How integrations work
An integration lets your assistant work with another system while it talks to someone. It can read an email, look up a calendar or update a spreadsheet row, then tell the user what it did.
Integrations are different from the other two ways Docana connects to the outside world:
| What it does | Example | |
|---|---|---|
| Connectors | Sync documents into a collection so the assistant can search them | Index a SharePoint folder of contracts |
| Channels | Put the assistant where people talk to it | Answer in Slack or WhatsApp |
| Integrations | Let the assistant act on another system during a conversation | Mark an order as shipped in an Excel workbook |
Connectors only read. If you want the assistant to change something, like adding a record or updating a status, that's an integration.
Setting one up
Integrations are set up in two places. First you connect an account once, and then you choose which applications can use it.
- Go to Developer → Integrations in the platform and pick one from Popular Integrations. For most of them you sign in with the provider. Docana stores the tokens on the server, refreshes them when they expire, and never shows them to the AI model.
- Choose the endpoints, which are the operations the assistant may call. Leave out anything it shouldn't do. If you only want it to read email, don't enable sending.
- Open the application, go to Integrations, and turn the integration on. Only integrations you turn on here are available to that application's assistant.
Private and shared connections
A connection is private by default, so only you can use it. If you make it shared, anyone in your company can enable it on their own applications.
When an integration is enabled on an application, everyone who can use that application acts through the account that made the connection. If you connected your own mailbox, they can read your mail through the assistant. For integrations many people will use, connect a team account rather than a personal one.
Limiting a connection to one folder or file
Some integrations can be narrowed down when you connect them:
- Google Drive can be limited to one folder, subfolders included.
- Microsoft Excel is always limited to one workbook, or to one OneDrive or SharePoint folder. See Microsoft Excel.
The limit is enforced on the server for every call. The assistant can't move outside the folder, whatever someone asks it to do.
Custom integrations
If the tool you need isn't in the list, a developer can add it from its OpenAPI specification under Developer → Integrations → New Custom Integration. It then goes through the same steps: connect it, pick endpoints and enable it on an application.