Google Drive Connection
Connect Google Drive for files you choose and for links to authorized items. This is not Google Sheets data and not Google Calendar booking.
Google Drive Connection#
This page covers the Google Drive connection. Use it in two different places, and do not treat either one as Google Sheets or Google Calendar.
| Place | Job |
|---|---|
| Sources → GDrive | Add chosen files to the agent's knowledge |
| Drive settings on the connection | Let the agent return links for items you authorize |
Connecting Drive does not deploy a channel, import old chats, or turn on live replies.
AlonChat does not read your whole Drive. It can use a file or folder only after you choose it.
What the connection does#
| Included | Not included | |
|---|---|---|
| Connect the account | You can pick files and authorize items | Access to every file in the account |
| Knowledge files | Documents you add from Sources → GDrive | A live spreadsheet lookup. Use Google Sheets for that |
| Link sharing | A Drive link for an item you already authorized | Attaching the file itself in chat |
| Update check | A check from the GDrive source for files you added | Appointments. Use Google Calendar for those |
| Disconnect | Stops AlonChat from using the connection | Deleting the files from Google Drive |
A spreadsheet added here is a knowledge file. It is not the connected-data workbook used by Google Sheets.
Add knowledge files#
- Open Sources → GDrive. You can connect Google Drive from that page or from Settings → Connections.
- Click Choose Files and pick the files in Google's picker.
- Confirm they appear as added.
- Use Check for file updates when a chosen file changes in Drive.
The source page supports Google Docs, Word, PDF, Excel, and text files. Files you do not choose stay out of the agent. If a chosen file cannot be opened later, pick it again.
Full-account Drive search is not available. There is no separate connection that browses every folder you can see.
Share a link during chat#
Drive settings are for authorized items, not for knowledge training.
- Open the Google Drive connection and its Drive settings.
- Authorize the exact files the agent may send, and any folders it may list.
- Choose who may receive a link: anyone who names a matching authorized item, or only a customer who is already identified.
- Add a folder-name hint if customers ask with a booking name or reference code.
The agent sends the Drive link. It does not attach the file, zip a folder, or upload a new file. Choosing a folder does not authorize every file inside it. Add each file the agent must send by name. If a share action is set to widen who can open the link, Google Workspace can still block that change. Read the setting before you allow it.
An organizational folder helps matching. It does not grant access by itself.
Before customers rely on it#
- Add and review the files in Google Drive sources.
- Ask a private question in Test and confirm the answer comes from the right file.
- If the agent should send links, test with a file you authorized and with a file you did not.
- Turn on the customer channel separately. Drive never does that.
Disconnect from Settings → Connections or from Drive settings. Files stay in Google Drive. Unlink a knowledge file from Sources → GDrive when the agent should forget that file only.