Connectors¶
A connector is a link between zGentic and another system, so the assistant can use that system while it answers you: look up a Jira issue, read a Confluence page, fetch tomorrow's weather.
There are two steps, and they are done by different people. An administrator installs a connector for the organisation, choosing from a reviewed list. You then switch it on for a chat, a project or an agent.
Two kinds of connector¶
| Kind | Examples | What you have to do |
|---|---|---|
| Open — no account needed | weather, current time | Switch it on. |
| Needs your own account | Atlassian (Jira and Confluence), Lucid, GitHub, Slack | Switch it on, then sign in once with your own account for that system. |
Switching one on for a chat¶
- Open the Tools sheet with the + button beside the message box.
- Find the Connectors section and switch the connector on. Your choice is remembered for that chat.
- Ask your question in the normal way: "What is the weather in Luxembourg for the next two days?" or "Summarise Confluence page ABC-123."
If the section says no connectors are installed, that is what it means: your organisation has not installed any yet. An administrator does that under Admin, in the Connector marketplace (see the owner and admin guide).
For a project, switching a connector on from the project page makes it apply to the project's chats. A setting on an individual chat still takes precedence. For an agent, the connectors chosen in the agent's own settings are the ones it may use.
Signing in with your own account, and why¶
Connectors for systems like Jira are authorised per person, never once for the whole organisation.
When a connector needs your account, the row offers Connect instead of an on switch. It takes you to your settings page, where Connect your … account sends you to that provider's own sign-in page. You come back with the connector ready to use.
This is deliberate. Because the connector acts as you, it can reach exactly what you are allowed to reach and nothing more. A colleague who switches on the same connector gets their own permissions. Nobody sees anything through somebody else's access.
If your sign-in expires, the row asks you to reconnect. You can also disconnect whenever you like, which deletes the stored authorisation.
What the assistant does with a connector¶
The assistant can see which operations the connector offers, and calls the ones your question needs. It then works the results into its answer.
Whatever comes back is treated as information, not as orders. If somebody has hidden instructions inside a ticket description or a wiki page, the assistant tells you it found them and carries on. Your organisation can also limit which outside addresses are reachable at all.
Each call to a connector is counted like any other work, so it shows up in your organisation's usage figures.
When it does not work¶
- The connector is listed but nothing happens. Check that it is switched on for this chat, and that you have signed in if it is the kind that needs your own account.
- You are asked to connect your account again and again. Your authorisation has expired, or it was withdrawn in the other system. Connect once more.
- A scheduled run ignored the connector. That is intended. A run that happens while nobody is watching never uses a connector tied to a person's sign-in.