title: RethinkDB / Horizon: Integration with Express: Access Horizon data server-side?
body: <p>There is an example of express integration on the Horizon.io Github as shown here:
  <a href="https://github.com/rethinkdb/horizon/tree/next/examples/express-server" rel="nofollow">Horizon express server example</a></p>
  
  <p>I understand what this example is showing: if you have an existing Express server you can add a horizon server, which exposes a route client-side so they can connect to horizon server via websockets.</p>
  
  <p><strong>However, is there is any way for the express part of the server to also access the collections in Horizon?</strong> For example, to do things like local authentication, CRON jobs, or have API endpoints that accept PUT/POST requests. </p>
  
  <p>From what I understand, a direct connection to the RethinkDB database Horizon is using is not that useful, because of a library named Fusion that is dynamically setting metadata on the tables in order to get Firebase-like behavior that Horizon is used for.</p>
  
  <p><strong>How can I access Horizon data server-side?</strong></p>