Skip to main content
Use a slate someone has shared with you: open its hosted URL, sign in if needed, and supply any personal accounts or secrets it requires. You do not need a local checkout or the CLI to follow this guide. Complete only the setup items the slate asks for. Some slates use entirely shared resources and need no personal setup.
1

Open the hosted URL

Open the URL, which looks like https://<name>.contextlayer.xyz/.
2

Sign in

A private slate sends you to sign in with your ContextLayer account, then returns you to the slate. New slates are private. A private slate opens for its owning user, or for members of its owning organization.A public slate can open without sign-in. That does not make its resources yours or grant permission to manage the slate.
3

Check your setup

The chrome is the ContextLayer header above the app. It shows your signed-in identity and the slate’s setup status. Select the status to open the configuration tray.The tray lists declared connections and required personal secrets, along with the app or agents that use them. If there are no requirements, it shows No setup required. Otherwise, use the list to see which inputs still need configuration.
4

Assign your accounts

For each connection labelled as your connected account, open its settings and choose the account you want the slate to use. This is a viewer-mode connection: your selection affects your use of the slate, and other people choose their own accounts.If the account is not listed, select Connect account. In the new tab, sign in to the external service and authorize the account you intend to use. Return to the slate, refresh it, and select the newly connected account. Authorizing an account and selecting it for the connection are separate steps.
5

Supply your secrets

A personal secret belongs to your personal Owner under its name. Other slates requesting the same personal secret name use the same value, so replacing it affects those slates too. The value is not shared with other viewers.For each required personal secret, open its settings, enter your value, and select Save secret. This is a viewer-mode secret. The chrome confirms whether a value is saved without displaying the stored value.
6

Refresh the page

Refresh the slate so the app uses your saved setup, then carry out the task you opened it for. Reopen the tray to confirm that your selected accounts and saved-secret statuses are present.
If the app needs an input you have not configured, the starter app shows Assign an account to continue or Set a secret to continue and points you to the setup menu.

​
Personal and shared resources

Resource mode determines who supplies a resource: Using a shared resource through the app does not grant permission to manage its Owner’s accounts or secrets. When you cannot configure a shared connection, the chrome shows Managed by slate Owner. If that shared connection still needs an account, the slate’s Owner must configure it. Your accounts stay yours. The slate’s code never receives your account credentials: Composio holds them, and ContextLayer makes the slate’s tool calls with them. See Accounts.

​
When your setup is complete

When the chrome shows Setup complete, all connections declared by the app and its agents have assignments, and all required viewer-mode secrets are saved. This reports configuration status; opening the tray does not itself join you to the slate. For a private slate, saving a connection assignment, supplying a declared secret through the slate’s setup flow, or first using a viewer-mode resource can establish your slate membership once whole-slate setup is complete. Membership records your participation; it does not give you permission to manage the slate or change who may open it. ContextLayer then provisions and migrates your viewer-mode databases and installs schedules for agents that run for each member. This work happens in the background after membership is established. A member remains a member if a required account or secret later needs configuration again; the affected operation still needs that missing input before it can run. Public slates do not create memberships or use viewer-mode resources. See Owners and viewers for the full access and membership model.