Remote Configs

Managing Your Integration Settings with Remote Configs

Remote configs (sometimes called a "Cloud Config") let RemotePhoto manage your integration's settings for you instead of you having to edit configuration files on your own server. It's available for both the CloudCard Photo Downloader and the Bulk Action Importer, and it's designed to make setup faster, support easier, and your integration more reliable.

This article explains what Remote configs are, why they are helpful, and what you can expect. It's a conceptual overview; your RemotePhoto Support or Implementation Engineer will handle the actual setup with you.

The old way vs. the new way

Before remote configs, keeping an integration configured meant a lot of manual, back-and-forth work:

You edited settings by hand in local files on your server.
When something needed to change, you often emailed us your configuration files.
Troubleshooting usually meant scheduling a screen-share so we could walk through your settings together.

With remote configs, that friction goes away:

Your operational settings live safely in RemotePhoto.
Your Support Engineer can view and update them centrally, no file editing on your end.
Changes apply automatically the next time your integration runs.

The result is fewer moving parts for you, and faster, more transparent support from us.

What is remote config?

Your integration has two kinds of settings:

Connection essentials that stay on your machine (for example, how to reach RemotePhoto and your secure access token).
Operational settings that control day-to-day behavior (for example, which folders to watch or how records should be handled).

With remote configs enabled, those operational settings reside in RemotePhoto. Each time your integration runs, it securely checks in with RemotePhoto, retrieves its current settings, and uses them. You no longer have to maintain those settings locally; we do it for you.

Both of our integrations support this:

CloudCard Photo Downloader — downloads approved photos to your systems.
Bulk Action Importer — imports records into RemotePhoto from CSV files.

Why it matters to you

Less setup on your side. A short, one-time local configuration is all that's needed to connect. Everything else is managed for you.
Fewer mistakes. Centrally managed settings mean no more typos in a config file, bringing an integration to a halt.
Faster support. We can see and adjust your configuration directly, so many issues are resolved without a call or an email exchange.
Change without touching your server. Need a different folder or behavior? We can update it in RemotePhoto, and it takes effect automatically.
Greater transparency. Both you and our team are looking at the same single source of truth for your configuration.
Consistency. Your integration always runs on the settings we've agreed on—no drift over time.

What stays on your machine vs. what we manage

Remote configs are a partnership. A few essentials stay securely with you, and we manage the rest.

Stays on your machine (yours to keep):

The RemotePhoto API location your integration connects to.
Your Persistent Access Token is the secure key that authenticates your integration.
The switch that turns remote configs on, plus the name of your integration, so we know which settings to send.
Any highly sensitive local values, such as database usernames and passwords, that your integration uses.

Managed for you in RemotePhoto:

Your integration's operational settings, the day-to-day options that control how it behaves (for example, which folders to watch, default actions, and field mappings).

In short, the keys and connection details stay with you; the everyday settings move to us.

Security & privacy first

Protecting your credentials is the foundation of remote configs.

Secrets never move to the cloud. Sensitive values like your Persistent Access Token and any database passwords are always stored locally by you, never in remote configs.
Built-in safeguards. Our integrations are designed to refuse any attempt to deliver a password or access token through remote configs. Those values simply cannot travel that way.
Only non-sensitive settings are managed remotely. Remote configs carry only operational settings, the kind of information that's safe to manage centrally.

This means you get the convenience of centrally managed configuration without ever exposing your credentials.

How changes take effect

When your Support Engineer updates a setting in RemotePhoto, you don't have to do anything on your server. Your integration picks up the change automatically by dynamically pulling the cloud config from our API every time your integration runs:

The Photo Downloader detects when its configuration is updated and applies the new settings on its next cycle.
The Bulk Action Importer reads the current settings from RemotePhoto each time it runs.

If a setting happens to exist both locally and in RemotePhoto, the RemotePhoto cloud config value is used, so the centrally managed setting always wins. This keeps your configuration predictable and consistent.

A quick example

Scenario: You need the Bulk Action Importer to watch a different folder for incoming CSV files.

Before remote configs: You'd open a configuration file on your server, carefully edit the folder path, save it, and, if anything didn't work, you'd email us the file so we could review it together.
With remote configs: You contact CloudCard support. We update it in RemotePhoto, and the importer uses the new folder automatically on its next run. No file editing, no email attachments, no downtime.

Another example: You want the Photo Downloader to change which photo statuses it downloads. We adjust that setting in RemotePhoto, the downloader detects the update as it pulls the config from our API, and applies it on its next cycle, no changes needed on your machine.

Notes for each product

Remote configs works the same way in spirit across both integrations, with a couple of small differences worth knowing.

CloudCard Photo Downloader

The Photo Downloader includes a friendly setup app (the Downloader Manager) that lets you choose how configuration is handled:

Remote (Recommended) — settings are managed for you in RemotePhoto.
Local (Advanced) — settings are kept only on your machine.

Most customers use Remote mode for the convenience and support benefits described above.

Bulk Action Importer

The Bulk Action Importer is Remote-Config-first. You provide a short, one-time local setup so it can securely connect to RemotePhoto, and from there, your operational settings are managed centrally. This keeps what lives on your server to an absolute minimum.

Watch: Remote configs in action (demo)

Frequently asked questions

Do I still need to store my access token? Yes. Your Persistent Access Token always stays securely on your machine. Remote configs never store or transmit them.

Can I still use local settings? Yes. Local configuration is still fully supported. If you do not want to use remote configs, then you do not have to. For example, the Photo Downloader's "Local (Advanced)" mode is equivalent to our old method of manually editing the application.properties file to store those properties locally.

Who changes my settings? Your RemotePhoto Support or Implementation Engineer manages them for you. You're always welcome to request changes, and we can walk through your current configuration together any time.

Is my data safe? Absolutely. Remote configs only ever handle non-sensitive operational settings. Credentials and passwords never leave your machine, and our API includes a validation layer that prevents sensitive keys and passwords from being stored in remote config. Put simply, we do not want to store sensitive tokens, keys, or passwords as a cloud config. That just isn't the place to store credentials of that nature.

If a setting is in both places, which one is used? The setting managed in RemotePhoto takes priority, so your configuration stays consistent and predictable.

Getting help

Ready to enable remote configs or adjust an existing setting? Your RemotePhoto Support Team is here to help. Reach out any time, and we'll take care of it with you.

For more resources, visit help.remotephoto.ai or email support@remotephoto.ai.