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Welcome to FactoryThread

FactoryThread is a powerful data integration and automation platform that helps you connect, transform, and orchestrate data across your organization. Whether you're synchronizing data between systems, building automated workflows, or exposing data as APIs, FactoryThread provides the visual tools to get it done without writing code.

What Can You Do with FactoryThread?​

Connect to Your Data Sources​

FactoryThread connects to a wide variety of data sources, bringing all your data into one place:

  • Databases - SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Amazon Redshift, IBM DB2, Microsoft Access
  • Files - Excel spreadsheets, CSV files, and other flat files
  • APIs - REST endpoints, OData services, and custom integrations
  • AI Services - OpenAI and Azure OpenAI for intelligent data processing

Once connected, FactoryThread automatically discovers your tables, views, and schemas, making your data immediately available for use in workflows.

Build Visual Workflows​

The Designer is your visual workspace for building data workflows. Using a simple drag-and-drop interface, you can:

  • Pull data from multiple sources
  • Transform data using filters, mappings, joins, aggregations, and more
  • Write data back to databases, files, or APIs
  • Chain operations to create complex data pipelines

No coding required. Everything is visual and intuitive.

Automate with Triggers​

Workflows can be triggered in multiple ways:

  • Manual - Run on-demand from the interface or via API
  • Scheduled - Run automatically on a cron schedule (hourly, daily, weekly, etc.)
  • HTTP - Expose your workflow as a REST API endpoint
  • From Flow - Call one workflow from another to build modular, reusable pipelines

Monitor Everything​

The Dashboard and Insights pages give you complete visibility into your data operations:

  • Execution history - See every run with status, duration, and timestamps
  • Error details - Quickly identify and debug failed executions
  • Performance metrics - Track success rates and execution times
  • Upcoming schedules - See what's scheduled to run next

Key Concepts​

Understanding these core concepts will help you get the most out of FactoryThread:

Workspaces​

A workspace is your isolated environment for organizing connections, workflows, and team members. Each workspace has its own:

  • Connections to data sources
  • Flows, views, and APIs
  • Team members and permissions
  • Execution history

You can create multiple workspaces to separate different projects, environments (dev/staging/prod), or teams.

Connections​

A connection is a configured link to a data source. Once you create a connection, FactoryThread discovers the available entities (tables, views, endpoints) that you can use in your workflows.

Entities​

An entity represents a specific data source within a connection - typically a database table, view, or API endpoint. When you add an entity to your workflow, you're selecting which data to pull.

Flows​

A flow is an automated data pipeline that runs based on a trigger. Flows can:

  • Execute on a schedule
  • Be called via HTTP API
  • Process data and write results to destinations
  • Call other flows for modular design

Flows are deployed to run in production and their executions are tracked in Insights.

Views​

A view is a transformation definition that takes data from one or more sources and transforms it. Views are useful for:

  • Defining reusable data transformations
  • Creating calculated fields and aggregations
  • Joining data from multiple sources

Views can be used inside flows or previewed directly.

APIs​

An API is a workflow exposed as an HTTP endpoint. When you create a flow with an HTTP trigger, you get a REST API that can be called from external systems, accepting parameters and returning data.

How to Get Help​

FactoryThread provides multiple ways to get help as you work:

In-App Help Panel​

Press ? (question mark) anywhere in the app to open the help panel. The help panel provides:

  • Contextual articles relevant to your current page
  • Search across all documentation
  • Bookmarks for saving frequently referenced articles
  • Feedback to report issues or request features

Guided Tours​

Look for the guided tour links in the help panel or the Usage Guide in the sidebar. Interactive tours walk you through features step-by-step, highlighting UI elements and explaining how to use them.

This Documentation​

You're reading it! This documentation site provides comprehensive guides, tutorials, and reference material for all FactoryThread features.

System Requirements​

FactoryThread runs in modern web browsers:

  • Chrome (recommended) - version 90+
  • Firefox - version 90+
  • Safari - version 14+
  • Edge - version 90+

For the best experience, use a screen resolution of 1280x720 or higher.

Next Steps​

Ready to get started? Here's the recommended path:

  1. Quick Start Guide - Build your first workflow in 5 minutes
  2. Connections Overview - Learn how to connect to your data sources
  3. Designer Overview - Master the visual workflow builder

If you're evaluating FactoryThread, the Quick Start Guide will give you hands-on experience with the core features in just a few minutes.