Make a connector an app
Liberty has no separate Apps configuration. The thing users call "an app" — what shows up in the top switcher, what carries a menu in the left navigation — is just a connector with a menu attached and the show_in_switcher flag on.
This page walks the wiring from both sides: the connector flag + the menu key.
The three pieces
| Piece | Where it lives | Required for an app? |
|---|---|---|
show_in_switcher | On the connector (Settings → Connectors → Settings tab). | Yes — when off, the connector exists but doesn't appear in the top switcher. |
[menus.<connector>] | The menu file (Settings → Menus). | Yes — without a menu, the connector is treated as a data source, not an app. |
home | On the connector (Settings → Connectors → Settings tab). | Optional — sets the landing menu item when the user picks this app in the switcher. |
Two separate effects, decided by different flags:
| Effect | Triggered by |
|---|---|
| The connector chip moves from Data sources to Apps on the Connectors page. | Menu existence alone — [menus.<connector>] is set up. |
| A tile for the app appears in the top switcher (the user-facing app picker). | Both menu existence and show_in_switcher = true. |
Set up the menu first; flip show_in_switcher on second. Miss the second step and the connector still classifies as an "app" on the Connectors page but doesn't show up for end users in the switcher.
Where each flag is set
Step 1 — On the connector
Open Settings → Connectors, pick the connector, switch to the Settings tab. The fields relevant to "this is an app":
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
show_in_switcher | Default true. When on, the connector shows in the top app switcher (provided it has a menu). When off, the connector is reachable only by URL — useful for hidden / admin connectors. |
home | Dropdown sourced from this connector's menu items. Picks the landing menu item when the user clicks the app in the switcher. Blank → the first visible top-level item. |
Save the connector page — the change applies immediately (hot reload).
Step 2 — On the menu
Open Settings → Menus. If the connector doesn't have a menu yet, the ＋ Add a menu for a connector button opens a modal listing every connector without a menu — pick yours. The modal:
- Creates a new
[menus.<connector>]entry with no items. - Selects the new app chip.
- Reveals the empty tree.
If the connector already has a menu, its chip is in the scope bar — click it.
Add items via ＋ Folder / ＋ Item at the top of the tree pane. See Build the tree for the editor walkthrough.
What changes after the wiring
Before:
- The connector shows up under Data sources on the Connectors page.
- It doesn't appear in the top switcher.
- Screens that point at its queries are reachable only by URL.
After:
- The connector shows up under Apps on the Connectors page.
- It appears in the top switcher as a tile.
- Clicking the tile takes the user to the
homeitem (or the first visible top-level item). - The left navigation shows the menu tree.
The Connectors page reads the menus file to decide the grouping — there's no separate "this is an app" flag beyond "has a menu + is in the switcher".
Cloning an app
The Connectors page has a Clone action (covered in Queries → Clone a query or a connector) that copies the connector + its dictionary overlay + its screens + its menu + its dashboards + its charts under a new connector key. The cloned connector inherits show_in_switcher; its menu is wired automatically — the cloned app appears in the top switcher as soon as the clone completes.
This is the right move when:
- You need a parallel deployment (
nomasx1→nomasx1bfor regression testing). - You're standing up a per-tenant instance.
- You're forking an app for a major refactor while keeping the original running.
Hiding an app temporarily
Two ways to take an app out of the switcher without deleting it:
| Option | Effect |
|---|---|
Turn off show_in_switcher on the connector. | The app vanishes from the switcher. Its screens are still reachable by URL; users with the URL keep working. |
Delete the [menus.<connector>] entry. | The connector returns to Data sources. Screens still resolve, but the user has no nav to find them. |
The first is the right choice for maintenance windows — fully reversible in one click. The second is for genuinely retiring the app's UI.
Multi-app installs
A typical Liberty install carries several apps:
| Connector | Role |
|---|---|
crm | Customer-facing CRM. |
nomasx1 | Security review. |
nomajde | JDE master data. |
nomaflow | Job scheduler (its own product). |
default | The framework's own pool — usually no menu, just a data source for shared queries. |
Each gets its own [menus.<name>] block, its own chip on the Menus page, its own switcher tile. They share the same framework process, the same authentication, the same dictionary (with per-connector overlays).
A user signing in sees only the apps they have permission for — GET /api/menus returns an empty tree for an app where the user can't run anything (and the switcher tile hides itself accordingly).
Common pitfalls
| Mistake | Symptom | Fix |
|---|---|---|
Connector has show_in_switcher = true but no menu. | The connector shows in the Connectors page's Data sources group; the top switcher doesn't list it. | Add a menu in Settings → Menus. |
Connector has a menu but show_in_switcher = false. | The menu exists but the switcher hides the tile. | Either turn show_in_switcher on, or accept that users will reach the app by URL only. |
home points at a menu item that no longer exists. | Clicking the switcher tile lands on the first visible top-level item, ignoring the stale home. | Re-pick a valid item — the dropdown lists the live menu items. |
Adding [menus.<X>] where <X> isn't a connector. | The page rejects the entry on save — the menu key must match a known connector. | Create the connector first, then attach the menu. |
| Cloning an app but the new pool doesn't exist. | The clone modal refuses to submit. | Create the pool in Settings → Pools before cloning. |
What's next
- Build the tree — folders, leaves, drag and reorder.
- Item types — pick between
query,endpoint,dashboard,page. - Queries → Clone a query or a connector — the whole-app clone flow.