Prerequisites

  • You must have Administrator access to your BookStack instance.

  • BookStack version 0.31 or above (API support was introduced in 0.31).


Create a service account role

The service account needs a dedicated role with the minimum permissions required for Amber to index content.

Log in to your BookStack instance as an Administrator. Go to Settings via the top right menu.

BookStack navigation bar — click Settings

Click on Settings in the top navigation bar

Go to Settings → Roles.

Settings submenu — click Roles

In the Settings submenu, click on Roles

Click Create New Role.

User Roles page — click Create New Role

On the User Roles page, click Create New Role

Fill out the form with the following details:

Create New Role form with AmberConnector name and description

Enter the Role Name and Short Description as shown

FieldValue

Name

AmberConnector (or similar)

Description

Service account role for Amber indexing

Under System Permissions, enable:

  • Access System API - required for any API token usage

  • Manage System Settings & Permissions - required for Amber to read per-book permission data

Under Asset Permissions, set View access to all shelves, books, chapters, and pages you want Amber to index.

Asset Permissions table — enable View for Shelves, Books, Chapters, Pages

Enable View access for Shelves, Books, Chapters and Pages

⚠️ Do not grant edit, delete, or admin permissions. Read-only access is sufficient.

Click Save Role to save your changes.

Save Role button

Click Save Role to confirm


Create a service account user

Go to Settings → Users.

Settings submenu — click Users

In the Settings submenu, click on Users

Click Add New User.

Users page — click Add New User

On the Users page, click Add New User

Fill out the form with the following details:

FieldValue

Name

AmberConnector

Email

A dedicated email address (e.g. amberconnector@yourcompany.com)

Password

A strong, randomly generated password

Roles

Assign the AmberConnector role created in Step 1

Add New User form — fill in Name, Email and assign AmberConnector role

Fill in the user details and assign the AmberConnector role

Click Save to create the user.

Save button to create the user

Click Save to confirm


Generate an API Token

The service account needs a personal API token to allow Amber programmatic access to BookStack content. The API respects user permissions - only content accessible to this user will be indexed by Amber.

Log in to BookStack as the AmberConnector service account user. Click on the user avatar in the top right corner.

BookStack navigation — click the Admin avatar in top right

Click the user avatar in the top right corner

Go to My Account from the dropdown menu.

Dropdown menu — click My Account

Select My Account from the dropdown

Then navigate to Access & Security.

My Account sidebar — click Access & Security

Click Access & Security in the account sidebar

Click Create Token.

API Tokens section — click Create Token

In the API Tokens section, click Create Token

Fill out the token form with the following details:

FieldValue

Name

AmberConnector

Expiry Date

Leave blank for no expiry, or set a long-lived date and plan for rotation

Create API Token form — enter Name and Expiry Date, then click Save

Fill in the token name and expiry date, then click Save

After saving, the Token ID and Token Secret will be displayed. Copy and securely store both - the secret will only be displayed once and cannot be retrieved afterwards.

API Token page showing Token ID and Token Secret fields

Copy the Token ID and Token Secret - store them securely


Share credentials

Once the service account is created and the API token has been generated, please securely share the following information with the Amber support team:

  • URL of your BookStack instance (e.g.https://bookstack.yourcompany.com)

  • Token ID of the AmberConnector service account

  • Token Secret of the AmberConnector service account