Currently the only configurable values for a Pack are related to authentication. It would be nice if Packs could specify an array of properties that can be configured either per-workspace, or per-maker, or per-document. This would streamline a lot of advanced usage for packs, and it would also enable certain usage that otherwise would be too tedious for Coda packs.
Thanks for the suggestion @balupton. Can you provide a more specific example when a feature like this would be useful? The mental and technical model is certainly simpler when there is less state to consider, so worth understanding the benefits to be gained.
Some use cases:
- customise formula defaults, such as default theme for say a syntax highlighter
- properties for additional auth requirements, such as providing auth tokens for multiple services that a pack uses behind a serverless worker
- license keys for external pack billing
- decryption secrets
The existing alternative would be a named formula that is just a constant value, that is passed to the formulas. However, that is quite inconvenient for some of these use cases, which are best off as workspace configuration for the pack.
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Plenty of use cases on my end. For example:
In QuickBooks Pack, a workaround for oauth issues (users currently must provide their account id to every formula)
In IMDb+ app, setting country code so that you receive streaming results relevant to your country.
Currently for me, I think it’s all things that are redundantly passed for formulas that would be better UX to set once.
Related to this, is settings for column formats. Same example of IMDb+ where I’d like user to be able to set country code on the Movie column type for accurate streaming provider results (UI would be the same as adjusting settings for native column types)
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I broached exactly this use case in Slack a few months ago. I previously achieved this by using the temp blob storage, but that pathway was eliminated when the mere reference to a storage item triggered a download.
@balupton is right - without a simple way to establish vales that can be persisted between disparate actions, those actions will continue to be deaf. Actions need the ability to “hear” signals to be smart.
I’m looking for the two thumbs up emoji.
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