Integrations & Tools
What are integrations?
Section titled “What are integrations?”Integrations extend the AI with additional capabilities. They connect 9brains with external services and tools so the AI can do more than just deliver text answers.
Without integrations, the AI can answer questions, research on the internet and access your company knowledge.
With integrations, it can additionally:
- Read and send emails (Microsoft 365)
- Manage calendar appointments (Microsoft 365)
- Edit files in OneDrive or SharePoint
- Run database queries (Databricks)
- Manage tasks in Notion
- Query business data in Odoo
- Analyze and summarize websites
- Create and edit PDF, Excel, Word, and PowerPoint files
Two types of integrations
Section titled “Two types of integrations”There are two types that hardly differ in usage; both provide the AI with additional tools:
MCP servers
Section titled “MCP servers”MCP servers connect 9brains with external services via a standardized interface (Model Context Protocol). Each MCP server provides one or more capabilities that the AI can use.
Example: The Microsoft 365 integration provides capabilities such as “send email”, “read calendar” or “open OneDrive file”.
Skills
Section titled “Skills”Skills are specialized tools that the AI runs directly in a protected environment. They are especially well suited for file processing, data analysis and connecting external APIs (connected skills).
Example: The PDF skill can analyze, merge, split or fill out PDF files.
You create and manage your own skills in the Skills area in the sidebar, right in the chat. All details under Skills.
Overview: What can I do?
Section titled “Overview: What can I do?”| Action | Who can do this? |
|---|---|
| Use available tools in chat | All users (Business license) |
| Manage integrations and your own accounts | All users (Business license) |
| Share or hand over your own account | The account’s owner |
| Create your own skill (in the chat) | All users (Business license) |
| Add an integration | Everyone allowed to create integrations |
| Edit an integration’s settings | The integration’s owner and administrators |
| Share an integration with people or groups | The integration’s owner and administrators |
| Share an integration with all members | Administrators |
| Assign people and groups | Administrators |
| Make a tool available system-wide | Super administrators |
| Configure capability permissions | The integration’s owner and administrators |
| Create, maintain and share a company account | The integration’s owner and administrators |
| Hand an integration over to someone else | The integration’s owner and administrators |
| Delete an integration with others’ accounts | The integration’s owner and administrators |
Note: Integrations and tools are only available with a Business license.
Settings → Integrations
Section titled “Settings → Integrations”Settings → Integrations is the one place where you see and maintain your integrations and accounts. Every integration you may use has a row of its own showing where you stand with it, for example “Connected as …”, “Via company account” or “No account yet”. If a row needs something from you, it shows exactly one button, such as “Connect” or “Sign in again”.
You connect right from the row: for services with a sign-in, the provider’s sign-in window opens (allow pop-ups for it), for a key a small dialog. Afterwards 9brains checks the account automatically and the row shows the new state. Rows that need you are at the top, and the Integrations menu item then shows a small counter badge.
Click a row to expand it. Under “Stored accounts” you see your own accounts for this integration and the ones shared with you, with Test, Sign in again, Share, Hand over, History and Delete. “Add account” adds another one, for example a second Microsoft 365 mailbox; which of them the AI uses, you set with “Use as default”. If the integration comes with a guide, “How to connect” opens it. All details under Accounts.
The gear icon on a row opens the integration’s settings. Only the integration’s owner and administrators see it; everyone else never needs that page. If you are allowed to create integrations, you find “Add integration” at the top right, see Set up & configure a tool. An interface you connected in the chat is listed here as an integration of its own too: it belongs to you, you open it with the gear icon and share it on its Access tab like any other.
As an administrator you additionally see “Other members’ integrations” below: your colleagues’ integrations that are not shared with you and on which nobody shares an account with you, with their owner and the gear icon to their settings. That lets you help, for example block a capability or hand an integration over. In the chat you only use them once they are shared with you and you connect an account of your own, or once somebody shares an account on them with you.
You will not find your own skills here but in the Skills area in the sidebar.
Control accounts per agent
Section titled “Control accounts per agent”For each agent, the Tools & accounts tab decides which accounts it works with. An agent only has an account list of its own once somebody has given it accounts.
An empty list means the agent follows the person in front of it
Section titled “An empty list means the agent follows the person in front of it”With no account switched on, the agent works in chat with the accounts of whoever is using it. In automatic runs on a schedule or via webhook it then gets none at all, because there is nobody there whose accounts could count.
As soon as a single account is switched on, the agent works only with those, for all users and in every situation. Everyone can only switch on accounts they hold themselves, in the Tools & accounts tab or directly on the account by adding the agent there via “Share”. An account shared with you can only go to agents you may edit, and only if it is shared in the role Use and pass on. On the first share you are asked whether the agent should take your accounts along; after that the list never grows on its own.
More on this: Agents: which accounts an agent works with.
Using tools in chat
Section titled “Using tools in chat”You don’t have to do anything special; the AI automatically recognizes when it needs a tool and uses it.
Examples
Section titled “Examples”Write an email (Microsoft 365):
“Write an email to Max Müller with a summary of yesterday’s meeting.”
Query data (Databricks):
“Show me the revenue figures for the last three months from our database.”
Create a PDF (PDF skill):
“Create a PDF summary from the three attached documents.”
Excel analysis (Excel skill):
“Analyze this CSV file and create an Excel sheet with charts.”
Check calendar (Microsoft 365):
“What appointments do I have tomorrow?”
The AI shows you which tool it is using and delivers the result directly in the chat. Created files (PDFs, Excel, Word, PowerPoint) can be downloaded directly.