Authentication and channels
Connected account vs. customer sign-in
For each tool, you choose who it acts as when it runs: the shared company account, or the person in the conversation, who signs in. That choice decides what data the tool can reach and which channels it works on. Pick the option that matches the data the tool touches.
The two options
Connected account
The tool runs with a single company credential. Every conversation uses the same account, so every end user gets the same level of access. Use it for tools that read data that isn’t tied to one person: policies, product catalogs, store hours, public order status by number.
Because nothing depends on who the end user is, connected-account tools work on every channel, including voice and email.
Customer signs in
Some tools should only ever return a person’s own data: their orders, their account, their bookings. For these, the end user signs in to your system during the conversation, and the tool acts as that person, reaching no more than that user is allowed to.
If the end user is already signed in to your system, they may not need to sign in again. Depending on your authorization server, they may still complete a one-time consent screen.
Signing in needs a screen to complete, so these tools run on four channels only: Ada web chat, Twilio SMS, Twilio WhatsApp, and Ada Instagram.
Every other channel is skipped, including voice, email, Facebook Messenger, Apple Business Chat, and any channel connected through Sunshine. A WhatsApp or Instagram channel connected through Sunshine rather than Twilio or Ada is not covered, so check how your channel connects rather than which app it is.
There is no fallback to the company account. If a conversation on a skipped channel needs a sign-in tool, the Agent answers without it, or handles the request another way such as a handoff, rather than calling the tool.
When you build for a skipped channel, remember that a task needing the end user’s personal data can’t be completed by an MCP tool there today.
Choosing an option
Match the option to the data a tool returns, not to the tool itself:
- Start from the data: if a tool returns anyone-can-see-it data, use connected account; if it returns one person’s private data, use customer signs in.
- If you need a personal-data task on a channel that isn’t one of the four above, that path isn’t available through MCP tools yet, so design the conversation to handle it another way.
Related features
- Connect a server: Add a server, give it a credential, and turn on its tools.
- MCP tools overview: What MCP tools are and how they work.