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A connector gives a thread access to a system outside Sidekick, so it can read from or act on something real instead of working from text alone. This page covers finding a connector, connecting it, and what happens when one needs your approval.

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Two lists

Connectors show up in two places:
  • Your connectors: every connector you’ve personally connected, including any you’ve since turned off. This list is yours alone, not a picture of what the whole workspace has connected.
  • Available: connectors the workspace has approved that you haven’t connected yet.

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Connect a tool

1

Find it in Available

Open the available list and find the connector you need.
2

Check the button state

The button tells you what’s needed:
  • Set up: you haven’t connected this one yet. Click it to start.
  • Reconnect: the connection broke, often because a credential expired or was revoked elsewhere. Click it to fix the connection.
  • Added: this connector doesn’t need authentication, so it’s already on. There’s nothing for you to do.
3

Use it in a thread

Once connected, bring it into a thread with @ from the composer. See Thread and composer.

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Every tool has a disposition

An admin sets a disposition on each connector: allow, ask, or block. Allow lets a thread call it without stopping. Ask pauses the thread and shows an approval card before the call runs. This is a gated tool. Block means a thread can’t use it at all, no matter who’s asking.
If a thread stops on an approval card, that’s the ask disposition doing its job. See Approvals for what to do with it.

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Request a connector you don’t have

If a connector you need isn’t in your available list, you can still ask for it. Request it and it shows as Requested while an admin reviews whether to approve it for you.

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Using a connector outside Sidekick

Some connectors aren’t only usable inside a Sidekick thread. Where a connector supports it, the same governed connection can be reached from outside Sidekick through a gateway, so other tools you use can call on it under the same rules. Availability depends on the connector and your workspace’s configuration.

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Where to go next

Govern tools and connectors

How admins control which tools and connectors are available and how they’re gated.

Approvals

What to do when a gated tool pauses a thread for your sign-off.