Connect what your app needs

5 minute read · Projects & Git

An app may need a database, a mail receiver or an API. Save those connections once in Vortex, then reuse them from any workspace without copying passwords into each conversation.

• Set the right context
• Open a saved tool or connection
• Move a tool into its own window
• Keep changes deliberate
• Connect a resource to the app that uses it
• Review environment changes
• Diagnose a resource mismatch
• Connections and tool controls
• Browse connections in a narrow panel

Set the right context#

Open Workspace settings → Local app and check the project's folder, start command, tests, build command and local address. Keep the app's own configuration, such as its .env file, in the project: edit it in Files or ask an authorized agent to change it. Vortex does not keep a separate list of named environments for a project, so name your saved connections clearly, such as Small Stories local and Small Stories staging.

Open a saved tool or connection#

Open the Tools icon in the left workspace rail, below Chats and above the workspaces, or use Vortex Search with the Databases, FTP / SFTP, SSH or Signals categories. Saved connections belong to your account rather than to one project, so the same database or SSH host is available from every workspace. Check its name and target before opening it, especially when local and remote targets have similar names. Reuse the saved SQL, SSH, FTP or API connection rather than creating a duplicate just to reach it from chat.

Keep supported tools docked in the workspace or floating inside Vortex. Position the tool beside the conversation or editor to compare a result with the code that produced it. Changing a panel's position does not change the connection's credentials, target or permission scope.

Agents find saved connections with Vortex's list tools for databases, SSH, FTP, API, mail and Signals, and use the exact resource they discover. Name the resource in your request: “Read the latest five articles from the Small Stories local database.” A plain chat has no project settings; attach or open the project before relying on its folder or instructions.

Move a tool into its own window#

Choose New window in the tool heading, next to Float over chat. Database, Terminal, Files, API, Mail and Signals can open in an independent Vortex window with the current account and the normal application controls. You can place it on another screen and continue working after closing the original window.

The transfer keeps the selected session and supported loaded state. Database keeps its connections, query drafts and results; API keeps request drafts and responses; Terminal retains its tool sessions and output. The local terminal tabs embedded under a project's chat stay with that workspace. Files, Mail and Signals keep their current tool selection and supported view state. This is a transfer of the open tool, not a new connection profile or a copy of server data.

An active transfer, database operation, API request or terminal connection attempt can require you to wait. The source keeps its work until the new window accepts the state. If the destination cannot open, the source remains available; read the error and retry there. Float over chat instead keeps the tool inside the current window.

Try changing an unsaved query, open New window, then check the draft, selected database and loaded results in the new window. Native tool windows are available in the desktop app; the website demo explains this action without opening a real session.

Keep changes deliberate#

Begin with local resources while building the first version. Before a database write, remote command or deployment, confirm which saved connection and target will be used. Ask the agent to explain the proposed action when the destination is unclear.

If the app cannot connect, compare the selected resource, host/port and running service. Read the specific error without publishing the credential. Fix the intended configuration instead of creating duplicate connections until one works.

Learn to open the database, capture a test email or check before publishing.

Connect a resource to the app that uses it#

Suppose Small Stories uses a local database and sends a welcome email. Save the local database connection in Database and create or select a development SMTP resource. Then put the matching values in the app's environment file, yourself or through an authorized agent action. A saved Vortex connection and the app's own environment file are related configuration, not the same storage location: changing one does not rewrite the other.

Before asking an agent to inspect data, name both the project and the saved connection. Never assume that opening another connection copies data, applies migrations or makes production safe to modify.

Review environment changes#

1. Confirm the file or saved connection being changed.
2. Enter private values in the connection form or the environment file, not in an ordinary conversation.
3. Save and inspect any error. Preserve a working configuration before replacing several values at once.
4. Restart the local app if its framework needs it to read new values.
5. Verify the connection through a small request, query or captured development message.

Diagnose a resource mismatch#

If the app reads different rows from Database, compare the configured host, database/schema and environment file without printing the password. If mail does not arrive in the catcher, check which SMTP settings the app process actually loaded. A stale process can retain older environment values. Use Database and test mail to verify those paths directly.

Connections and tool controls#

Opening a connection supplies context; it does not copy its password into instructions or chat. See project runtime.

Browse connections in a narrow panel#

SQL, SSH and FTP connection lists offer compact list rows with actions and readable status. Details wrap below the title as the panel narrows. In SQL, No matching connections and Clear search distinguish an empty search from an empty saved list. Tool panels can stay docked or open in their supported floating window.