Manage saved connections on the Connections page
A connection is a saved sign-in to a source or destination: a database login, an app you signed in to, or an API key. You create one the first time you connect a source in the connector workspace, or when you set up an export. After that, the connection belongs to the project, and the Connections page lists it with everything that uses it.
Open the Connections page
Go to Data and click the Connections tab (beside Datasets). The page lists every connection in the current project:
- Mammoth Managed: connections Mammoth runs for you, such as a managed PostgreSQL or Google BigQuery database you export to. See Send to destinations.
- External: connections you or a teammate created, to your own databases, apps, drives and APIs.
Each row shows the connection's name, its connector, a health dot, and how it is used: a source count (datasets that import from it) and a destination count (views that export to it). Hover over a count to see the datasets or views by name, and click one to open it. A connection nobody uses shows No linked datasets. One with a dataset still being set up shows how many, such as 1 in setup.
Who can see and change connections
Connections are shared across the project. Everyone who can open the project's Data area sees the same list. Passwords and keys of your own connections are never shown on the page.
| Action | Who can do it |
|---|---|
| See the list, a connection's details and its usage | Everyone in the project |
| Start a dataset from an existing connection (Create dataset) | Project Admins and Project Editors |
| Create, edit or delete a connection, discard a draft | Project Admins |
| See a Mammoth-managed database's credentials | Project Admins |
If you can't change connections, the page shows a banner and the buttons are disabled:
- "You don't have permission to create or change connections in this project. Ask a Project Admin to add a connection or to give you Admin access."
- In a workspace without an active plan: "This workspace is in view-only mode, so connections can't be created or changed. Choose a plan to continue working."
See Project roles and permissions for the roles.
Search and filter connections
Type in Search connections to match a connection's name or its connector (for example, postgres).
The tabs above the list filter it. Each tab shows a count.
| Tab | Shows |
|---|---|
| All | Every connection, plus unfinished drafts and the Links group |
| Mammoth | Mammoth-managed connections |
| External | Connections you or a teammate created |
| Sources | Connections at least one dataset imports from, plus drafts and Links |
| Destinations | Connections at least one view exports to |
| Issues | Connections whose health is Error |
| Unused | Connections nothing imports from or exports to, and with no dataset in setup |
All, Sources and Destinations always show. The other tabs appear only when they have something in them. Mammoth and External are hidden when every connection is external.
When connections or links are failing, a line above the list shows how many "need attention".
If the search or a tab matches nothing, you see "No connections match your search." with Clear search or Clear all filters.
Connection details
Click a connection to open its details beside the list.
The top shows the connection's health and, depending on its state, when it was last checked, Not in use, or how many datasets are In setup.
Health status
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Connected | The connection's last read worked |
| Error | The key expired, the source refused it, or Mammoth could not reach the source |
| Unknown | Mammoth has not checked this connection yet |
A connection's health comes from a daily check and from real reads: a table that returns rows in the connector workspace marks it Connected, and a source that refuses the key marks it as failing. A failing export to the connection also marks it Error.
Connection Details
Under Connection Details you see the Connector, Managed by (Mammoth Managed or External), Health status, Auth method, and, where the connection has them, the Auth fields, Host, Port, Database, Username and Encryption. Added by and Added say who created it and when.
Usage
Usage lists the SOURCES (datasets that import through the connection) and the DESTINATIONS (views that export to it), each with its folder path. Click one to open it. A connection that nothing uses says "This connection is not used by any dataset yet."
Actions
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Create dataset | Opens a new draft on this connection in the connector workspace, with nothing to re-enter. |
| Continue and the draft's name, such as Continue HubSpot deals | Shown when one dataset from this connection is still in setup: reopens that draft. Create dataset then reads New dataset. |
| Edit connection | Opens the connection form to change its details, such as a new password, key or sign-in. Built-in connectors only. |
| Delete (bin icon) | Deletes the connection. See Delete a connection. |
| Show credentials | Mammoth-managed PostgreSQL and Google BigQuery only. See Mammoth-managed connections. |
When you save an edit, Mammoth shows, for example, "Connection Sales Postgres updated".
Fix a connection that needs attention
The Connectors launcher lists failing connections under Needs attention, with a reason, key expired or unreachable. Click one: the Connections page opens with that connection selected, and:
- For a built-in connector, the Edit connection form opens so you can enter a new key or sign in again.
- For a connection the agent built (a REST API), a new draft opens and its chat asks for the key again.
- For a Mammoth-managed connection: "Mammoth manages this connection's credentials, so there is nothing to repair here."
- If you are not a Project Admin: "Only a project admin can repair this connection."
Delete a connection
- Open the connection and click the delete (bin) icon.
- Read the dialog, titled with the connection's name, such as Delete connection “Sales Postgres”?. It lists what stops working:
- Imports: each dataset that "Stops refreshing. Rows already imported are kept."
- Exports: each task that "Stops delivering. Rows already delivered stay in the destination."
- Stored credentials: "You’d re-enter these to reconnect".
- Click Delete connection.
Deleting a connection never deletes data, datasets or pipelines. Its credentials are removed, and everything that used it becomes unconfigured until you point it at another connection. Mammoth confirms, for example, "Connection Sales Postgres deleted. 3 usages are now unconfigured."
If nothing uses the connection, the dialog says "Nothing is using this connection." A deleted connection does not go to the trash, so you can't restore it: create it again instead.
Mammoth-managed connections have no delete button. Mammoth removes one by itself when the last published view that uses it is deleted.
Mammoth-managed connections
Mammoth creates a managed connection when you export a view to a Mammoth-managed PostgreSQL or Google BigQuery database. To connect an outside tool (for example, a BI tool) to that database:
- Open the managed connection and click Show credentials.
- The Database credentials dialog lists the values: for PostgreSQL, the host, port, username, password and database; for Google BigQuery, the dataset, the service account's email and a link to the service account key.
- Click Copy all to copy them.
Only Project Admins see Show credentials.
Add a new connection
Click New Connection:
- On any tab except Destinations, it opens the Connectors launcher, where you pick a source and connect it in the connector workspace.
- On Destinations, it opens a picker of connectors. Select one, click Next: Configure, and fill in the connection form (or sign in). When it's saved, Connection Created offers Create a dataset or Go to Connections.
A project with no connections yet shows "No connections yet" and a New Connection button.
Drafts on the Connections page
A source you started in the connector workspace but didn't save is a draft. On All and Sources:
- Drafts that are not connected yet are listed at the top under Not connected yet. A draft whose key the chat already checked shows Key checked.
- A draft on a saved connection sits under that connection's row.
Click Continue to reopen a draft. Project Admins can click Discard: Discard this draft? warns "The draft and its chat go away. Nothing in your data changes."
Links: datasets that follow a link
The Links group, under the connections on All and Sources, lists every dataset created from a file at a URL, grouped by website. Each website row shows how many datasets follow it, how many are on a schedule, and Last fetch failed if one failed.
Open a website to see its datasets. Each shows when it was last fetched (such as Fetched 2 hours ago) or why the last fetch failed (for example, "The link answered 404" or "The link could not be reached"), and its schedule or Manual.
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Get the latest | Fetches the file again now |
| Automate the refresh (menu) | Sets up a scheduled refresh for the dataset |
| Open dataset (menu) | Opens the dataset |
When two datasets follow the same link, the second says, for example, same link as Daily Sales, with a note that "Usually one was added by mistake."