ask

Ask questions about connected data

Use your authorised platform data in Ask, understand what retrieval can and cannot reach, and interpret empty results correctly.

Last verified 13 October 2026 · OpenbirdAI documentation

Connected data answers are the most useful and most misunderstood feature of Ask. The rule is simple: OpenFeather can only read what the connected account exposes, through the scopes you granted, inside the active workspace.

This guide describes a capability that depends on the connected provider, the permissions granted to it, and your current plan. If the provider cannot supply the required data, OpenbirdAI reports it as unavailable rather than estimating.

The four gates a private-data answer must pass

Identity — you must be signed in.
Workspace — the active workspace must contain the connection.
Connection — the provider account must be authorised and not expired.
Scope — the requested operation must be one the provider granted.

If any gate fails, OpenFeather says the data is unavailable rather than producing an invented answer. An unavailable answer is a permissions or configuration result, not a model failure.

Asking well about connected data

Name the source: "In my Google Calendar…", "From Shopify orders…".
State the time range explicitly.
Ask for a specific shape: summary, table, list of records, or a comparison.
Ask for the sources so you can verify the retrieval actually happened.

text

"From my Shopify orders, list the 10 highest-value orders from the last 30 days
 with customer, total, and fulfilment status, and cite the source records."

What retrieval cannot do

Read services that are not exposed by the connected account.
Reconstruct deleted, private, or permission-restricted records.
Combine two workspaces into one answer.
Infer exact figures that were never present in a source — it will show the approximation instead.

When OpenFeather approximates a distance, price or score, it labels it. An unlabelled precise number should be treated as suspicious until you see its source.

Empty results: the decision tree

Sources list is empty → the request never reached the provider. Check connection status and workspace.
Sources exist but content is empty → wrong account, wrong date range, or a filter excluded everything.
Permission error → the authorisation completed but a required scope was not granted; reconnect and approve all scopes.
Provider error → the provider is temporarily unavailable; retry later, the product does not cache stale copies as fact.

Common questions

Why does OpenFeather not use my data even though I am connected?

Usually the active workspace is different from the workspace holding the connection, or the connection is still completing authorisation. Check both.

Can OpenFeather see my whole account?

Only the services and scopes the provider granted to the connection. Disconnecting removes even that access immediately.