Abilities

An ability is something your AI agents can do. If your business uses Gmail, you add Gmail as an ability. If you use Slack, you add Slack.

Each ability connects your agents to a service so they can take real actions on your behalf.

What an Ability Looks Like

Every ability has:

  • Name and service: Which service it connects to (Gmail, Slack, Google Drive, etc.)
  • Status: Whether it's active, inactive, or coming soon
  • Actions: The specific things the agent can do with this service (send email, read inbox, reply, etc.)
  • Action permissions: For each action, whether it's allowed automatically, requires approval, or is disabled entirely
  • Guidelines: Rules your agents should follow when using this ability

Examples

Gmail: Read, reply to, and draft emails on your behalf. You can allow reading automatically but require approval before sending.

Slack: Send messages, read channels, and respond to team members. You decide which channels agents can access.

Google Drive: Browse files, search for documents, and organize folders. Agents can pull context from your Drive to answer questions.

How Abilities Are Backed

Behind the scenes, each ability connects through one of three mechanisms:

  • MCP: Model Context Protocol servers that give agents structured access to a service
  • API: Direct integration with a service's API
  • CLI: Command-line tools that run on the server

You don't need to worry about this distinction. ClankTeam handles the plumbing. When you add an ability, you just pick the service and configure what the agent is allowed to do.

Adding an Ability

From the ClankTeam portal, go to your organization's Abilities page. You'll see a grid of available abilities with their status. Click "Add Ability" to connect a new service, or click an existing ability to adjust its actions, permissions, and guidelines.

Guidelines

Guidelines let you set rules agents should follow when using an ability. For example:

  • "Always CC the office manager on outgoing emails"
  • "Never send messages to the #general channel"
  • "Only access files in the Shared Drive, not personal folders"

Guidelines are written in plain English. No configuration syntax needed.

Action Permissions

For each action an ability provides, you choose one of three permission levels:

  • Allow: The agent can take this action without asking
  • Approval: The agent must get your approval before taking this action (see Approvals)
  • Disallow: The agent cannot take this action at all