Connectors
The 13 business connectors and 7 AI provider connections, what each can actually do, how credentials are encrypted, MCP support, and OAuth app setup.
4 min readUpdated Oct 17, 2026Applies to Reception AI 1.0.0
On this page
Connectors let a receptionist work with the tools a business already uses. Open Apps in the workspace to connect one, then attach it to a receptionist under that receptionist's Apps section.
The Apps gallery lists about 60 services. 20 are wired up in version 1.0.0: 13 business connectors and 7 AI provider connections. The rest are marked as planned (hidden behind a toggle) and connecting one does not change what a receptionist can do.
Where connectors work
A receptionist uses business connectors through its use_connector tool, which is available in workspace chat, the website widget and the turn-based phone path. Connectors are not available on live Realtime phone calls in 1.0.0.
Business connectors
| Connector | How you connect | What the receptionist can do |
|---|---|---|
| Gmail | Google OAuth, or a pasted token | Send an email. Searching the inbox also needs GOOGLE_ENABLE_GMAIL_READ=true. |
| Google Calendar | Google OAuth | Create an event, or list the next 8 events |
| Google Sheets | Google OAuth | Not a conversation tool: appends a row for bookings, form submissions and leads (see the note below) |
| Outlook | Microsoft OAuth, or a pasted token | Send an email and list the 5 latest messages (mail only, not the calendar) |
| Slack | Bot token (xoxb-…) |
Post a message (default channel general) |
| HubSpot | Private app token | Create or search contacts |
| Salesforce | Salesforce OAuth, or a pasted token | Create or search Leads |
| Shopify | Shop domain and Admin API token | Look up an order (read only) |
| Stripe | Secret key | Look up customers, invoices and charges (read only) |
| Zendesk | Subdomain, agent email and API token | Create or search tickets |
| Notion | Integration token | Search |
| Calendly | Personal access token | List event types and scheduled events (read only; it cannot book) |
| MCP server | URL and optional bearer token | List and call the server's tools |
The lookup_order tool also uses a connected Shopify or Stripe account.
Note
Google Sheets export has a known issue in 1.0.0: rows may not be written for connections saved on a real database. Check that rows arrive before relying on it, or use webhooks to send bookings and leads to your own systems.
MCP servers
Reception AI includes a minimal client for the Model Context Protocol:
- It sends JSON-RPC
tools/listandtools/callrequests by HTTP POST to the URL you enter, accepting a JSON or a single server-sent-event reply. - An optional
Authorization: Bearer <token>header is sent if you provide a token. - It does not perform the MCP
initializehandshake or keep a session, so servers that require a session will not work. The tool list is cached for 5 minutes. - The receptionist picks a tool by exact name or by the closest match to the request.
URLs that point at localhost, .local or .internal names, or private IP ranges, are refused when you save the connector, so a signed-in user cannot make your server call internal services. A single-operator install can lift this with ALLOW_PRIVATE_CONNECTOR_URLS=true.
How credentials are protected
- Connector credentials, phone-number credentials and secret platform settings are encrypted with AES-256-GCM under
CREDENTIAL_ENCRYPTION_KEY, each bound to its owner and record. - With a database configured and no key set, saving a credential fails rather than storing it in plain text.
- OAuth tokens (Google, Microsoft, Salesforce) are refreshed when they are used, shortly before they expire. If a refresh fails, the connection is marked error and needs reconnecting. Pasted tokens are never refreshed.
npm run db:encrypt-credentialsencrypts any plaintext credentials left from an older install. Add-- --dry-runto preview.
Warning
Back up CREDENTIAL_ENCRYPTION_KEY. A database restored without it keeps everything except the stored credentials, which then have to be entered again.
OAuth app registrations
Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Sheets, Outlook and Salesforce offer a Sign in with… button only when you have registered an OAuth app for your install. Without one, the card falls back to pasting a short-lived token.
Create OAuth clients in the Google Cloud console. Use two clients:
| Client | Variables | Redirect URI | Scopes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sign-in | VITE_GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID, GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET |
<APP_URL>/api/auth/callback/google |
openid, email, profile (no verification needed) |
| Connectors | GOOGLE_CONNECTOR_CLIENT_ID, GOOGLE_CONNECTOR_CLIENT_SECRET |
<APP_URL>/api/connect/google/callback |
gmail.send, calendar.events, spreadsheets, drive.file, and gmail.readonly only with GOOGLE_ENABLE_GMAIL_READ=true |
The connector scopes are sensitive, so Google must verify that client before it works for the public (this can take weeks). gmail.readonly is a restricted scope that also needs an annual third-party security assessment; leave it off unless you have budgeted for that. If you leave the connector client blank, the sign-in client is used for both.
Microsoft (Outlook)
In the Microsoft Entra admin centre, register an app for any organisation and personal accounts, add the web redirect URI <APP_URL>/api/connect/microsoft/callback, create a client secret, and set MICROSOFT_CLIENT_ID and MICROSOFT_CLIENT_SECRET. For a single-tenant app, set MICROSOFT_TENANT.
Salesforce
In Setup, create a Connected App with OAuth enabled, callback URL <APP_URL>/api/connect/salesforce/callback, and the scopes api, refresh_token offline_access and openid. Set SALESFORCE_CLIENT_ID and SALESFORCE_CLIENT_SECRET. Sandbox orgs also need SALESFORCE_LOGIN_URL=https://test.salesforce.com.
AI provider connections
The other seven connections are AI providers: OpenAI, Anthropic, Together and OpenRouter for chat; ElevenLabs and Cartesia for speech; Deepgram for transcription. Their support is limited in 1.0.0; read AI models and providers before relying on one.
Not in this version yet
- Connectors on live Realtime phone calls.
- Slack message search (bot tokens cannot search) and Calendly booking.
- A full MCP session handshake.
- Reliable Google Sheets export.