Apps
Connect spreadsheets or install apps for bookings and reservations so your bot can do more, such as looking up bookings or stock for customers, or saving sign-ups to a spreadsheet.
The Apps page
Section titled “The Apps page”Select “Apps” on the left of your project. You need the Editor role or higher to open it. The page has these sections:
- Third-party apps: Google Sheets
- Installed: Apps you’ve installed. Each card shows “Connected” or “Needs reauthorization”, and “Your bot can use it” or “Copilot only”. Below are “Tools and permissions” (“Reauthorize” when it needs reauthorizing) and, for apps with their own admin, “Open admin console”.
- Available: Apps you can install in one click, such as the booking system. Once you’ve installed some, this section is called “More apps”; when everything is installed it says “All apps are installed.”
External tools
Section titled “External tools”External tools connect the bot to other systems, such as a hotel booking system, an appointment system or your own database. Once installed, the bot can look up data in those systems while it answers customers, so you don’t have to copy every record into your knowledge.
There are two ways to add external tools: install one in “Apps” with one click, or add your own under “Settings” › “Copilot and tools”.
Install from Apps
Section titled “Install from Apps”-
Find the app under “Available” and select “Install”. Some apps also offer “Other ways to install”.
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If an authorization window opens, log in to that service and allow access.
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Some apps open a customer verification page in a new tab: verify with your own phone number, then select “Open tool settings” and refresh this connection’s status to see its tools.
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When it says the app is installed, it moves to “Installed”.
The booking system (in Chinese) is installed from here. Cloudbeds is connected from the Cloudbeds side instead, and also becomes an external tool of your project.
Add your own external tool
Section titled “Add your own external tool”If a tool provider gave you a server URL, go to “Settings” › “Copilot and tools”, select “Add external tool” and fill in:
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Name | For example: GitHub |
| Server URL | The URL the tool’s provider gave you |
| Purpose | Helps the AI decide when to use this tool |
| Authentication | “No authentication (public server)”, “OAuth (authorize in the browser)”, “API token / bearer token” or “Each customer authorizes (OAuth per user)” |
“Advanced” explains that “Server URL” is the MCP server URL the tool’s provider gives you. MCP is the open standard external tools use, and this is the only place you’ll see the name. Developers can read MCP integration (in Chinese).
With “Each customer authorizes”, each customer is sent to the server’s own page during the conversation to verify themselves and gets an access token of their own. After adding the tool, select “Test connection” and verify with your own phone number to fetch the tool list.
Let the bot use it with customers
Section titled “Let the bot use it with customers”An external tool you add under “Settings” › “Copilot and tools” is available only to Copilot at first. To let the bot use it when replying to customers:
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Select “Tools and permissions” on the card in “Apps”, or go straight to “Settings” › “Copilot and tools”.
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On the external tool’s card, check “Let the bot use it when replying to customers (it talks to real customers)”.
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Expand “Tools”, check the tools the bot may use in the “Bot” column, then select “Save”. A tool has to be checked for “Copilot” before it can be shared with the bot.
Some one-click apps are already shared with the bot when you install them. The card in “Apps” shows “Your bot can use it” or “Copilot only”, so you can tell at a glance.
While an external tool isn’t connected (its status is “Needs authorization”, “Connection error” or “Not connected”), the AI won’t call its tools. When the card in “Apps” shows “Needs reauthorization”, select “Reauthorize” to authorize it again in “Copilot and tools”.
Google Sheets
Section titled “Google Sheets”Once Google Sheets is connected, your flows can save bookings or sign-ups to a spreadsheet with the “Write to Google Sheets” step, or read data from it.
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In the Google Sheets section under “Third-party apps”, select “Add spreadsheet”.
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Select “Authorize with Google”, log in to your Google account in the new tab and allow every permission.
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Google’s file picker opens; choose the spreadsheet to connect.
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The spreadsheet appears in the list and can be chosen in the “Write to Google Sheets” step.
Chatbotta only accesses the spreadsheets you choose in the file picker. To connect more, select “Add spreadsheet” again.
- Open: Select the link icon next to a spreadsheet to open it in Google Sheets in a new tab.
- Remove link: Select “Manage”, then “Remove link”. Removing the link doesn’t delete the file in Google Drive, and reconnecting the same spreadsheet later restores what used it.
- Refresh: Select “Refresh” to reload the list of spreadsheets.
If authorization fails, the screen says why, for example “Authorization didn’t finish because spreadsheet access wasn’t granted. Authorize again and allow every permission.” Authorize again as it says.
Test after installing
Section titled “Test after installing”Ask a question in “Test” in the right-hand panel that needs outside data, to check the bot gets results, for example “Do you have a double room this Saturday?”.
If the bot doesn’t use the tool, check that:
- The card in “Apps” says “Connected” and “Your bot can use it”
- In “Copilot and tools”, the tool is checked in the “Bot” column
- The “Purpose” clearly says when to use the tool
How this differs from connecting ChatGPT or Claude
Section titled “How this differs from connecting ChatGPT or Claude”External tools let your Chatbotta bot call your systems. Connecting ChatGPT or Claude works the other way round: your own AI assistant reads or changes your Chatbotta project.