Bridge

Bridge is an auto-generated data management interface for your Sails applications. Named after the ship's bridge—the command center where the captain navigates and controls the vessel.

Think of it as Laravel Nova or AdminJS built specifically for Sails.

What is Bridge?

Bridge automatically generates a full data management interface from your Sails models:

• List views with sorting, search, and pagination
• Create/Edit forms with proper field types
• Relationship management (belongsTo, hasMany)
• Bulk delete
• Detail views with related records

No configuration required—Bridge introspects your models and generates the UI automatically.

Accessing Bridge

Via Dashboard

1. Go to your project in Slipway
2. Select an environment and click the app name from the Apps list
3. Click the ellipsis dropdown menu and select Bridge
4. Browse your models

Your app must be running for Bridge to work — it reads model definitions from the running container.

How It Works

Bridge works by remotely introspecting your deployed Sails app:

1. Slipway executes code inside your running container via docker exec
2. It reads all your model definitions — attributes, types, validations, associations
3. It caches this schema (refreshed every 10 minutes)
4. All CRUD operations are executed remotely in the container context

This means Bridge always reflects your actual model definitions — no separate config to keep in sync.

Auto-Generated Interface

Model Detection

Bridge automatically detects all models in api/models/:

api/models/
├── User.js       → Bridge shows "User" with all attributes
├── Post.js       → Bridge shows "Post" with all attributes
├── Comment.js    → Bridge shows "Comment" with all attributes
└── Order.js      → Bridge shows "Order" with all attributes

Field Type Mapping

Waterline types are automatically mapped to appropriate UI controls:

Waterline Type	Bridge Control
string	Text input
text	Textarea
number	Number input
boolean	Toggle switch
json	JSON editor
ref (date)	Date picker

Relationship Detection

Associations are automatically rendered:

// api/models/Post.js
module.exports = {
  attributes: {
    title: { type: 'string' },
    content: { type: 'string' },

    // belongsTo — rendered as dropdown
    author: { model: 'user' },

    // hasMany — rendered as related list
    comments: { collection: 'comment', via: 'post' }
  }
}

Features

List View

The list view provides:

• Sortable columns — Click headers to sort
• Search — Search across record fields
• Pagination — Navigate through records
• Record counts — See total records per model

Create/Edit Forms

Forms are auto-generated based on your model attributes:

• Required fields are marked
• Field types match your Waterline definitions
• Validation rules (isEmail, isIn, etc.) are respected
• encrypt fields are handled appropriately

Detail View

View a single record with all its data and relationships. Associated records are shown inline — belongsTo shows the related record, hasMany shows the collection.

Bulk Delete

Select multiple records from the list view and delete them in one action.

Configuration

Bridge configuration is done via config/slipway.js in your Sails app:

// config/slipway.js
module.exports.slipway = {
  bridge: {
    // Models to exclude from Bridge
    hidden: ['Session', 'Archive']
  }
}

TIP

Bridge reads your model definitions directly — it doesn't need you to duplicate your schema in a config file. Configuration is only needed for customizing Bridge's behavior, not describing your models.

Troubleshooting

Models Not Appearing

1. Make sure your app is running
2. Check the model is in api/models/ and exports a valid Sails model
3. Wait up to 10 minutes for the model cache to refresh, or redeploy

Relationships Not Working

1. Ensure associations are properly defined with model: or collection: + via:
2. Check the referenced model exists
3. Verify the via attribute matches the association name on the other side

What's Next?

• Use Helm for direct database queries
• Set up Auto-Deploy for continuous deployment
• Configure Team Management for access control