Connecting Telegram
The fastest way to chat with your AI from your phone.
Find @BotFather
Open Telegram and search for @BotFather. This is the official Telegram tool for creating bots.
Create Your Bot
Send the command /newbot. Follow the prompts to give your bot a Name (e.g., "My Company AI") and a Username (e.g., "CompanyAI_bot").
Copy the API Token
BotFather will send you a long string of characters called an API Token. Copy this string carefully.
Paste the Token Into Your Agent
Give this token to your IT administrator, or paste it into your agent's messaging settings (in Hermes: Gateway → Telegram; other agents have an equivalent "connect a messaging app" screen).
Connecting Nextcloud
Give your agent secure access to your private documents.
Find your WebDAV URL
Log into Nextcloud. Go to Files → Settings (bottom left). Copy the WebDAV URL provided.
Create an App Password
Go to Settings → Security. Under "Devices & sessions," name the session after your agent (e.g., "MyAI") and click Create new app password.
Secure the Credentials
Copy the username and the generated app password. Do not use your main login password.
Connect Your Agent
Enter the URL and App Password into your agent's storage settings. Your AI can now read and write files to your secure cloud.
Cloud Services (Google/M365)
Connect your email and calendar for full automation.
Admin Approval
Because these are enterprise services, your IT Administrator must first enable "API Access" or "Third-Party Apps" in the Admin Console.
Granting Permissions
You will be asked to "Allow" your agent to access specific data (e.g., "Read-only access to Calendar"). Review these and click Accept.
Verification
Once connected, test it! Try: "What is on my calendar for tomorrow?" or "Summarize my last 3 unread emails."
Other Connections Worth Exploring
The same three ideas — app passwords, OAuth consent, admin approval — cover most tools your agent can reach.
The three recipes above are the most common, but the pattern repeats everywhere. When your agent asks to connect a new tool, it will follow one of these shapes:
Discord
Same bot flow as Telegram: create an application in the Discord Developer Portal, copy the bot token, paste it into your agent's gateway settings. Best when your team already lives in Discord channels.
Slack
Bot token via Slack's app directory ("Create App" → OAuth token). Admin approval applies on business workspaces — same as the Google/M365 recipe.
Email (IMAP/SMTP)
Most mail providers (Fastmail, Zoho, self-hosted) support app passwords for IMAP and SMTP. Use the app-password pattern from the Nextcloud recipe — never your main login.
Microsoft Teams
Registered through the Teams Admin Center by your IT admin, then OAuth consent like M365. Worth it when calendar and mail are already in Microsoft 365.
GitHub / Gitea
Personal access tokens (PATs) generated in your account settings. Grant the narrowest scope that works — "read-only" if the agent only needs to read issues and code.
CalDAV / Self-Hosted Calendars
Calendar servers (Nextcloud Calendar, Radicale) expose CalDAV links with app passwords — the same WebDAV-style credentials as the Nextcloud recipe.
The pattern to remember: every external connection is one of three shapes — a bot token (Telegram, Discord, Slack), an app password (Nextcloud, email, CalDAV, Git), or an OAuth consent flow (Google, M365, Teams). Recognize the shape and you can connect almost anything — and revoke it just as cleanly.
Knowledge Check
Three quick questions to test yourself. Nothing is submitted; this is just for you.
1. What should you use instead of your main login password when connecting Nextcloud?
2. Who enables API access for Google/M365 in a business account?
3. After connecting a tool you should…