Connections: apps, API keys and external agents
Connect Gmail, GitHub and your other apps so agents act as you, share API keys with your workspace, and add MCP servers or agents you run yourself.
You can connect the apps you already use so your agents take real action as you, share API keys with everyone in your workspace, and bring in agents you run yourself — an MCP server, your own endpoint, or a coding agent like Claude Code.
You rarely need to set anything up in advance. When a task needs an app you haven't connected, a card appears in the chat, and the task picks up again once you connect.
Connect Gmail to continue.
Connect in your browser, or enter provider credentials here when required. The task resumes once it’s linked.
Connect from chat when a task asks
In a channel, the card is one compact row: Connect and the app's name, with the line "Approve to keep this task moving". Inside the task itself it reads "Connect Gmail to continue." Either way, you choose Connect or Decline.
Connecting doesn't hold anything else up. The agent keeps going with what it can do, and the task resumes by itself once the account is linked. The card then shrinks to a single line saying the app is connected.
If an account you connected earlier stops working, you get a similar card asking you to reconnect it. The task resumes on its own once the account is linked again.
Personal connections
Your connections are private. Agents use them only when you ask them to act.
Connections travel with you, not with an agent. Connect an app once, and any agent you hand work to — one you built or one a teammate built — acts as you on that app. When a teammate hands that same agent work, it acts as them.
Open Settings → Account → Connections and choose Add connection. Open any connected app to see what it can do and how many agents use it.
Open Settings and, under Workspace Brain, choose Apps — the one place for connected apps, chat bots and MCP servers.
Whose account an agent uses
There's no account picker on an agent. An agent acts through the toolkits it has, using the accounts of whoever asked for the work.
Open an agent's window and go to Tools to see both halves. Toolkits lists what the agent can use. Connections is a read-only list of the accounts you can use through those toolkits, each marked Private or Workspace. Manage connections takes you to your private connections or to the workspace's shared keys.
| Your connection | Provider key | Variable | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where | Settings → Account → Connections | Settings → Workspace → API keys | Settings → Workspace → API keys |
| Who it serves | Only you | Every member of the workspace | Agents in the workspace |
| Best for | Your inbox, calendar and accounts that should act as you | One shared key for an app Nebula already knows | Anything the catalog doesn't cover |
| Agents see it as | Actions on that app | Actions on that app | An environment variable |
Shared API keys and variables
Settings → Workspace → API keys holds the secrets your whole workspace relies on, in two sections.
Shared API keys for apps Nebula already knows, available to every member of the workspace. Choose Add connection, pick the app, and add the key once for everyone.
Your own secrets and configuration, for anything the catalog doesn't cover. Choose Add variable and give it a Name such as STRIPE_API_KEY and a Value. Secret value is on by default. Turn on Use in browser tasks and list the sites the value may be used on, such as https://app.example.com.
Values are encrypted at rest and only reach authorized agents in the workspace. Deleting a variable cuts off every agent that uses it, so check before you remove one.
When a task needs a key that doesn't exist yet, it names the missing variables in chat. Add them under Variables and the task carries on by itself.
Add an MCP server
Ask Nebula to add a remote MCP server by its public https:// address. Nebula registers the server as a toolkit that any of your agents can use. If the server signs in with OAuth, you get a Connect card to finish.
Add our inventory MCP server for the whole workspace: https://mcp.northwind.io/inventory. Its key is saved in Variables as INVENTORY_MCP_KEY.
Registering Northwind Inventory as a workspace MCP toolkit, authenticated with INVENTORY_MCP_KEY.
Done — Northwind Inventory is registered for the workspace, and everyone's agents can use it. Want me to give it to @Prospect Researcher?
Save the server's key under Variables first. Nebula refers to it by name, so the secret itself never appears in a chat message. A server Nebula adds is private to you unless you ask for it to be shared with the workspace.
When you create an agent on desktop, its What it can reach step also has a Connect button for adding an account or an MCP server from the catalog.
External agents
External agents are agents you run yourself, whether that's a coding CLI on one of your devices, an MCP server, or an API endpoint. Set them up under Settings → Account → External agents with Add external agent.
Coding agents like Claude Code and Codex have their own page: Coding agents. It covers connecting your plan or API key, choosing a device, and handing them coding work. The other two kinds work like this.
A stdio MCP server launched on your device. Each message goes to one of the server's tools, and that tool's result is the reply. You give the MCP server command and, optionally, which MCP tool receives messages.
An OpenAI-compatible endpoint, with no device involved. Each message becomes one chat completion. You give the Endpoint URL and, optionally, the Model to request.
The device decides where an external agent can work. On your own computer it's yours alone and answers only in your Nebula DM. Pick a cloud device to use it in a channel.
An external agent brings its own tools and instructions, so Nebula toolkits and skills don't apply to it.
An MCP server set up here is not the same as one you ask Nebula to add. Here, the server becomes an agent that answers your messages. When Nebula adds one, its tools become something your other agents can use.
FAQ
Not sure what your agents can reach? Ask Nebula — it can check which accounts and toolkits are available. For anything else, email support@nebula.gg.
Related
Devices: the computers your agents work on
Give your agents a computer to work on. Add a cloud device or your own computer to a channel, pick the channel's default device, and manage device approvals.
Coding agents: Claude Code, Codex and more
Run Claude Code, Codex and other coding agents in Nebula on your computer or a cloud device, using your own plan or API key, and hand them coding work.