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

# Manage tools

> Connect and manage integrations safely with clear troubleshooting steps

## Goal

Connect and manage integrations safely with clear troubleshooting steps.

## Steps

1. Open Alter settings and go to integrations or tool manager.
2. Connect one integration at a time and test immediately.
3. Confirm required permissions and account scopes.
4. Create a simple test prompt to verify expected behavior.
5. If failures occur, review provider auth and retry.

## Managing Many Tools

Enabling many tools increases context window usage and impacts performance. For most workflows, use **Flow** - Alter's tool orchestrator that automatically selects the right tool for each request.

<Card title="Use Flow for Tool Orchestration" icon="wand-magic-sparkles" href="/workflows/use-flow-orchestration">
  Flow reduces context usage by acting as a single tool that routes requests to the appropriate integration automatically.
</Card>

Instead of loading all tools into every request, Flow:

* Analyzes your request and selects the right tool
* Handles multi-step orchestration across tools
* Reduces context window usage and improves performance

Enable Flow in Tool Manager under **Local Tools > Alter**.

## Troubleshooting

* Re-authenticate provider connection.
* Confirm local/network permissions.
* Check integration-specific limits and quotas.

## Related docs

* [Use Flow for Tool Orchestration](/workflows/use-flow-orchestration)
* [Tools Not Working](/common-issues/tool-not-working)