[galaxy-dev] tool development

Hi All, I would like to create a tool to import data from a sequencer on a networked share to a users history. The ideal setup would be that a query can be submitted to a database which contains all metadata from the sequencer + the path of the sequencer output. The tool should then show the available datasets found in the database and provide checkboxes to select which data should be imported. My question is: how do you guys propose I get started on this? Do I use the API? Is it even possible to get a tool to return some output without submitting it as a job, e.g. using it interactively? Thanks for the help! PS: I know the basics of tool development, but I haven’t got much experience, so all comments are welcome! Matthias