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Connections & authentication

A connection is one saved set of credentials for a third-party app, scoped to your organization. Every credential is encrypted at rest and only decrypted in memory to make a real API call — see Security for details. Workflow steps reference a connection, not raw credentials.

Authentication types

Every connector uses one of four authentication types, matching what the real provider requires:

  • API key (most connectors) — one or a few fields entered directly, e.g. an API token or a key/secret pair. Saved and validated immediately.
  • OAuth2 (Google Sheets, Slack, LinkedIn, X, Instagram) — you're redirected to the provider to log in and authorize; Gate97 never sees your password.
  • Basic (WordPress) — a username and password (or, for WordPress specifically, an Application Password rather than your real one).
  • None (the Manual trigger) — nothing to connect; used purely to start a workflow on demand from the dashboard.

OAuth apps are per-organization

For the five OAuth2 connectors, your organization brings its own registered OAuth app rather than sharing one Gate97 registers with every provider. Before connecting, go to that connector's card on the Connections page and choose Set up OAuth app — you'll need a Client ID and Client Secret from the provider's developer console, and the page shows you the exact callback URL to register there. Until an OAuth app is configured, that connector's Connect button is replaced with the setup prompt.

Connection health

A connection can be active or flagged needs reauthorization. It flips to needing reauthorization automatically the moment any real trigger poll or action call against it fails with an authentication error — an expired OAuth token, a revoked API key, and so on. Reconnect it with fresh credentials from the Connections page to clear the flag; nothing about the workflows using it is deleted in the meantime.

Managing connections

Each connection can be renamed (to tell two connections to the same app apart) or deleted from the Connections page. A connection referenced by a workflow step keeps working until you change or remove it. Deleting one that's still in use clears that step's connection rather than deleting the step itself — its next run fails with a clear "step has no connection configured" error until you assign a new connection to it.