Which product and account does this cover?
A setup checklist for chatbot apps, plugins, and connectors. Separate chatbot guides cover product settings; available controls vary by account and workspace.
- Direct chatbot apps, plugins, and connectors
- Integrations and controls vary by chatbot, plan, app, and workspace.
- Source application permissions
- Provider consent, sharing, and administrator policy apply separately.
What the permission settings mean
What am I actually giving permission to do?
Separate the connected account, the provider's access grant, and the chatbot's action approvals. Workspace policy can restrict all three. An approval preference does not expand provider access.
Define one job first: Read this project folder and draft a weekly update in chat. Use that job to choose permissions.
How do I make the first connection?
Use the official integration. Examine the account and requested capabilities during authorization. Stop if they do not fit the job. Your organization may require administrator approval.
- Open the chatbot's app, plugin, or connector settings.
- Sign in with the account that owns the approved work.
- Review the provider's consent screen. Distinguish reading from editing, sending, deleting, and changing sharing.
- Check the connected account identity and its settings.
- Begin with a disposable document and a read request.
Can I connect only part of my information?
Sometimes. GitHub Apps can be installed for selected repositories. Review that choice in GitHub Settings → Applications → Installed GitHub Apps → Configure. GitHub OAuth apps use a different permission model; do not assume the same repository selector exists.
For other services, inspect the actual content selector and source permissions. A chosen file may identify the task's input without narrowing the underlying connection. If the integration cannot express the boundary you need, use an appropriately restricted account or provide an approved copy instead.
Which actions should ask first?
Start with an available ask-first or allow-reads setting. In ChatGPT, eligible accounts may find this under Settings → Apps or Plugins → the account's Permissions. Availability varies. Other chatbot guides cover their controls.
Decide separately about saving drafts, sending, publishing, deleting, and changing access. Check the account, target, and content before approving. Prefer one-time approval initially. Without suitable controls, prepare the result in chat and perform the external action yourself.
How do I know the boundary works?
Inspect settings and test outcomes. A promise to use one folder does not establish that other folders are inaccessible. A successful read does not prove the connection lacks write permissions.
Use invented data. Compare tool activity with source records. Record the account, resources, allowed actions, approval owner, and test date. Repeat when accounts or capabilities change.
How do I remove access completely?
Disconnect the account in the chatbot, then inspect the provider's own grant. Google exposes linked-app access in Google Account settings. Microsoft work or school users can revoke their own consent in My Apps → Manage your application; administrator-granted consent requires the administrator.
GitHub distinguishes an app installation from authorization to act as you. Removing one installation only affects that account; review Authorized GitHub Apps too when ending all access. Separately review chat history, saved memory, and copied information. Google explicitly notes that unlinking does not erase data already held by the other service.
Practice with fictional material
Build a connection you can explain
Use a disposable document with fictional project facts and a distinctive status value.
- Connect the minimum suitable account access and record the granted permissions.
- Ask the assistant to retrieve the status and draft an update in chat.
- If an approval control is supported, request a harmless edit to the test document and decline it.
- Inspect the original and its history.
- Disconnect the test connection. Change the status yourself; verify a fresh conversation cannot retrieve the new value through it.
Check the evidence
- You can name the account, resources, and allowed actions.
- The draft stayed in chat and the declined edit did not occur.
- The final check tests fresh access, rather than recall of an earlier answer.
Common questions
Do I need to connect an app to use a skill?
A skill may only supply instructions. If its workflow requires live app access, that access needs its own connection and permissions. Check what the installed package actually includes.
What if the requested access is broader than my task?
Choose a narrower supported connection, ask your administrator for a suitable identity, or provide an approved copy and keep the result in chat. A prompt does not narrow provider access.
Official sources
These instructions were checked against product documentation on October 31, 2026. The practice exercise is a suggested test for your own permitted workspace, not a claim that these controls were configured in your account.
- OpenAI: Managing app permissions in ChatGPT
- Google: Manage links with apps from other developers
- Google: Learn about linked apps
- GitHub: GitHub Apps and OAuth apps
- GitHub: Review installed app permissions and repository access
- Microsoft: Edit or revoke permissions in My Apps
- Anthropic: Agent Skills overview
Keep the whole workflow in view.
Set permissions for the tools you use.
Start with the overview, then follow the guide for your assistant or connection. Check what it can read, what it can change, and where approval happens.
Read the Controls overview