Advanced · Automation and agents · module 112 of 155
Connectors and permissions: linking AI to your apps
Connect an assistant to your calendar, email or files with as little access as possible, and keep track of what it does.
After this lesson
For each connection, you choose the minimal permissions, make the difference between reading and acting visible and know when to revoke access.
In view · How it connects
An integration with the smallest key
Read which data and actions the integration makes possible.
Read instead of write, one folder instead of everything.
Switch off unused integrations and check the log.
Part 1 of 3 · What does it ask for?
Your preference for less movement is on. Choose each part yourself.
A connection gives real access
Many AI tools can be connected to your calendar, mailbox, storage or other applications. Such a connection, also called a connector or integration, lets the assistant read data and sometimes also do things: create an appointment, share a file or send a message (lesson 73). So you are giving access to real data and real actions. When connecting, read which permissions are requested. Permission for all files is something very different from access to one folder.
Choose the minimum the task needs
Start with the task: what does the assistant need to read, and does it also need to change anything? For a daily overview, read access to your calendar is enough. Only grant write permissions, sending or deleting if the task really requires it, and then preferably with a confirmation for each action. Also limit the scope: one folder, one calendar, a short period. Use a connection your organisation has approved, and do not connect personal tools to work data without permission.
Keep track and revoke what you no longer use
Regularly check which connections are active and what permissions they have. Switch a connection off when you no longer use it or when a trial ends. Check whether there is a log of what the assistant read or did, so that you can trace an error or misuse (lesson 85). If a colleague leaves or a project changes, revoking access is part of the standard arrangements. A connection that nobody manages remains an open door.
New practice example
From explanation to a usable result.
A connection gives an assistant real access. Give only what the task needs and regularly check what is still active.
Fictional practice situationFictional: an association wants an assistant to summarise the new registrations from a shared folder for the board every week. The connection asks for read and write access to all the association’s folders.
View a possible solution
This is how it can be done
Needed: read access to the registrations folder. Not needed: write access and access to other folders. I choose a connection with only that folder, or put the registrations in a separate folder. After the season I check whether the connection is still needed.
Why this works
A smaller scope limits what can go wrong, even in the event of an error or misuse.
Make it slightly more difficult
List all the connections in one tool you use. Which would you still approve today if you had to choose again?
Extra practice, at your own pace. You do not need to submit anything. This does not count towards an automatic assessment.
Your workplace · learning by doing
Make something. See what changes.
Checking the AI connection… You can already view the written example.
Present your assignment to Ende.
Read the answer, change one thing, and compare.
Previously held
New version
You remain in control
What do you want to improve in your next attempt?
On this device only. AI answers remain only in this page memory. This is self-review, not a grade.
Why this approach works
A smaller scope limits what can go wrong, even in the event of an error or misuse.
A step further
List all the connections in one tool you use. Which would you still approve today if you had to choose again?
Try & discover · no obligation
Become the source checker yourself
Only mark statements that the source does not support. Then check your selection.
Fictional task: every morning, an assistant makes an overview of your appointments for today. Which of the requested permissions does it not need for this?
Select which sentences you would correct above. The answer remains hidden until you check your selection.
This trial works locally with fictitious data and does not count towards your lesson completion. It starts anew with a new lesson or reload.
A prompt to get you started
I want to connect a fictional assistant that makes an overview of my appointments for the day every morning. Make a table of the permissions such a connection may request: read calendar, create appointments, delete appointments, read emails, send emails, access to all files. For each permission, say whether it is needed for this task and why. Then propose the minimal set and a moment to review the connection.
Apply it
A colleague connected an AI note-taking tool to the team’s entire shared drive, for one trial with meeting notes. The trial ended two months ago.
Which approach best fits this situation?
- Leave the connection in place; it does no harm as long as no one uses it.
- Revoke the connection or limit it to the folder that is still needed, and agree who reviews connections.
- Ask the tool itself which files it has read and rely on its answer.
With JavaScript, you can check your approach and receive immediate feedback.
Test your insight
An assistant makes daily overviews of your calendar. The connection also asks for permission to send emails. What do you do?
- Allow it, because it might be handy later.
- Give only read access to the calendar; refuse the sending permission or choose a connection that asks for less.
- Allow it and put in the prompt that the assistant may never send emails.
Extra practice
In a tool you use, look at which connections are active. For each connection, note what permissions it has and whether you still need it. Switch off what is unnecessary, within your organisation’s agreements.
Needed: read calendar, limited to my own calendar. Not needed: create or delete appointments, read or send emails, access to all files. Minimal set: read-only access to my own calendar. Review: after the four-week trial, and immediately in case of a change of role.
