Hand work to a connector Mind

Connector work that belongs to the connector itself (its files, its recipe or its connection) can be handed to the connector's own Mind: the Meltano Mind on a Meltano connector, or the ANY API Mind on a native one. That Mind works in the connector's own thread, and the chat that sent the work follows it and continues from the report that comes back.

The thread itself, together with its messages and its versions, is covered in Connector chats and hand-offs; what a chat can read and change about connectors is in Manage connectors from a chat.

Start a hand-off

1. In the Lake Builder chat, describe the problem and ask for the hand-off. Use it when the work belongs to the connector itself: its files, its recipe or its connection.
2. Decide the hand-off if the chat holds it first. In a Manual chat the hand-off is a change like any other, so it waits on its approval card. See Change approval in a builder chat.
3. Watch for the Hand off to connector Mind card: it carries the brief the builder wrote and Open connector. When it goes through, the brief is posted into the connector's thread and that Mind starts on it at once.

The hand-off starts only while the connector's thread is free. While that thread is busy, or while its Mind is waiting for you there, the hand-off is refused and the card reads Refused with the reason. The refusal cases, and what to do about each, are on Connector chats and hand-offs.

Follow the work while it runs

• The chat follows the connector Mind with a Waiting for connector Mind card that streams what it is doing, with the elapsed time. You can also open the connector and read the same turn in its own thread.
• You do not have to stay and watch. End your turn, or leave the chat: the report is delivered into the conversation by itself when the work ends, and the chat continues from it.
• If a wait runs out of time, the card reads Still working. Nothing failed: the work goes on in the connector's thread, and the report still arrives.
• Stop waiting ends only the wait: the connector Mind keeps working in its own thread, and its report still reaches the conversation when it finishes. The other stop controls are on Stop and abort runs in chat.

The report that comes back

• When the work ends, its report arrives as a card headed Report from the Meltano Mind (or the ANY API Mind), with the connector's name on it and Open connector.
• The card carries a state badge: Working while the work runs; Waiting for you when the connector Mind pauses for you; and Finished, Failed or Stopped when the work ends.
• The report carries the connector Mind's reply and a Tools it ran list, so you can see what it changed and what it checked.
• Waiting for you means it paused for you in the connector's own thread; what it needs and how to answer are on Connector chats and hand-offs.
• Nothing counts as finished before the report arrives. Until then, the hand-off only means the work has started.
• The chat wakes when the report lands and continues from it: it reads what the connector Mind changed, then does the lake side itself, such as a schema sync, a re-import or a load.

Questions, answered

How do I hand work to a connector Mind?

Ask in the Lake Builder chat: describe the problem and say that the work belongs to the connector. The chat writes the connector's Mind a brief and hands it over, and in a Manual chat you approve the hand-off on its card first. The work then starts in the connector's own thread, where you can watch it.

Where does the work happen once it is handed off?

In the connector's own thread: the brief is posted there, and that connector's Mind works on it there, one turn at a time. Open connector on the hand-off or report card takes you to it. The thread's rules, messages and versions are on Connector chats and hand-offs.

What can the connector's own Mind do?

It reads and edits the connector's files or its recipe, tests the connector, and can run a sync. The wider set of connector actions a chat can run for you, from statuses and folders to exports, is on Manage connectors from a chat; the build loops are on Connect Anything and Connect Any API.

How do I know the work has finished?

When its report arrives. Nothing counts as finished before the report does: until then, the hand-off only means that the connector Mind has started on the work.

What happens if the wait runs out of time?

Nothing failed: a wait that runs out of time ends as Still working, and the work continues in the connector's thread. The report arrives when the work ends, whether or not you are watching.

What does it mean when the report reads Failed?

The connector Mind's turn ended in an error. Read its reply in the report, then hand the work off again with a clearer brief, or continue in the connector's own thread where it stopped.

What does it mean when the report reads Stopped?

The work stopped before it ended. The report still shows what the connector Mind had done up to that point: read it before deciding, and answer the chat's question about how to proceed.