ConnexCS Anvil IDE — User Guide¶

Document Metadata

Category: Development → Anvil → IDE
Audience: Developers, Solution Engineers, Administrators, Technical Teams
Difficulty: Beginner to Intermediate
Time Required: 15–20 minutes
Prerequisites: Access to a ConnexCS account, an Anvil project, and either the hosted Anvil IDE or the ConnexCS Connect extension for a compatible IDE (such as VS Code, Cursor, or VS Codium).
Related Topics: Document Guide — documentation standards, ScriptForge — backend scripting, Query Builder — SQL development, Anvil Apps — frontend development, CX Terminal — command-line tools.
Next Steps: Sign in to the Anvil IDE, select a project, explore the project structure, edit or create files, run ScriptForge scripts, preview Anvil applications, and use the built-in Assistant and CX Terminal to accelerate development.

Overview¶

The Anvil IDE is ConnexCS's integrated development environment for building Anvil apps — the scripts, page templates, frontend components, and supporting resources that power your ConnexCS platform.

It gives you a full code editor experience with built-in tools specifically designed for ConnexCS development.

Who Is It For?¶

The Anvil IDE is designed for anyone developing or maintaining applications on the ConnexCS platform, including:

Developers building backend logic with ScriptForge or creating frontend applications with Anvil.
Solution Engineers developing customer-specific integrations and workflows.
Technical Teams managing project files, templates, and SQL queries.
Platform Administrators maintaining Anvil projects and collaborating with development teams.

Benefits¶

Using the Anvil IDE provides several advantages for developing on the ConnexCS platform:

Unified Development Environment for backend and frontend development.
Flexible Access through either the hosted web IDE or the ConnexCS Connect extension for your preferred editor.
Real-Time File Synchronization to keep projects up to date across collaborators.
Built-in Preview Tools for scripts, templates, and frontend applications.
Integrated AI Assistance to help explain code, answer questions, and accelerate development.
Native ConnexCS Integration with projects, authentication, and platform resources.
Improved Developer Productivity through intelligent tools, automation, and streamlined workflows.

Key Features¶

The Anvil IDE includes a comprehensive set of development tools:

Hosted web IDE and VS Code-compatible extension.
Secure authentication using browser OAuth or API tokens.
Project Explorer for browsing and managing Anvil project files.
ScriptForge execution with Run and Run with Vars actions.
Live execution results with formatted output.
Structured logging through the CX Logs panel.
Live HTML template preview.
Interactive Anvil application preview.
Integrated CX Terminal for ConnexCS CLI commands.
File history with version restoration.
Built-in AI-powered ConnexCS Assistant.
Automatic synchronization of project files.

Applications¶

The Anvil IDE can be used for a variety of ConnexCS development tasks, including:

Developing and testing ScriptForge backend scripts.
Building Anvil frontend applications.
Managing application files and project resources.
Previewing frontend applications during development.
Debugging applications using integrated logs and execution results.
Collaborating on shared Anvil projects with automatic synchronization.
Developing customer-specific integrations and automation.

Ways to Access the Anvil IDE¶

Where	How to access
Hosted web IDE	Go to code.connexcs.com directly, or open it from within your ConnexCS account at app.connexcs.com → Anvil IDE (opens in a new tab)
Your own IDE	Install the ConnexCS Connect extension from the VS Code Marketplace, Open VSX, or any IDE that supports VS Code extensions (VS Code desktop, VS Codium, Cursor, etc.)

Both options give you the same features. The hosted IDE is the quickest way to get started; the extension lets you work inside whichever editor you already use.