Managing Budibase

---
name: managing-budibase
description: |
  Use when working with Budibase — budibase low-code platform management
  covering application inventory, table and datasource health, screen layout
  analysis, automation monitoring, and user role auditing. Use when reviewing
  internal app configurations, investigating data connectivity issues,
  monitoring automation runs, or auditing user access controls.
connection_type: budibase
preload: false
---

# Budibase Management Skill

Manage and monitor Budibase applications, datasources, automations, and user access.

## MANDATORY: Discovery-First Pattern

**Always list applications and datasources before querying specific resources.**

### Phase 1: Discovery

```bash
#!/bin/bash

BUDIBASE_API="${BUDIBASE_URL}/api/public/v1"

bb_api() {
    curl -s -H "x-budibase-api-key: $BUDIBASE_API_KEY" \
         -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
         "${BUDIBASE_API}/${1}" ${2:+-X POST -d "$2"}
}

echo "=== Applications ==="
bb_api "applications/search" '{"limit": 50}' | jq -r '
    .data[] |
    "\(.appId)\t\(.name)\t\(.status)\t\(.version)"
' | column -t | head -30

echo ""
echo "=== Tables ==="
bb_api "tables/search" '{}' | jq -r '
    .data[] |
    "\(.name)\t\(.type)\t\(.sourceId // "internal")\t\(.schema | keys | length) cols"
' | column -t | head -20

echo ""
echo "=== Users ==="
bb_api "users/search" '{"limit": 30}' | jq -r '
    .data[] |
    "\(.email)\t\(.role // "none")\t\(.status)"
' | column -t | head -20
```

### Phase 2: Analysis

```bash
#!/bin/bash

echo "=== Application Health ==="
bb_api "applications/search" '{"limit": 50}' | jq '{
    total: (.data | length),
    published: [.data[] | select(.status == "published")] | length,
    development: [.data[] | select(.status == "development")] | length
}'

echo ""
echo "=== Automations ==="
bb_api "applications/search" '{"limit": 20}' | jq -r '.data[].appId' | while read aid; do
    bb_api "automations/search" "{\"appId\": \"${aid}\"}" | jq -r --arg aid "$aid" '
        .data[]? |
        "\($aid)\t\(.name)\t\(.type)\t\(.enabled // false)"
    '
done | column -t | head -20

echo ""
echo "=== External Datasources ==="
bb_api "tables/search" '{}' | jq -r '
    .data[] |
    select(.sourceId != null and .sourceId != "bb_internal") |
    "\(.name)\t\(.sourceType // "unknown")\t\(.sourceId)"
' | column -t

echo ""
echo "=== Role Distribution ==="
bb_api "users/search" '{"limit": 100}' | jq '
    .data | group_by(.role) | map({role: .[0].role, count: length})
'
```

## Output Rules
- **TOKEN EFFICIENCY**: Target <=50 lines per output
- Filter apps by status (published vs development)
- Never dump full table schemas or automation definitions -- extract names and types

## Output Format

Present results as a structured report:
```
Managing Budibase Report
════════════════════════
Resources discovered: [count]

Resource       Status    Key Metric    Issues
──────────────────────────────────────────────
[name]         [ok/warn] [value]       [findings]

Summary: [total] resources | [ok] healthy | [warn] warnings | [crit] critical
Action Items: [list of prioritized findings]
```

Target ≤50 lines of output. Use tables for multi-resource comparisons.

## Anti-Hallucination Rules

1. **NEVER assume resource names** — always discover via CLI/API in Phase 1 before referencing in Phase 2.
2. **NEVER fabricate metric names or dimensions** — verify against the service documentation or `--help` output.
3. **NEVER mix CLI commands between service versions** — confirm which version/API you are targeting.
4. **ALWAYS use the discovery → verify → analyze chain** — every resource referenced must have been discovered first.
5. **ALWAYS handle empty results gracefully** — an empty response is valid data, not an error to retry.

## Counter-Rationalizations

| Shortcut | Counter | Why |
|----------|---------|-----|
| "I'll skip discovery and check known resources" | Always run Phase 1 discovery first | Resource names change, new resources appear — assumed names cause errors |
| "The user only asked for a quick check" | Follow the full discovery → analysis flow | Quick checks miss critical issues; structured analysis catches silent failures |
| "Default configuration is probably fine" | Audit configuration explicitly | Defaults often leave logging, security, and optimization features disabled |
| "Metrics aren't needed for this" | Always check relevant metrics when available | API/CLI responses show current state; metrics reveal trends and intermittent issues |
| "I don't have access to that" | Try the command and report the actual error | Assumed permission failures prevent useful investigation; actual errors are informative |

## Common Pitfalls

- **Publish required**: Changes in dev mode are not live until explicitly published
- **Internal DB limits**: Internal Budibase DB has row and storage limits per plan
- **Automation triggers**: Row-based triggers fire on every change -- can cause cascading automations
- **External datasources**: Connection failures to external DBs break dependent screens
- **User roles**: Role hierarchy (admin/power/basic) controls both UI and API access
- **Backups**: Self-hosted instances require manual backup of CouchDB data