Connecting apps

Perisclaw can do more than WhatsApp and Google. Through connectors, you plug in the other tools you already use, then work them by asking in chat. Instead of hopping between apps, your assistant becomes the hub.

Two ways to connect

• From the catalog: browse the ready-to-connect apps on the Apps page in the web app and add one with a couple of taps.
• Bring your own: connect any app that offers an MCP endpoint by adding its address and signing in. Useful for internal tools or anything not yet in the catalog.

The catalog currently includes Microsoft 365 (Outlook mail and calendar, OneDrive, contacts), Slack, Notion, Dropbox, Todoist, Asana, HubSpot, Stripe, PayPal, Calendly, Granola, Fireflies, and Canva. It grows over time. The Apps page always shows what is available right now.

How connecting works

Connecting always happens in the web app, never in chat. That keeps your passwords and keys out of your WhatsApp history.

1. 1

   Ask in WhatsApp

   Tell your assistant what you want to connect: “connect my Notion.” It replies with a secure link to the web app. You can also go straight to the Apps page.

   You have a web app link for that service.
2. 2

   Authorize in the web app

   Open the link. Either sign in to the app through its normal “allow access” screen, or paste the app’s address and access token. Perisclaw stores the credential securely.

   The service shows as connected on the Apps page.
3. 3

   Start using it in chat

   Your assistant confirms the connection and lists what it can now do. From then on, just ask.

   A request that uses the app returns a real result.

What you can do once connected

Anything the app exposes becomes available in plain language:

• “Find the Notion doc about the Q3 budget.”
• “What did I miss in the #launch Slack channel today?”
• “Summarize my unread Outlook mail.”
• “Add ‘renew the domain’ to my Todoist for Friday.”

You can also weave connected apps into Missions and Automations: “open a ticket in our CRM, wait for it to be assigned, then tell the team” or “update this Sheet every morning.”

If an app accepts file links or uploads, Perisclaw can pass it a WhatsApp attachment. The link is private and expires after ten minutes. Apps that only accept a file path on their own computer can't receive WhatsApp files.

Manage your connections

Ask “what apps do I have connected?” or check the Apps page. To remove one, say “disconnect Notion” (it confirms first) or remove it from the web app. Disconnecting immediately stops all future access to that service.

Perisclaw also screens the addresses you connect to and limits how many apps and tools can be added, to keep your private server safe. For how access and approvals work in general, see Permissions & access.

Want to go the other way and use your WhatsApp from ChatGPT, Codex, Claude, or Cursor? See the Perisclaw plugin and MCP server.

Gmail

When the Gmail skill is available on your server, you can read, draft, send, and organize email through your assistant. Gmail needs its own consent: existing Calendar or Drive access does not grant mailbox access. In Apps → Google, choose Connect Gmail beside the account you want to use.

In my work Gmail account, draft a reply to the latest venue email. Save it for my review; do not send.

New drafts use the sending account’s Gmail sender name. The photo beside a received email is controlled by the recipient’s mail app and the sender’s profile.

A draft stays in Gmail until you ask to send it. Name the sending account when you have more than one connected account. You can also ask to archive selected messages, apply labels, or mark them read. Reading or drafting does not mark mail read automatically.

Email intake starts when you connect Gmail. Every 15 minutes Perisclaw reads new mail into your tasks, next to your WhatsApp work, skipping spam, trash, promotions, and social-category mail. When a reply or follow-up is due, the task carries a ready email draft; it is sent only when you send it from Today or tell Perisclaw to send it. Pause intake per account with Pause email intake. Intake never sends, labels, or archives anything.

Automations can read and organize your Gmail on a schedule, for example "Every morning at 9, summarize my unread email here" or "Every evening, archive newsletters and draft replies to quote requests." They can label, archive, mark read and save drafts, but never delete mail or send it: an Automation's reply waits as a Gmail draft, and it goes out only when you say send in chat.

If a connection needs attention, reconnect that account. An uncertain send result needs checking in Gmail before trying again; it is not confirmation that the email failed.

Reply to email from Today

Open an email task in Today and the thread reads like Gmail, with the reply box open at the bottom. Perisclaw's draft is already in it, with its recipients, Cc, and subject.

• Send sends it from your Gmail now, in the same thread. Edit it first if you like, add files, or switch between Reply, Reply all, and Forward.
• What you type is saved as a real draft in Gmail's Drafts a moment after you stop, and removed once it is sent. Discard deletes it.
• Draft with AI writes the reply for you in a few seconds, using the thread and what you have started.
• Archive moves the thread out of your Gmail inbox, as Gmail's Archive does, and marks the task done. Nothing is deleted.

A draft Perisclaw saved with attachments or Bcc recipients stays in Gmail; send that one from Gmail.