Connect your apps

01Two ways to connect

Depending on the app, you connect it by signing in or by copying an API key from it.

Not sure which an app needs? Add its step and look at the connection field. Choose a credential… means sign in. Choose a credential or secret… usually means an API key.

02Where connections live

Find it: Configure›Environments

Every connection belongs to an environment. Credentials go on its Credentials tab, and API keys on its Secrets tab.

A flow uses the connections in whichever environment it's set to, under Settings›Environment in the editor. So connect the app in the same environment your flow uses. If you don't have an environment yet, click Create Environment and give it a name such as Live.

03Connect by signing in

1. Open the Credentials tab

   Open your environment, choose the Credentials tab and click Add. Pick the app from the list.

2. Name it

   The name is how you'll pick it in your flows, so make it clear: sales_google is better than google2. Use letters, numbers, hyphens and underscores.

3. Choose what it can do

   Some apps, including Google and Microsoft, let you choose which parts Flomation may use, such as Read or Read/Write for Sheets. Only give the access your flows need. Parts marked sensitive, like Gmail and Drive, can see private data.

4. Sign in and approve

   Click Create & Authorise. The app's sign-in page opens in a pop-up. Sign in and allow access, and you'll see Authorised Successfully. Close the pop-up and reload the page: the credential should show Active.

04Store an API key as a secret

For apps that give you a key instead of a sign-in page, save the key as a secret. Flomation encrypts it and only uses it while a flow runs.

1. Get the key from the app

   Each app has its own place for this, usually in its settings under API, Integrations or Developer. Flomation's field hints show what the key looks like: a Slack bot token starts xoxb-, and a Stripe key starts sk_live_ or sk_test_.

2. Add a secret

   In your environment, open the Secrets tab and click Add. Give it a name, such as slack_bot_token, paste the key into Value (will be encrypted), and click Save.

05Use a connection in a step

In the step's settings, click the connection field and pick your credential or secret from the list.

• The list shows everything in the flow's environment, not just this app's connections, so clear names really help.
• Not listed yet? Use + secret or + credential at the bottom of the list. The environment opens in a new tab; add it there, come back and click the refresh button.
• A red chip means the connection it points to no longer exists in the environment.

06"Bring your own app"

Some apps in the list are labelled Bring your own app, for example Salesforce, Shopify and Calendly. Before anyone can connect them, you need to register Flomation with that app yourself.

1. Register an app with the other service

   In the other app's developer settings, create an app (sometimes called an OAuth app or API client). This usually needs someone with admin access to that app.

2. Allow Flomation's return address

   Add this as an allowed redirect URL:

https://api.flomation.app/api/v1/credential/callback

3. Copy the Client ID and Client Secret into Flomation

   The app gives you these when you register it. Paste them into Client ID (API key) and Client Secret (API secret key), fill in anything else the form asks for, then click Create & Authorise as usual.

07Keep connections working

Flomation renews signed-in connections in the background, so normally there's nothing to do. The label next to a credential tells you if something needs attention.

Only Active credentials work when a flow runs. While you re-authorise, the credential goes back to Pending, so flows using it stop working until you finish signing in.

Deleting a connection

Deleting a credential or secret can't be undone, and every flow that uses it stops working. If you add a new one with exactly the same name, those flows pick it up again. Deleting a credential in Flomation doesn't remove Flomation's access inside the other app, so remove it there too if you no longer want it.

08Connections and your team

In an organisation, environments are shared: everyone in the organisation can see its environments and use the connections in them in their flows. Changing secrets and properties needs the Manage Environments permission, which admins can give through teams.

09Next steps