Tools and approvals

What bots can do beyond talking, and when they check with you first.

Tools let a bot do things: read a web page, search, or work in your apps through a connection. You decide which tools each bot gets, and which ones need a person to say yes.

Built-in tools

Every bot comes with these while the workspace allows web search, unless someone turns them off for it.

Read web pagesFetches a public page by its address and reads it as text.web_fetch
Search the webSearches through the workspace's search provider, when one is switched on.web_search
  • Read web pages reads public pages only. It can't sign in to anything, and it can't reach your private network unless the installation allows it with ALLOW_PRIVATE_WEB_FETCH_NETWORK.
  • Search the web uses the workspace's search provider.

To switch one off for a bot, open the bot's settings, go to Tools, and use Turn off.

Bots can also ask each other for help. That's always on when a pod has more than one bot.

Tools from connections

A connection's tools belong to the pod, and every bot in the pod can use them. Each connection has an Approval setting:

ApprovalWhat happens
OffBots aren't offered its tools
AskEvery call waits for a person
AllowTools that only read run straight away. Anything else waits

A tool counts as read-only only when the app says so. If it doesn't say, the tool is treated as one that makes changes, and it always waits.

Try it

Set the approval, pick what the bot wants to do, and answer it.

Linear connection's approval
The bot wants to
Inbox Sorter wants to make a changelinear__create_issue

The call waits in the chat until someone who's allowed to answer it does.

Who can answer

A waiting call shows in the chat with Allow and Deny. Allow lets that one call run. There's no "always allow": the next call asks again.

  • Admins and members can answer approvals in chats.
  • Viewers see "Waiting for someone with permission to answer this."
  • Only admins can answer approvals raised by a routine run.