Unit 1: Running the Hotel App

Hands-On Session (45 minutes)

Learning Objectives

  • Configure the hotel app for authenticated chat via AWS Cognito + Bedrock
  • Launch the app and verify both Guest and Manager personas
  • Explore the Manager dashboard and its live Salesforce data
  • Use the built-in MCP debug panel to observe LLM tool invocations

Part 1: Configure and Launch the App (20 min)

1.1 Disable Mock Mode

Now that Workato and Salesforce are connected, switch the app from mock mode to live services. Open app/.env and update the following:

WORKATO_MOCK_MODE=false
SALESFORCE_ENABLED=true

1.2 Add Cognito Configuration

Your facilitator will provide the following values. Add them to app/.env:

AUTH_PROVIDER=cognito

# Facilitator-provided values
COGNITO_USER_POOL_ID=<provided>
COGNITO_CLIENT_ID=<provided>
COGNITO_REGION=us-west-2
COGNITO_REDIRECT_URI=http://localhost:3000/api/auth/cognito/callback
COGNITO_IDENTITY_POOL_ID=<provided>

1.3 Add Bedrock Configuration

These enable the AI chat features. Your facilitator will confirm the model and region:

BEDROCK_MODEL_ID=us.anthropic.claude-sonnet-4-20250514-v1:0
AWS_REGION=us-west-2

1.4 Start the Application 

app/scripts/dev-tools/server.sh start

Open http://localhost:3000

The login page should now show Cognito-based login options instead of mock mode.

If the login page still shows mock mode: Restart the app after env changes — app/scripts/dev-tools/server.sh restart

1.5 Create Your Accounts

You’ll need two accounts to test both personas. Use email aliases to create them from a single inbox (see Pre-Workshop Setup for details):

Persona Email Format Example
Guest yourname+guest@yourdomain.com john.doe+guest@gmail.com
Manager yourname+manager@yourdomain.com john.doe+manager@gmail.com
  1. Click Sign Up and create your Guest account first
  2. Verify via email if prompted
  3. Log out, then create your Manager account

1.6 Verify Guest Login

  1. Log in with your Guest account
  2. You should see the guest view — a chat interface and limited navigation
  3. Wait for the agent greeting message (confirms Bedrock is connected)

CHECKPOINT: App running, Cognito login working, guest greeting received

Part 2: Explore the Manager Dashboard (10 min)

2.1 Switch to Manager

  1. Log out of the Guest account
  2. Log in with your Manager account

2.2 Tour the Dashboard

The Manager view includes a dashboard that pulls live data from Salesforce via the SF API Collection you created in Unit 0:

  • Room status — Vacant, Occupied, Dirty, Maintenance
  • Active bookings — Current and upcoming reservations
  • Open cases — Service requests and maintenance tickets

Take a minute to explore. The data you see is the seed data deployed to Salesforce in Unit 0.

2.3 Understand What Powers This

The dashboard doesn’t call Salesforce directly. It uses the SF API Collection — the same sf-api-collection created during make setup-api. This is an example of how both direct API calls and MCP tool calls are often part of a single application’s architecture, even when it uses agents.

CHECKPOINT: Manager dashboard showing live Salesforce data

Part 3: Your First AI Chat (15 min)

3.1 Open the Chat Interface

  1. From the Manager view, navigate to Chat in the sidebar
  2. The MCP debug panel should be visible on the right side of the chat interface

If the debug panel is not visible: Check that NEXT_PUBLIC_ENABLE_CHAT_DEBUG=true is set in app/.env and restart the app.

3.2 Understand the Debug Panel

The debug panel shows you exactly what the LLM is doing behind the scenes:

  • Tool calls — Which MCP tools the LLM invokes and in what order
  • Inputs — The parameters the LLM passes to each tool
  • Outputs — The responses returned from Workato
  • Timing — How long each tool call takes

This is a client-side view of the full MCP conversation between the LLM and your Workato backend.

3.3 Try a Simple Query

Start with something straightforward:

Show me all vacant rooms

Watch the debug panel:

  • The LLM calls search_rooms_on_behalf_of_staff
  • Workato’s orchestrator recipe executes a SOQL query against Salesforce
  • Room data flows back through MCP → LLM → chat UI

3.4 Try a Multi-Step Interaction 

Are there any open service cases?

Then follow up with:

Show me the details on the highest priority one

Watch how the LLM uses context from the first call to inform the second. The debug panel reveals how many tool calls each interaction requires.

3.5 Observe Manager-Only Access

As a Manager, you have tools that Guests don’t:

File a maintenance request for room 205 — the bathroom faucet is leaking
  • Expected tool: submit_maintenance_request
  • Watch the debug panel for the full input/output payload

CHECKPOINT: Successfully used Manager chat with debug panel showing tool invocations

Troubleshooting

Issue Solution
Login page still shows mock mode Verify AUTH_PROVIDER=cognito in app/.env, restart app
No agent greeting in chat Bedrock not connected; check Cognito/Bedrock env vars
Debug panel not showing Set NEXT_PUBLIC_ENABLE_CHAT_DEBUG=true, restart app
Dashboard shows no data Check SALESFORCE_ENABLED=true and SF API Collection credentials in app/.env
“Unauthorized” on tool calls Verify MCP server URLs and tokens in app/.env
Slow first response Normal — cold start on first Bedrock call. Subsequent calls are faster

Alternative: Test via Desktop Clients

If the hotel app has issues, you can test your MCP servers directly with a desktop client:

Claude Desktop

  1. Find your MCP server URLs and tokens in app/.env (written by make setup-mcp)
  2. Add to claude_desktop_config.json:
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "dewy-guest-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://your_mcp_guest_url?wkt_token=your_token"
      ]
    }
  }
}
  1. Restart Claude Desktop
  2. Test with: “What tools do you have available?”

ChatGPT Desktop

  1. Open Settings → MCP Servers
  2. Add your MCP server URL and token
  3. Test the same scenarios

Workato API Platform (Direct)

  1. Go to Platform → API Platform → API Collections
  2. Click on your collection
  3. Select an endpoint
  4. Use the Test tab to send requests directly

Facilitator Notes

Before this unit:

  • Have Cognito/Bedrock credentials ready to distribute (printed cards or shared doc)
  • Test the full flow yourself — Cognito sign-up can occasionally require email verification
  • Ensure your own Manager dashboard is populated and working as a reference

Common issues:

  • Attendees forgetting to restart the app after .env changes (most common)
  • Cognito sign-up email verification delays (1-2 minutes)
  • Debug panel not appearing (usually a missing NEXT_PUBLIC_ env var — needs restart, not just refresh)

If the app fails for an attendee:

  • Pair them with a working neighbor
  • Workato’s API Platform has a built-in Test tab (Tools → API Platform → select endpoint → Test) as a fallback for seeing tool behavior

Support Ratio: 1 facilitator per 8-10 attendees — this unit has the most environment-specific troubleshooting

Time Buffer: Part 1 often runs long. If needed, shorten Part 3 to one or two prompts — the key checkpoint is seeing the debug panel work.