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How to create a custom Tool

This guide shows you how to add a custom Tool to the Site catalog so that operators can launch it from a device form alongside the fourteen built-ins.

A custom Tool is a definition that the Alloy Integration Launcher uses to invoke a local executable on the operator's workstation, with device attributes substituted into the argument list. Use this for site-specific scripts, internal tooling, and third-party clients that do not ship in the built-in set.

Prerequisites

  • You are signed in as a Site Administrator.
  • You know the executable name and the argument template that the Launcher should run on the operator's workstation. The executable must be reachable on the operator's PATH or you must give the Launcher a full path.
  • You know which operating systems should expose the tool. AlloyScan filters the Tools button per device based on the audited OS.
  • A test device record exists in the inventory so you can verify the new tool end-to-end.

Steps

  1. Navigate to Admin Center > Site Settings > Customization > Tools.
  2. Click + New tool.
  3. Fill in the fields:
    • Name — a human-readable label that operators see on the device form's Tools menu.
    • Invocation template — the local command the Launcher runs, with placeholders for device attributes (for example, the device's discovered IP address or DNS name). The exact placeholder syntax may vary by deployment; check an existing custom tool in the same catalog for reference.
    • Target OS gating — restrict the tool to devices whose audited operating system matches.
  4. Click Save.

Verify

  1. Open a device record whose audited OS matches the tool's gating.
  2. Click the Tools menu on the device form.
  3. The new tool appears in the list.
  4. Click it. The Launcher takes the substituted invocation and runs it on your workstation. Confirm that the local executable launches and that the device-specific argument has been substituted correctly.

Important: The Launcher must already be installed on the operator's workstation, and the executable that the tool invokes must be reachable from there. Both are operator-side responsibilities; the Site catalog only declares the tool.

Removing a custom tool

Deleting a custom tool from the catalog removes it from the Tools menu on every device form on the next page load. Existing invocations cannot be cancelled — they ran on the operator workstation; AlloyScan has no further hand in them.