Overview

What and How

What integrations are

An integration in Emergent is any connection between your app and a third-party service - a database, an authentication provider, a payment processor, an email API, a vector store, or an external API.

When you describe your app in chat, the agent decides which integrations are needed and configures them automatically. You don't manually wire up connection strings, OAuth flows, or SDK clients; the agent does that for you as part of the build.

Common examples:

  • Storage : Emergent Managed File and object storage
  • Auth: Emergent Auth
  • Payments: Stripe , Razorpay , Paypal, Paystack
  • Communications: Resend, SendGrid,Twilio
  • AI: OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, ElevenLabs,Perplexity
  • Other APIs: any REST or GraphQL endpoint your app needs

Browse the full set in the Key integrations catalogue.

How auth & keys are handled

Emergent takes care of the plumbing so you can focus on describing what your app should do, not how to wire it up.

What Emergent does for you

1

Detects the integration

When you mention a feature - "users sign in with Google" or "users can use Stripe to checkout" - the agent identifies the service and adds the integration to your app.

2

Builds the connection framework

The agent installs the necessary SDK, injects environment variables, and writes the glue code (init clients, handle callbacks, manage sessions).

3

Prompts for keys when needed

If a service requires an API key or secret, Emergent prompts you to provide it. You paste the key into the workspace UI; it's stored encrypted and injected at runtime.

Note

API keys and secrets you supply are encrypted at rest and never shared. Only your app's runtime environment can decrypt them.

What you supply

For most third-party services, you bring your own account and API key:

  • Sign up with the service (Stripe, OpenAI etc.)
  • Generate an API key or secret in their dashboard
  • Paste it into Emergent when prompted

The agent will tell you exactly which key it needs and where to find it.

Tip

Some integrations (like Emergent Auth) are fully managed - no external account or key required.

When keys are requested

You'll be asked to provide a key in two situations:

  1. During the build: The agent pauses and prompts you in chat. Paste the key, then resume.

  2. After publish: If a key is missing or invalid, the app will fail at runtime. Check the logs, ask the agent to add the missing key to 

    .env
    and republish (the Secrets UI can only edit values of existing keys, it cannot add new ones).

Warning

If you skip providing a required key, the agent may stub out the integration or the feature will break at runtime. Always supply keys when prompted.

Environment variables & secrets

Under the hood, every integration key becomes an environment variable (e.g. 

OPENAI_API_KEY
, 
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY
). The agent:

  • Declares the variable in your app's config
  • Injects it at build and runtime
  • Uses it in the code (e.g. 
    process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY
    )

You can view and edit these variables in the workspace Settings panel. See A tour of the workspace for details.

Next steps

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