Connectors

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Every question, in drop order

27 questions answered live, kept in the order they fell.

Showing 27 of 27 questions

• 01What's the difference between connectors and API keys? (built a reading platform with Google Books API)TechnicalExpand answer

  They're the same thing. A connector is Base44 having integrated the API for you into an installer so you don't worry about it. An API is what you use to build a connector yourself. You can connect anything with an API — paste the docs into chat and it hand-holds you through. Zero restrictions.

• 02In order for a Base44 web app to scale, should you use a backend like Supabase or can Base44 handle it?TechnicalExpand answer

  Same answer as Caesar's question — totally depends on the app. Can serve tens of thousands simultaneously if there are no requests, or fail at one user if you're doing 150 requests/min. No black-and-white answer.

• 03I have a GHL private integration token but the API requires a location ID to access calendars. Can Base44 store location-scoped API credentials and auto-pass them in a backend function? Can Base44 natively connect to GHL calendars as a connector? Can it serve as the booking page itself and connect to GHL behind the scenes?TechnicalExpand answer

  GHL isn't a native connector, so it's a manual API integration — and there are no restrictions there, so it can do anything. Location-scoped credentials can be passed from that side; custom backend functions would be required, but your prompt writes them (paste the GHL API docs, explain the logic, use discuss mode). Yes, Base44 can serve as the booking page and two-way sync with GHL behind the scenes.

• 04I built a full CRM and got an app in the store (Middle Ground Resolve). Are there APIs that funnel leads to me automatically, and can I connect an API for an AI agent to call those leads before I do?BusinessExpand answer

  Sam had no specific voice-AI cold-calling API to name and flagged GDPR/legal concerns around broad-scope lead capture. His counter-approach: use a super agent hooked to Apify (a scraping tool) to scout search terms daily on X / Reddit / LinkedIn, funnel matching leads back into the app's backend on a schedule (e.g. 3×/day). Pointed to the dedicated super agent sessions for the in-depth build.

• 05Do connectors and APIs both use the same integration credits?BusinessExpand answer

  Neither uses integration credits at all. The connector/API connection itself is free. The only thing that costs an integration credit is the calling of a backend function.

• 06What are the current best practices for memory management — balancing short-term memory with saved long-term facts? Is there an automated way to prune stale info?TechnicalExpand answer

  Use entities to store long-term memory. Short-term LLM memory is weak across all models right now (the next big roadblock). Sam stores a planning/project-management entity in every app (status: done/doing/completed) and keeps goals in an entity so the agent references the entity rather than relying on short-term memory.

• 07Can you do a Skype connection?TechnicalExpand answer

  No difference from any other connector. The flow for a connector beginning with A is identical to one beginning with Z. If it exists in the directory, "connect skype" installs it; if it needs more than one step, the chat tells you exactly what to do. No connector needs a bespoke walkthrough.

• 08What's a recommended plan when creating an LLM with Base44? (clarified: an AI chatbot that can make changes to a CRM)TechnicalExpand answer

  You can't create an LLM with Base44. For the chatbot: prompt "implement me an AI chatbot that, when people interact with it, can make changes to our CRM." Done.

• 09On a scale of devastated to truly devastated, how devastated are you that Germany got knocked out of the World Cup?GeneralExpand answer

  No comment. (Light-hearted.)

• 10How many integration credits are used when generating an invoice?BusinessExpand answer

  Subjective — depends how many pages, how many backend functions clean it, etc. Almost every "how many credits / how many users" question is subjective.

• 11How far away is being able to post to TikTok through super agents? Currently view-only, can't post.TechnicalExpand answer

  That's the TikTok connector, not the super agent. If the connector can't post, manually integrate a TikTok posting API (e.g. upload-post.com, Buffer, Later) via a backend function and have your super agent call it. No restriction on posting.

• 12I don't want to expose my API key but I also don't want to burn integration credits at 1,000+ users. Is there a way to do it without exposing my API key?TechnicalExpand answer

  Yes — use your API key as a secret. Ask the chat to use your own OpenAI (or whatever) key instead of the standard invoke, and to not expose it publicly — set it as a secret. It'll prompt for the secret; paste your key in.

• 13After you build the app and someone uses it, how do you get charged? How does billing work when customers use my app?BusinessExpand answer

  You're not charged for user usage the way you'd expect. Message credits are what YOU spend to prompt/build. Integration credits are what your USERS spend using the app — but many successful Base44 apps use zero integration credits (signing in, navigating pages costs nothing; uploading files or AI responses do). When both balances hit zero, building stops and credit-dependent features stop working, but you're not billed — you upgrade the plan for more, and they reset monthly.

• 14Is Base44 working on custom plans where you can get e.g. 100k integration credits while only having ~100 message credits?BusinessExpand answer

  More plans are in the works but not guaranteed. Likely lower and higher tiers rather than a custom slider. Sam isn't on the product/billing team so can't confirm. (Drake added plans are always being discussed but nothing actively being pushed right now.)

• 15With a Wix Studio site, can the Wix connector pull your CMS data into Base44? (~20,000 tiered subscribers, several CRM categories)TechnicalExpand answer

  Sam wasn't certain (never used the Wix connector) but Robert confirmed in chat the Wix connector lets you manage the CMS of a website. Data volume shouldn't be a problem — no max scope/quantity restriction on the connection itself.

• 16Does adding an AI chatbot to your app use integration credits?BusinessExpand answer

  Yes — ~2 per request. You can move the cost to your own LLM by exposing an API key as a secret and having the widget call that instead of the Base44 invoke. One integration credit costs a user ~0.002; only worth swapping if your own subscription beats that.

• 17I've been timed out / banned from office hours on Discord and don't know why. Can I be unbanned?CommunityExpand answer

  Sam asked for the Discord name to look into it; the timeout (1 hour) was for spamming Rick Roll images. Sam declined to remove it — wait out the hour and don't do it again.

• 18Is there a database limit for the apps? / data bank limit?TechnicalExpand answer

  No total database cap and no individual record cap — but a 5K-per-request pull limit, and 50MB per individual upload.

• 19I've been using Stripe with secrets, webhooks etc. Is there a faster way?TechnicalExpand answer

  Yes — "connect stripe" does it in one prompt. No manual API integration needed; hasn't been needed since ~November last year.

• 20I have an app that uses AI to translate to different languages.TechnicalExpand answer

  Don't use AI for that — npm install i18n and prompt "please pivot my language" in your builder. Never use AI for language translation. (Also teed up Thursday's npm session.)

• 21Is there a feature that shows all the possible actions you've integrated that will cost you credits?TechnicalExpand answer

  Yes — the Testing Agent. Open any app → top-right three dots (next to the GitHub icon) → Testing Agent → create tests describing what a user does in plain English, note your integration credits, run every test, check the credits again.

• 22Is it possible to change the Base44 agent's name when texting it on WhatsApp?GeneralExpand answer

  Not currently, but it's been asked a lot and will likely come.

• 23I want to promote my platform — thinking of building another app connected to Instagram for business. Can it auto-post?TechnicalExpand answer

  Sam hasn't used it so can't confirm, but it doesn't matter — if it can't, connect a third-party scheduling API that can (Later, Buffer, etc.). None of the TikTok/Instagram schedulers are free, so pick the one that suits your price point and integrate via API by pasting the docs into your builder.

• 24Built an app, made £40k already as a test. Is there a way to take an existing app built in Laravel (hosted on AWS/EC2) and rebuild it in Base44 — do we just rebuild it ourselves?TechnicalExpand answer

  No drag-and-drop unless it's on a platform with the "migrate from" feature. Best path: use Claude / Claude Cowork to do a top-down PRD assessment of the Laravel project (connect the Git repo, send screenshots/snippets), have it produce a PRD for a no-code environment, then feed that into Base44. Subjective and not out-of-the-box.

• 25Is it possible to automate email replies using OpenAI or Gemini API keys?TechnicalExpand answer

  Yes, absolutely — hook in your own API key as a secret. But Sam wouldn't bother — it barely costs anything for Base44 to do it, so you're just offloading cost. If you want to avoid Base44's invoke send-mail, use Resend (10,000 emails for ~$5) rather than your own OpenAI key.

• 26For serious multi-tenant SaaS with many clients, users, roles, backend functions, RLS — what's realistic scalability? Can Base44 support 50–100 clients? What are the first bottlenecks?TechnicalExpand answer

  429s are the first bottleneck (150 req/min per user, 150 global service-role, 5K rows per request; 2-min grace after breach; extendable for enterprise). Mitigate with fall-offs, batching, caching, websockets; offload heavy data to Firebase. Whether 50–100 clients works is completely subjective to app structure.

• 27What happens if you hit the limit of integration credits?BusinessExpand answer

  Anything that uses integration credits stops working — the app still exists and stays online, but e.g. a chatbot returns an error. Upgrade your plan whenever to restore it.