HTTP Connectors
Connect your Flows to external APIs and data sources.
Overview
Imagine you're building a loan approval Flow. You'd like stepbase to check the applicant's credit score before deciding who reviews the file, and to log the request in your CRM once it's approved. Connectors are what make that possible: they let your Flows pull data from outside systems (CRMs, HR platforms, risk APIs) and push information back to them.
Once a connector is set up, you can use the data it returns to make routing decisions and to give reviewers more context.
Creating a connector
Go to Dashboard > Connectors and click New Connector. You'll set:
- A name and description so your team can recognise it later
- The web address of the system you're connecting to
- How stepbase should sign in (Bearer token, username/password, or API key)
- Any headers or parameters that should be sent on every call
- How long to wait, and whether to retry on failure
Signing in to the other system
| Sign-in type | How it works |
|---|---|
| Bearer token | stepbase sends a token you provide on every request |
| Username and password | Classic username/password authentication |
| API key | stepbase sends a key, either as a header or as part of the URL |
Using connectors in Flows
Once a connector is set up, you can use it in two ways:
- Show reviewers more context: pull data from the other system and display it alongside the form so reviewers see the full picture
- Route automatically: reference any field the connector returns in a decision step. You pick the field from a list; stepbase handles the lookup for you
When things go wrong
External systems aren't always available. If the system you're calling is slow or temporarily down, stepbase can automatically retry, so a brief outage doesn't block your Flow.
- Choose how many times to retry on failure (off by default; set it as you need)
- Each retry waits a bit longer than the last, to avoid hammering a struggling system
- Set how long stepbase should wait before giving up on a single request
- Every failed request shows up in the Flow's audit log, so you can troubleshoot
Testing
When you're setting up a connector, use the Test Action button to send a sample request and see exactly what comes back. Catch problems early, before the connector is wired into a live Flow.