Skip to content
Copyright © 2022-2026 basebox GmbH, all rights reserved.
Licensed to be used in conjunction with basebox, only.

// admin

Configuring connectors

Overview

Settings per connector: base URL, credentials, connection test, health indicator, enabling per app. For web search additionally: provider and API key. This page complements Enabling connectors with the details of configuration – and shows which settings lie not with you but with the Platform Operator.

What it is for

An enabled connector is only useful once it reaches the right system, authenticates correctly and is available in the appropriate apps. This is where you bring it into that state and verify it.

Where to find the setting

Administration → Connectors. Every connector appears as a tile with icon, name, description (such as purpose or base URL) and the switch for the organisation. Clicking the tile opens the configuration.

Step by step

Set up a connector:

  1. Open Administration → Connectors and choose the connector.
  2. Fill in the required fields: usually the system's base URL and – depending on the authentication model – a shared service account or an organisation-level API key. See Connector authentication.
  3. Click Test connection. basebox shows whether the connection currently works.
  4. Set the switch to on – the connector is now enabled organisation-wide.
  5. Enable it in the app settings of the apps in which it should be usable. A connector enabled organisation-wide is not automatically available in every app.

Keep an eye on health:

The tile indicates whether the connection is currently healthy. If the test fails, check the base URL, reachability from the basebox environment (firewall, DNS, TLS trust) and the stored credentials. On basebox Server this is usually the Platform Operator's job.

Disable a connector:

Switch to off – the capability is withdrawn organisation-wide; running chats can no longer call the connector.

  1. Find the web search connector (default: Staan Search (European) – the European search index by Qwant and Ecosia; a DuckDuckGo-based connector is available as an alternative).
  2. Switch it on.
  3. Optionally enter your organisation's API key from the provider's console. If the field is left empty, searches run on the shared basebox quota; for production use your own key is recommended. A rejected key produces an explicit error – there is no silent fallback.
  4. Decide in which apps web search should be available. The Introduction to web search security recommends a dedicated app whose only connector is web search.

Users then switch web search on per chat via the "Web" switch; it starts off in every new conversation and asks for consent before the first search. Firewall requirements (outbound HTTPS only, to the hosts of the chosen provider) and provider details: Web search.

What lies with the Platform Operator

On basebox Server the connector services themselves are deployed as workloads in the cluster. Some external endpoints are set by the Platform Operator via Helm before you enable the connector in the interface:

Connector Set by the Platform Operator via Helm
E-mail IMAP host, port, connection type
DokuWiki XML-RPC URL
Nextcloud Base URL
Atlassian Jira and/or Confluence base URL
Web search Outbound HTTPS access to the provider (egress)
Custom MCP server Image, port, environment variables, machine credentials as Kubernetes secret

Connectors integrated this way may appear to you as "Registered via CLI" and can be switched on and off like all others. Details: Deploying MCP connectors with Helm. In basebox Cloud, basebox takes care of this part.

Notes

Note

  • Two levels, always. Organisation-wide switch and enabling per app. If one is missing, users do not see the connector.
  • Per-user credentials do not belong in the connector configuration; users store them themselves, and you cannot view them.
  • A connector's own website opens from the tile in a new window – handy for looking up the provider's token instructions.
  • Write tools are off by default per app.
  • Changes take effect immediately and are recorded in the Audit log.

Frequently asked questions

The connection test fails – what is it usually? The base URL (typo, missing protocol), a firewall between basebox and the system, or a TLS certificate from a private CA that the basebox environment does not trust.

Can I set up the same connector twice with different URLs? Not in the interface. On basebox Server the Platform Operator can deploy a second connector workload.

Where do users see which connectors are available to them? In the chat via the "+" icon – exactly the connectors enabled for them and the current app appear there.

Need help? Contact support