys.
Don't type keys into a chat message. Chat messages are saved with your project. Use the key card or Manage → Secrets instead.
Create your own connector
If you'll use a service in more than one app, or want the AI to understand its API properly, add it as your own connector. You describe the API once; after that it works like any catalog connector: connect it with your key, switch it on or off per app, and the AI can build with it and read from it while building.
On the Connectors page, scroll to Your own connectors and click Create connector. Have the service's API documentation open, because you'll need its API address and how it takes a key. No keys go in the description itself; you connect with yours at the end.
Details
Give it a Name. Optionally add a Short description for the card and What it does (this helps the AI know when to use it). Then pick a Category, add an optional API docs link and choose a Colour. The Code name decides the setting names your apps read, such as
ACME_CRM_API_KEY. It can't change later.How it signs in
Enter the API address where every request starts (it must begin with
https://). Then answer How does the service check who you are?: Bearer token, API key in a header, API key in the address or Username and password. If the service needs more than one value, such as an account ID, add them under Needs more than one value?. A preview shows What a request looks like.Test request
Pick a request that only reads and needs the key, like "who am I" or "list my items". Buildliy runs it to check each key before saving it, so it must not change anything. Under Try it (optional) you can paste a key and click Run test request to see the answer; that key is only used for the test and isn't saved unless you connect with it afterwards.
Who sees the data
Choose Only me — it's personal for private account data (your inbox, notes or bank), or Anyone using my app — it's shared for data meant for everyone, like a product list or public listings.
Notes for the AI
Optionally paste the parts of the API's documentation the AI should know: endpoints, example requests and answers. Give each note a File name and, if you like, say When should the AI read it? You can add up to 10 notes of 20,000 characters each. The AI sees the start of each note and reads the rest when it needs it. Never paste keys here.
Click Create connector. The connect window opens next, with any key you typed under Try it (optional) already filled in: enter your key if needed and click Connect. Buildliy runs your test request with the key before saving it, then keeps it encrypted. It's only used in your apps' server code.
Use my Acme CRM connector to show my 20 newest contacts on a dashboard page, with a search box.
Each of your own connectors has a card with Connect (Manage once connected, or Reconnect if the key stops working), Edit and a delete button. Deleting removes the connector and your saved key for it, and apps that use it stop being able to reach the service until you add it again. You can have up to 25 of your own connectors.
If you chose Only me — it's personal, the AI keeps anything from that service behind your app's sign-in. Once it's connected, the launch checklist blocks publishing if your app's code uses it and the app has no sign-in. If the app does have sign-in, the checklist reminds you to make sure only you (or the people you choose) can sign in, because open sign-up would let anyone see the data.
Receive events from a service
Some services can send your app a message when something happens, like a new order or a finished payment. These messages are often called webhooks. Ask the AI to add a place in your app to receive them. If the service gives you a signing secret to check the messages are genuine, the AI asks for it with a key card.
Add a webhook endpoint that receives new-order events from our warehouse system and saves each order to the database.
Give the service your published app's address, not the preview's, since the preview isn't always running. See Publish your app.
Related
Still stuck? Read the FAQ or contact us.
