> **Building with AI coding agents?** If you're using an AI coding agent, install the official Scalekit plugin. It gives your agent full awareness of the Scalekit API — reducing hallucinations and enabling faster, more accurate code generation.
>
> - **Claude Code**: `/plugin marketplace add scalekit-inc/claude-code-authstack` then `/plugin install <auth-type>@scalekit-auth-stack`
> - **GitHub Copilot CLI**: `copilot plugin marketplace add scalekit-inc/github-copilot-authstack` then `copilot plugin install <auth-type>@scalekit-auth-stack`
> - **Codex**: run the bash installer, restart, then open Plugin Directory and enable `<auth-type>`
> - **Skills CLI** (Windsurf, Cline, 40+ agents): `npx skills add scalekit-inc/skills --list` then `--skill <skill-name>`
>
> `<auth-type>` / `<skill-name>`: `agent-auth`, `full-stack-auth`, `mcp-auth`, `modular-sso`, `modular-scim` — [Full setup guide](https://docs.scalekit.com/dev-kit/build-with-ai/)

---

# Connections

A **connection** is a configured integration between Scalekit and a third-party provider. It holds the credentials and settings Scalekit needs to interact with that provider's API on behalf of your users — OAuth client secrets, API keys, scopes, and so on.

You create one connection per provider in the Scalekit Dashboard. Once active, it can be shared across all your users.

## Connection types

| Type | When to use |
|---|---|
| **OAuth 2.0** | Providers like Notion, Gmail, Slack, GitHub that use user-delegated authorization |
| **API Key** | Providers like Exa, HarvestAPI, Snowflake that authenticate with a static key |
| **Bearer token** | Providers that accept a long-lived bearer token |
| **Basic auth** | Providers that use username + password authentication |

## Creating a connection

1. Open the **Connections** section in the [Scalekit Dashboard](https://app.scalekit.com)
2. Click **Add connection** and select a provider
3. Enter the required credentials (OAuth client ID/secret, API key, etc.)
4. Save — the connection is now available for use
For a step-by-step example, see how to set up a [Gmail connection](/reference/agent-connectors/gmail/).

Next, learn how to create and manage [Connected accounts](/agent-auth/connected-accounts) that use these connections to authenticate and execute tools for your users.

---

## More Scalekit documentation

| Resource | What it contains | When to use it |
|----------|-----------------|----------------|
| [/llms.txt](/llms.txt) | Structured index with routing hints per product area | Start here — find which documentation set covers your topic before loading full content |
| [/llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt) | Complete documentation for all Scalekit products in one file | Use when you need exhaustive context across multiple products or when the topic spans several areas |
| [sitemap-0.xml](https://docs.scalekit.com/sitemap-0.xml) | Full URL list of every documentation page | Use to discover specific page URLs you can fetch for targeted, page-level answers |