Integrations¶
Integrations are the outside services Backfield uses while running flows — separate from the AI models that read your text. They're configured in one place so credentials stay organized and secure.
| Integration | Used for |
|---|---|
| Geocode Earth | Primary place lookup for the Geocode step |
| Geocodio | Additional address and place lookup |
| Nominatim | Built-in fallback geocoding service; no saved key is required |
| Brave Search | Web and place search used when a location needs more context before it can be resolved |
| Object storage (Amazon S3) | Reading batches of files and writing results back |
Organization defaults and project overrides¶
Organization administrators save the normal credentials once. Projects inherit them and can provide supported overrides from the project's Integrations tab. This is useful when a desk has a separate service account, bucket, or billing boundary.
The interface shows whether each secret is configured but never reveals a saved value. Pasting a new value replaces the old one; removing an override returns the project to the organization default.
How integrations affect flows¶
An integration is used only when a flow contains a node that needs it:
- Geocode uses configured geocoding and search services to turn extracted place descriptions into reviewed geography.
- S3 Input reads article JSON from a bucket and prefix.
- S3 Output writes structured results back to storage.
Missing credentials therefore do not prevent every flow from running, but the affected node may fail or be unable to complete its enrichment.
S3 credentials¶
Amazon S3 normally requires an access-key ID and secret access key; temporary credentials may also include a session token. Treat all three as secrets.
Optionally, organization administrators and projects can also save an S3 role ARN. When a role ARN is set, S3 Input and S3 Output assume that role with the saved access key pair and use the resulting temporary credentials on S3 calls. Leave the role ARN blank to use the keys directly on the bucket, as before. A project override replaces the organization role when set; clearing the project field returns the flow to the organization default.
Bucket names and prefixes are configured on the S3 nodes because they describe what a particular flow reads or writes, while credentials belong in settings.