July: Embedded CRM apps, Okta SSO, Console, MS SQL

Embracing the midsummer vibes, we are delighted to bring you the latest additions to our product. Besides new components, integrations, and editor features, we are particularly excited about the ability to embed apps in CRM and help desk solutions, giving your team true superpowers. Grab your virtual shades and get ready to explore the shiny things we have prepared for you 💎!

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Summary

• 💪 Embedded CRM apps: Using their respective SDKs, you can now seamlessly integrate Uify apps into Zendesk, Front, or Salesforce. Empower your colleagues by enhancing their existing systems with AI-powered apps - no more switching tabs!
• 🔒 Okta SSO: In our Enterprise tier, we have introduced the option to use single sign-on through Okta. This also includes automated user provisioning via SCIM.
• 👾 Console: The app builder now offers a developer console, enabling you to observe log messages, action runs, and potential errors. Offering a powerful REPL as well, debugging your apps is easier than ever!
• ↔️ MS SQL: Uify apps can now seamlessly integrate Microsoft SQL Server databases, much like the integration process for other database systems such as PostgreSQL or MySQL.

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Let’s break it down

Embedded CRM apps

We have seen extremely exciting use cases and success stories of AI-powered apps being integrated with modern CRM and help desk solutions. Watching those powerful apps being deployed to teams in customer service, supplier management, or customer success, we understood the value of keeping users in a single interface. The idea of Uify apps being embedded in CRM systems was born ✨!

Now, you can build applications that are optimized for embedding. By using the SDKs of the surrounding system your apps can access the context of the current conversation or ticket. So far, we support Zendesk, Salesforce, and Front. In case you have another system or use case in mind - let us know (by replying to this email)!

Watch my fellow traveler Til introducing this feature here 🍿:

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Okta SSO

Single sign-on is a vital feature for large organizations to manage application accesses in a single place. We now offer the option to use Okta as an identity provider. This includes the entire authentication process as well as user provisioning via SCIM 2.0. Upon assigning an Okta user, corresponding Uify accounts will be created, and they will be rendered inactive if the associated Okta user is unassigned or deactivated. Moreover, user profile details, such as their name, will be synchronized in real-time.

Using this authentication flow will make your access to Uify as simple as this:

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Console

Debugging is a fundamental element of application development. Modern browsers provide powerful tools to support developers, including a console to watch your program output as it runs. Now, our app editor has a powerful console as well!

You can see your log messages, all historic action runs and, of course, information about potential errors that occurred. On top of that, it offers a powerful REPL (Read-Eval-Print Loop), with which you can quickly evaluate arbitrary JavaScript snippets, and hence inspect the current state of your app, as well as trigger any action that you want.

It's such a powerful feature, that it justifies a video 🍿:

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MS SQL

In addition to providing support for prominent databases such as MySQL and PostgreSQL, we are now supporting Microsoft SQL Server instances as well. The process of using these sources in your apps follows the same principles as other database systems - write SQL statements with embedded JavaScript snippets, or use it as a managed source for generating charts and tables without writing any code at all!

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Additional improvements

• PDF component: This component allows you to display publicly accessible PDF documents through their respective URLs.
• Managed selects: The <span class="code_text">Select</span> and <span class="code_text">Multi-select</span> components now feature a managed mode, wherein the available options can be defined by selecting an action that returns an array of objects. This eliminates the need for code as you can easily choose the properties for values and labels from a dropdown menu.
• Exploring errors: Action errors leading to a red notification in the top-right corner now offer an “Explore” button, which navigates you immediately to the origin of the particular error.
• Access generated database values: Most database systems provide access to the result values of <span class="code_text">INSERT</span> and <span class="code_text">UPDATE</span> statements through special syntax (e.g., Postgres <span class="code_text">RETURNING</span> or SQL Server <span class="code_text">OUTPUT</span>). Now, when using such syntax in SQL actions, these values are returned to you as action result.
• Bug fixes & improvements: On top of all that, we applied 44 bug fixes and improvements 🚀.

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We hope you enjoy these new features, particularly the capability to integrate Uify apps seamlessly into your preferred CRM. We are eager to learn about your achievements, so remember to reach out and share your success stories with us 🥇!

Happy building!

Dom