OAuth sign-in

For many hosted connectors you don’t paste a key at all — you sign in once on the vendor’s own website, and the connection stays live on its own.

What you’ll learn

• How OAuth sign-in differs from pasting an API key.
• How to connect a service like Slack or Google Workspace.
• Why you sign in once and don’t have to re-authenticate.

Sign in, don’t paste

With OAuth 2.1, you authorize askTheodor on the provider’s website instead of handling a raw key. The vendor checks your password; askTheodor only ever receives a token. Your credentials never pass through the chat.

Connect a service

1. From the remote connector directory, pick a service that supports sign-in — Slack, Google Workspace, or DocuSign, among others.
2. Choose Sign in with…; the vendor’s own login page opens in your browser.
3. Approve the access. askTheodor stores only a refresh token — and tokens auto-refresh, so the connection keeps working without you signing in again.

Manage the link

A linked connector shows a 🔐 OAuth badge, and Unlink removes it whenever you want to revoke access.

Sign in once

Because the stored refresh token renews itself, a single sign-in keeps the connector live indefinitely — you won’t be prompted to re-authenticate each session.

Prefer OAuth when offered

If a service offers sign-in, use it over an API key — you never handle the raw secret, and the vendor stays in charge of your password.

Recap

OAuth sign-in lets you authorize Slack, Google Workspace, DocuSign, and more on the vendor’s site, with askTheodor holding only an auto-refreshing token — sign in once, stay connected. Next: choose the brains behind all this work.

➡️ Next: Providers & models