Integrations & Data
An AI Employee (AIE) is only as useful as the systems it can reach. This section covers everything that connects an AI Employee to the world outside Ema: the Tools it calls to act in external systems, the data connectors that keep its Knowledge base current, the chat widget you embed on your own site, and the Data API that streams conversation data back into your analytics stack.
Everything here is configured from one place — the Integrations page, a top-level page in Ema listed just below AI Employees — and surfaced to AI Employees through two primitives:
- Tools — a single capability an AI Employee can invoke at runtime, such as "create a ServiceNow ticket" or "look up an order." Tools live inside integrations and are wired into a workflow through the agent's tool list. Throughout the platform this concept is always called a Tool — never an "action" or "external action."
- Knowledge base — synced documents an AI Employee searches to ground its answers. Data connectors populate Knowledge bases from sources like SharePoint, Google Drive, Confluence, and Box.
How the pieces fit together
| Layer | What it does | Where you configure it |
|---|---|---|
| Integrations Hub | Catalog of installable integrations, OAuth connections, MCP servers, and channels | Integrations page → All, MCP servers, Channels tabs |
| Tools | Individual callable capabilities inside an integration | Integration detail → Tools, then the Tool editor |
| Data connectors | Sync external documents into Knowledge bases | Integrations page → Data sources tab |
| Embeddable chat SDK | A branded chat widget for your own website | Integrations page → Channels tab |
| Data API | Export message-level conversation data to your warehouse | API key issued by an admin |
You configure all of this from the Integrations page. Ema connects to each system, runs every Tool call, and keeps connector content in sync for you — you never manage the plumbing.
What's in this section
- Integrations Hub — browse the Ema Platform Integrations catalog, connect integrations, and use their Tools.
- Custom Integrations — wrap any external API as a custom integration and build its Tools end to end.
- The Tool Editor — define a Tool from a schema plus an HTTP request, GraphQL query, or TypeScript script, with input, credential, and setting references.
- MCP Servers — add your own MCP server and use the tools it exposes.
- Data Connectors — set up connectors that feed Knowledge bases.
- SharePoint Connector — sync a SharePoint Online site.
- Google Drive Connector — sync Google Drive via a service account or OAuth2.
- Confluence Connector — sync Confluence Cloud spaces and pages.
- Box Connector — sync Box files.
- Embeddable Chat SDK — embed a Conversational AI Employee as a chat widget on any site.
- Data API — stream message-level conversation data into your own BI stack.
Terminology. The capability an AI Employee invokes in an external system is a Tool. Older material may call it an "action," "external action," or "intelligent action" — those terms are retired. This section uses Tool throughout.