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A Chat turn can call tools. Some are built in — web search, Python snippets, image generation, memory, canvases. Others come from apps you connect, and from MCP servers you attach. This page explains where each lives and how to scope it.
Connectors — search connectors, Discover / All / Connected, apps grouped by category

Customize → Connectors. Discover, connect, and choose which product each app reaches. Cortex never sees your passwords.

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Built-in tools

Chat’s Python tool runs a small snippet with no workspace. It is not Code’s shell inside a Cloud guest and not Bot’s computer.

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Connected apps

Open Customize in the sidebar (the page is titled Connectors). Apps are grouped by category — accounting, ads, CRM, and so on — with Discover, All, and Connected filters and a search box (⌘ K).
1

Sign in

Connecting an app needs an account: a guest session cannot be signed back into to revoke the connection later.
2

Connect

Choose the app and follow its own sign-in. You stay signed in with the provider; Cortex never sees your passwords.
3

Choose where it is available

Each connection can be available to Cortex Chat, Cortex Bot, or both. A connection enabled only for Bot is not a Chat tool, and Bot never inherits a tool you did not assign to it.
Connected apps are read at question time. Their content is never stored by Cortex — see Security.

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Integrations in Settings

Settings → Integrations lists the apps that add tools directly to your conversations. GitHub is live with four tools — list pull requests, list issues, create issue, and more. Linear, Slack, Notion, and Vercel are shown as coming soon. The GitHub connection is the same one Code uses for repositories; see Connect GitHub for the walk-through.

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MCP servers

Cortex Chat is a Model Context Protocol client. Under Settings → Integrations → MCP servers, attach a server over HTTP: a name, its URL, and an optional bearer token. Its tools join the model in chat alongside built-in tools and connected apps. You must be signed in.
MCP servers — name, https URL, bearer token (optional), Add

Attach an MCP server: name, URL, optional bearer token.

The CLI is also an MCP client, with stdio and HTTP transports and its own configuration — see Extend the CLI.

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GitHub repositories belong in Code

Connecting GitHub for Code repositories is a different control: Connect GitHub on Code Home, in the repository picker, or under Settings → Integrations. There is no personal-access-token field. If the connection lapses the product shows Reconnect; if GitHub is unavailable on your deployment, the control is not shown. See Connect GitHub. Cortex Security’s GitHub App — pull-request review — is a third, separate install. See Cortex Security.

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Frequently asked

You are a guest. The banner on the Connectors page explains it: connecting an app needs an account so the connection can be revoked later.
Connections are scoped per product. Open Customize → Connectors and enable it for Chat as well.
No. Connected-app content is read at question time and discarded. See Security.