App + chat connectors are the easiest way to extend what your RShift Sites app can do. You connect a tool such as Slack, HubSpot, or Google Sheets once, and that single connection works in three places:
- In Chats. RShift Sites uses the connection when you work with your tools outside a project, with the same approval cards as in the project chat.
- In the project chat, while you build. RShift Sites can read from and act on the connected tool as it helps you. For example, it can look at the deal stages in your real HubSpot account while designing a sales dashboard, so the result matches your actual data instead of made-up examples.
- In your published app, while people use it. The app you share with others can use the tool on its own. For example, when a visitor submits a form, your app can post a message to your team’s Slack, add a row to a Google Sheet, or create a contact in HubSpot.
Browse every available tool in Connectors, which you can also open from several places in the product, listed in Where to find connectors. For how app + chat connections compare to the other connection types, see the connectors overview.
If the tool you need is not in the catalog, workspace admins can create a custom connector for any REST API. It joins your workspace’s catalog, and connections to it work exactly as described on this page.
How app + chat connections work
An app + chat connection runs on one shared account. You (or a teammate) sign in to the tool or paste an API key once, and every request uses that account, no matter who is building or which visitor is using the published app.
Connections belong to your workspace, not to a single project. You create a connection once and then link it to any project that needs it. Linking is what makes a connection usable in a project, and RShift Sites writes the integration code for you once it’s linked.
Two settings control who can do what:
- Who can create connections. On Free and Pro plans, any workspace member with the editor role or higher can create connections. On Business and Enterprise plans, workspace admins choose this per connector: No one, Admins, or Editors & admins. Setting a connector to No one means nobody can create new connections, which effectively disables it. On Enterprise plans, connectors are effectively disabled at first: the setting defaults to No one until an admin changes it for each connector the workspace needs. See Who can create connections and clients for the full picture.
- Who can use a connection. Whoever creates a connection decides who can use it. A connection can stay private, be shared with specific people, or be shared with the whole workspace, and everyone with access can link it to projects and build with it. See Who can use connections and clients for how access affects projects and collaborators.
If you can’t create or use a connection you expect to, one of these settings is usually the reason. See Why can’t I create or link a connection? in the FAQ for how to check.
Create a connection
Creating a connection takes a few minutes and only needs to happen once per tool:
Select the connector
Open Connectors and select the tool you want to connect. See Where to find connectors for every place you can open the catalog.
Add a connection
Click Add connection. If the connector supports more than one connection type, choose App + chat connector. The form is split into collapsible sections, Details, Configure connection, and Sharing. RShift Sites fills in a name for the connection under Details, which you can change. A collapsed section shows a summary of what you chose.
Authenticate
Depending on the tool, sign in with OAuth or paste credentials such as an API key. When a connector supports more than one authentication method, pick one under Configure connection. Some tools also require setup on the provider’s side first, such as creating an API key or registering an app in their dashboard. Check the connector’s documentation for exact instructions before you start.
Some connectors offer a Managed by RShift Sites option that uses RShift Sites’ own app registration, so you don’t need to provide any credentials. A workspace can have one managed connection per connector.
Choose who can use the connection
Under Sharing, a new connection is private to you by default and shows a Private label. To share it, click Share with others. Then add workspace members by email, or click Invite entire workspace. Connections that use the Managed by RShift Sites option are shared with the entire workspace by default. Everyone with access can link the connection to projects and build with it. You can change this later from the connection’s settings. To stop sharing a connection, click Make private. See Who can use connections and clients for how access affects projects and collaborators.
Create the connection
Click Connect, which stays visible at the bottom of the form. To start using it, link it to a project by asking RShift Sites in that project’s chat, as described in Link a connection to a project.
Link a connection to a project
A connection does nothing on its own. Linking it to a project securely shares the credentials with that project, so RShift Sites and your published app can call the tool.
You link a connection by asking RShift Sites in the project chat. Describe what you want the app to do, for example:
Connect Slack to this project and post a message to #new-signups whenever someone creates an account.RShift Sites links an existing connection you have access to, or walks you through creating one first, and then builds the feature. A connection you create from the project chat is private to you unless it uses the Managed by RShift Sites option. You can share it later from the connection’s settings.
Linking follows the connection’s access rules. Only people with access to the connection can link it to a project, and a connection can be linked to any number of projects in the workspace. See Who can use connections and clients for the full rules, including how connection access affects project sharing and project owners.
Approving connector actions in the project chat
The same approval cards appear in Chats.
When a connection is linked, RShift Sites can start using it, and you stay in control of what it does. When RShift Sites wants to use a connection to make a change, such as sending a message or updating a record, it pauses and asks for your approval first. The approval card describes what RShift Sites wants to do and shows the request details. Read-only requests run without prompts.
You can respond in three ways:
- Allow once: approve this single action.
- Always allow: let future actions for this connection, including write actions, run without asking first.
- Skip: move on without running the action.
The Always allow preference applies to you and that specific connection. You can change it later from the connection’s settings, under Agent approval for this connection.
Manage a connection
Everything about an existing connection is managed from the connection itself. Open Connectors, select the connector, and open the connection. You can also get there from inside a project. See Where to find connectors for every entry point.
From the connection you can see and unlink its linked projects, change who can use it under Sharing, adjust your agent approval preference, or delete it.
Who can manage a connection follows its access settings. Whoever creates a connection controls who can use it and can adjust that from the connection’s settings at any time, as described in Who can use connections and clients. Workspace admins and owners can delete any connection.
When you open a connector in Connectors, its connections appear in two lists, Private connections and Shared connections.
Inside a project, open More → Connectors. When a collaborator cannot use a linked connection, RShift Sites lists them under Missing access to this connection. If you manage the connection, click Grant access next to their name. For a private connection, RShift Sites asks you to confirm with Share connection. The connection becomes shared, and the collaborator can then use it in other projects too. RShift Sites asks collaborators who do not manage the connection to contact its owner.
Unlink projects from a connection
Unlinking removes specific projects from a connection without deleting the connection. The connection stays available for other projects. Workspace members with the editor role or higher can unlink projects.
Open the connection
Open Connectors, select the connector, and open the connection you want to manage.
Select projects
Under Linked projects, check the projects you want to unlink.
Confirm
Click Unlink projects and confirm.
Unlinked projects lose access to the tool through this connection. If a project needs the tool again, link it to any available connection.
Delete a connection
Deleting a connection removes it from the workspace entirely. Workspace admins and owners can delete any connection. Other members can delete a connection if they created it, or if they have been explicitly granted access to it.
Open the connection
Open Connectors, select the connector, and open the connection you want to remove.
Review linked projects
Check the Linked projects section to see which projects currently use the connection.
Delete
Under Delete this connection, click Delete and confirm.
Gateway-based connectors
Most app + chat connectors route through a secure gateway between your RShift Sites app and the third-party service. The gateway handles authentication automatically, keeps credentials out of your project, applies a per-project usage limit, and sends outbound traffic from a stable set of IP ranges. See Integration security for the full details, and Connector data flow for how data moves between your app and the third-party service.
Managed project secret: LOVABLE_API_KEY
App + chat connectors and RShift Sites AI rely on a project secret called LOVABLE_API_KEY to identify your project to RShift Sites’ services. RShift Sites creates and manages this secret automatically, so you don’t need to do anything with it.
FAQ
Who can see the data an app + chat connection returns?
Anyone who can use the connection. The connection runs on one shared account, so every linked project works with that account’s data, and so does every visitor of a published app that uses it. Whoever creates the connection controls who can use it, as described in Who can use connections and clients. If each user should only see their own data, use an app user connector instead.
Are my credentials visible in the project code?
No. For gateway-based connectors, credentials stay in RShift Sites’ connector gateway and do not appear in your project, so they can’t leak through your app’s code. See Integration security for how credentials are stored, rotated, and deleted.
Why can’t I create or link a connection?
Check three things, in order:
- Your role. Workspace viewers and external project collaborators can’t access workspace connectors.
- The connector’s Who can create connections setting. On Business and Enterprise plans, the connector may be set to No one (nobody can create connections, which effectively disables it) or Admins. On Enterprise plans, the setting defaults to No one until an admin changes it. See Who can create connections and clients.
- Your access to the specific connection. Only people the connection is shared with can link it to a project. See Who can use connections and clients.
When creation isn’t possible, the Add connection button states the exact reason.
What happens to connections when I remix or share a project?
Sharing a project changes nothing about its connections: the connection stays owned by the workspace, and access keeps following the connection’s access settings. Remixing is different: connections are not carried over, so the remixed project starts with none. After the remix, RShift Sites suggests reconnecting each one in the new project’s chat, and linking an existing workspace connection there takes one click.