Connect a tool
Integrations are how your agents see and act in the real world. Connecting Gmail gives a digital employee access to company email; connecting Slack lets it read channels and respond. The Integrations page — titled Company Systems Access — is where you grant that access. This page walks the connect wizard end to end and explains the difference between connected and attached.
The metaphor to keep in mind: integrations are an agent's senses and hands. Without them, an agent can think but can't observe or act. With them, it can watch for work and get things done inside your systems.
Where connecting happens#
Open Integrations from the sidebar (under Connect). You'll see:
- Connect Apps — starts the connect wizard.
- Sync — re-checks connection status with the provider and refreshes what's shown.
- A grid of your connected systems, each with status badges, the linked account, capabilities, and (when relevant) the granted OAuth scopes.
Syntrum supports hundreds of tools out of the box, so most apps your team uses are already in the catalog. Common ones — Gmail, Slack, Salesforce, Notion, Google Calendar, HubSpot, Stripe, GitHub — show rich "can do / cannot do" descriptions; others show a generic card with the app's name and icon.
If the catalog is empty, the backend is usually missing its integration API key. Ask a workspace admin to configure it, then choose Refresh.
The connect wizard, step by step#
The wizard has four stages: Select → Explain → Authorize → Confirm.
- Select the app — Choose Connect Apps, then pick an integration from the grid. Use the search box to filter, or Show all to see the full list. Apps already connected are marked Connected.
- See what it can do — The next screen lays out, in plain language, what your AI employees will be able to do (e.g. read incoming emails, draft replies, send follow-ups) and what they will not do (e.g. delete emails without approval, access data outside granted scopes). Review it, then continue.
- Authorize (OAuth) — Choose Open [app] login. Syntrum opens the provider's own sign-in page in a new tab, where you review and grant permissions. This is a standard OAuth flow — Syntrum never sees your password.
- Sync and confirm — Back in Syntrum, choose I completed connection, sync now. Once the connection is verified, the confirmation screen appears: "[app] connected!" It also reminds you that risky actions are still governed by your policies — the workspace safety rules and each agent's supervision mode.
The provider's login opens in a new tab on purpose — most OAuth pages can't be embedded. Finish there, then come back to this tab and sync.
Connected vs. attached#
These are two distinct steps, and the distinction matters.
| State | What it means | Where you set it |
|---|---|---|
| Connected | The app is authorized for your workspace and its account is linked. The tool exists and is ready. | The connect wizard (above). |
| Attached | A specific agent has been granted the tool at a chosen access level. Only then can that agent use it. | Attaching to an agent (below). |
A connected tool sits in your workspace like a shared login. It does nothing until you attach it to an agent — that's what actually puts the tool in a particular employee's hands. On the Integrations page, an attached tool shows an ATTACHED badge.
Attaching a tool to an agent#
If you start the connect flow from an agent (for example, from the agent's tools area), the connection is offered for attachment automatically after OAuth. To attach an already-connected tool:
- Open the Integrations page in the context of the agent you want to grant.
- On the tool's card, choose Attach (connected tools show this action; already-attached tools show Detach).
- Pick the access level (see below) and confirm.
When you connect a fresh app while attaching to an agent, the two steps happen together — authorize, then attach.
Access levels#
When you attach a tool, you choose how far the agent can go with it:
| Level | The agent can… | Behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Observe | Only read — no actions | Read-only |
| Assist | Draft actions for your review | Actions require approval |
| Act | Read and execute | Runs automatically |
Access level is the tool-level dial in Syntrum's governance model. It works together with each agent's supervision mode and the workspace guardrails — the strictest of the three wins. See Tool permissions and The three planes.
Per-user OAuth#
Connections are authorized per user through the provider's own consent screen. The agent acts through that authorized connection — Syntrum stores the tokens (encrypted) and refreshes them for you, and it never stores your password. On a connected card you can expand Granted scope to see the exact OAuth scopes the provider returned.
Managing connections#
From a connected tool's card you can:
- Sync — refresh status and pull the latest connection health.
- Detach — remove a specific agent's grant (the tool stays connected to the workspace).
- Disconnect — remove the connection entirely, revoking access for every agent.
Connection health shows as badges — CONNECTED / ACTIVE, INITIATED, or EXPIRED / ERROR — alongside a sync status and the last sync time.
What's next#
- Tool permissions — tune exactly what each agent can do with a tool.
- Connecting tools — the full integrations reference, sync, and detach.
- The three planes — how tool access combines with agent autonomy and the workspace floor.