A chat with a Lake Builder Mind manages the Lake for you: it imports source tables and looks after their connectors, syncs and load settings. This page covers what it can read and change about the connectors themselves.
Note
These actions run in a chat with a Lake Builder, not in the AI assistant beside a connector. That assistant works inside the one connector it sits beside: see The AI assistant.
Find a connector
Ask for one connector to read its type, status, folder and the names of its secrets. It never reads secret values, and it does not return the connector's other stored setting values.
Ask for a list and narrow it by text, folder or status. The statuses it reports are ready, processing, failed, pending and installing.
Ask for the folder list to see which folders exist, with their names and colours.
Ask what a source type supports: its sign-in style, whether it can write data back, and the sync types it allows. See Supported connectors.
Ask it to walk a connector's databases, schemas, tables and columns. This read is read-only: it lists names and structure, not rows. The connector always comes first in the name it uses for a source object, followed by the database, schema and table; a file source has no schema.
Ask how large a source table is before importing it. The answer is an estimate read from the source's own statistics, phrased as about a number of rows; when the source cannot answer, it says so instead of guessing.
Organise connectors into folders
Ask it to create a folder. The name must be unique, letter case aside; a new folder gets a neutral grey colour.
Ask it to move a connector into a folder, or out of every folder.
Ask it to delete a folder. Only an empty folder can go: while it still holds connectors, the delete is refused with Cannot delete folder and Please remove or move all data sources from this folder first. Move the connectors out first.
Deleting a folder is destructive, so it waits for your approval on a card unless the chat is set to Unrestricted. Creating and moving folders work in the tree too; see Batch edit and organise.
Change a connector's settings
Non-credential settings, such as a port, can be changed in place. Name only the settings you want changed, and the rest stays as it was. The connector's code, name and type cannot be changed.
A change to where or how a connector connects (its address, login user, account, project, region, output location, or its encryption and authentication) takes the stored credentials with it, so it runs only after you approve it on a card. In Auto-accept or Unrestricted, it asks you to change it in the connector form instead.
On a Connect Any API connector it can adjust the runner options: TLS verification, the request rate limit, the request timeout, and how many requests run at once. See Connect any API.
Before a stream is imported, it can replace that stream's column list. Send the complete list, because a column you leave out is dropped; after import, the columns belong to the Lake table.
It can revoke approved hosts on a Connect Any API connector. A revoked host is refused until it is approved again, and the reply names the hosts that remain approved. See Hosts, streams and data access.
Schedules stay with you: switching a workflow or its schedule on or off is left to a person in the Lake. See Workflows in the Lake.
A Connect Anything or Connect Any API connector is configured from its own chat. Ask for the hand-off and the work continues in the connector's own thread; the card follows it until it finishes. See Connect Anything, Connect Any API and Change approval in a builder chat.
Copy a connector
Ask it to duplicate a connector to start a new one from the same setup. The copy takes the original's type and options; its secrets are not copied, so set them on the copy before its first sync. See Connector secrets.
Work with a custom connector's files
Ask it to move or rename a file or folder in a Connect Anything connector's code. Renaming a module or an entry point means the connector must be reinstalled before its next load.
Ask it to protect a file so it is withheld from every export and stays untouched by an uploaded zip; the server keeps its copy. Protection cannot be undone, so use it only for files that must never leave or change.
These file actions apply to Connect Anything connectors; a Connect Any API connector has a recipe instead. For the file tree, its versions and zip actions, see The connector code editor.
Export and import a connector
Ask it to export a connector as a zip: a Connect Anything connector's files, or a Connect Any API connector's recipe and settings. The zip carries no secrets. Use it to move a connector to another environment.
Only small exports come back in the chat, up to 256 KB. When a zip is larger, it tells you it was not exported and points you to the connector, where you download it yourself; see The connector code editor.
Ask for the source catalogue: every table of the connector that is not imported yet, in the same shape as the Lake's own export, named after the connector and ending in _tables.xlsx. The workbook is not returned to the chat, so use the rows to choose what to import. See Import tables.
To bring a zip in, ask it to apply one over a connector. This is a real overwrite, not a merge: what the zip carries replaces the connector's files, and paths missing from the zip are removed. The import takes .zip files up to 20 MB, and it reads the connector first so it can say what will be replaced.
Delete a connector
Ask to delete one or more connectors. The approval card names how many will go, and nothing is deleted until you approve it, unless the chat is set to Unrestricted.
A connector whose tables are still in the Lake is refused; remove its tables first, then delete the connector. See Delete Lake items.
In a batch, each refusal is reported on its own and does not stop the other deletions.
Ask what changed
Ask what changed in a window. The list covers connectors, their tables and their columns: what was created, updated or deleted, newest first.
Give the start of the window; the end defaults to now and must be later than the start. Each row names the object, its kind and its action; a person appears as a user number, and a change made by the platform itself appears without one.
The list returns up to 50 changes by default and at most 200 at once.
Batches. One delete or deploy request covers at most 200 objects; larger jobs run as several requests.
Lists. A connector list returns up to 100 connectors by default and 200 at most; a folder list up to 500.
Permissions. The Mind works as you do: reading connectors needs View Lake Objects, and changing them needs Add/Modify Lake Objects. See Who can do what in the Lake.
Questions, answered
Can the Lake Builder change my connector's password or API key?
No. It reads secret names, never values, and it never sets, changes or clears credentials; it asks you to change them in the connector form. See Connector secrets.
Why does a connection change wait for my approval?
Because the change moves where or how the connector connects, and the stored credentials follow it. It runs only after you approve it on the card; in Auto-accept or Unrestricted, it asks you to change it in the connector form instead. See Change approval in a builder chat.
Can the Lake Builder delete a connector?
Yes, with your approval, unless the chat is set to Unrestricted. A connector whose tables are still in the Lake is refused, so remove its tables first. In a batch, refusals are reported per connector and do not block the others.
Can the Lake Builder turn a schedule on or off?
No. Switching a workflow or its schedule is left to a person in the Lake; ask it to change everything else. See Workflows in the Lake.
Why didn't the exported zip arrive in the chat?
Because it is larger than 256 KB. The chat hands back only small exports; for a larger one the Lake Builder says it was not exported and points you to the connector, where you can download it yourself.
Does an imported zip merge with the connector's files or replace them?
It replaces them: applying a zip over a connector is a real overwrite. The import takes .zip files up to 20 MB, and it reads the connector first so it can tell you what will be replaced.
Can I ask what changed about a connector?
Yes. Ask what changed in a window and it lists the connectors, tables and columns that were created, updated or deleted, newest first. Give the start of the window; the list returns up to 50 changes by default and 200 at once, and it does not cover deploys or load runs.
How many objects can one request change?
One delete or deploy request covers at most 200 objects. Larger jobs run as several requests, and a list returns at most 200 connectors or 500 folders at once.