---
title: "Connect an app"
description: "Connect an app to Bugbearer from a GitHub repo or a staging URL."
---

> Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.bugbearer.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Connect an app

You connect an app in one of two ways. Both create an app in your workspace.

### GitHub repo

Bugbearer clones the repo, starts it in Docker on a private network with its own database, and tests that copy.

1. **Connect GitHub**

   Install the Bugbearer GitHub App on your account or organization. In the app, open Settings, Integrations, then **Connect GitHub**. Add the repo to the installation.
2. **Pick the repo**

   On the onboarding screen, pick a repo from the list or type `owner/name`. If the repo holds several apps, pick the folder.
3. **Start setup**

   Select **Set it up**. A setup agent clones the repo (branch `main` by default), writes a boot plan, and works out how a test user signs in. It asks you only when it is stuck. Setup takes about 2 minutes.
4. **Review**

   On the review screen you see the boot plan, the sign-in recipe, and every environment variable. Add the test keys the app needs. See [Secrets and test keys](https://docs.bugbearer.com/secrets-and-test-keys).

The boot plan is an ordered list of typed steps: write env files, build images, start containers, seed data, verify sign-in. Bugbearer never uses the repo's own compose file. Everything runs on a private Docker network, and the app gets its own database.

A repo app runs on the local Docker [runner](https://docs.bugbearer.com/runners), because the cloud runner cannot reach a private network.

If Bugbearer cannot read the repo, it asks you to add the repo to the GitHub App installation. It creates nothing until it can read it.

### Staging URL

Use this when the app already runs somewhere you host.

1. **Choose a URL**

   On the onboarding screen, choose **a URL**. Enter the staging or preview address. It must start with `http://` or `https://`.
2. **Confirm it is not production**

   Select the checkbox. Bugbearer refuses to save the URL without it. The text says agents may sign up, change settings and submit forms.
3. **Save**

   Select **Save URL**. Bugbearer stores the address and allows that origin for test runs.

A URL app has no boot plan and no setup agent. Bugbearer does not start or change your app.

> **Note**
>
> **Coming soon:** the "Use a tunnel" option for an app on your own machine. The screen exists, but the tunnel client is not built, so the command does nothing today.

A coding agent can do the repo path for you. See [Connect the MCP server](https://docs.bugbearer.com/onboarding-mcp).

Source: https://docs.bugbearer.com/connect-an-app/index.mdx