On this page
- Plugins & MCP
- Signed-in visitors and plugins
- Google Sheets
- Connecting a sheet
- In the Google Cloud console
- In the spreadsheet
- What is filled in for you
- Example
- REST API
- What you configure
- Example
- Shopify Storefront
- What you configure
- Example
- Answer quality
- WooCommerce Storefront
- What you configure
- Example
- Answer quality
- Order Status & Delivery Tracking
- What you configure
- Who can see an order
- What the assistant shows — and never shows
- MCP Connector
- What you configure
- Example
Plugins & MCP#
A Plugin is an integration attached to a Skill that gives your chatbot new abilities at chat time. Where a Knowledge Base lets the assistant answer from your content, a Plugin lets it fetch live data or call an external service mid-conversation. Plugins are available on Starter tier and above.
You install a Plugin from the Plugins page in the Console, then attach it to a Skill. The assistant gains the Plugin's tools for every widget that uses that Skill. Credentials you enter during setup are encrypted at rest using an account-scoped key — the raw values are never stored in plaintext.
Plugins run isolated from the core platform
Each Plugin runs in its own isolated environment. A failure in a Plugin degrades the current turn gracefully — it does not affect the rest of the assistant or other widgets on your account.
Signed-in visitors and plugins#
Some plugins look up data that belongs to one person — a shopper’s orders, a member’s bookings. The REST API, MCP Connector, Shopify and WooCommerce plugins do it by calling the backend with the visitor’s own token — the one token your page gives the widget (see Signed-in visitors). In Console → Plugins → the plugin → Visitor token you choose how it is used:
- Plugin
- REST API, MCP Connector
- Setting
- Send the visitor’s token
- What it does
- Adds the token to each call as a header (default
Authorization: Bearer, configurable). Actions that act as the visitor are marked per endpoint or tool; writes need Allow the visitor to write on that action.
- Plugin
- Shopify, WooCommerce
- Setting
- Uses the visitor’s token automatically
- What it does
- Nothing to configure: the store plugin always uses the token to read the shopper's own orders.
| Plugin | Setting | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| REST API, MCP Connector | Send the visitor’s token | Adds the token to each call as a header (default Authorization: Bearer, configurable). Actions that act as the visitor are marked per endpoint or tool; writes need Allow the visitor to write on that action. |
| Shopify, WooCommerce | Uses the visitor’s token automatically | Nothing to configure: the store plugin always uses the token to read the shopper's own orders. |
The token reaches a plugin only on its token origin: the plugin’s own address must match the origin the token was issued for (a single token uses the widget’s token origin; a map is matched entry by entry). A plugin on any other origin receives nothing, and an action that needs the visitor’s token but has none asks the visitor to sign in instead of guessing.
Plugins are never handed the person’s id, email or claims: they get the token, and your own backend decides what it allows. External plugins also receive only the request context they declare, so a visitor’s name, email or location reaches one only when it asks for it.
Google Sheets#
The Google Sheets Plugin connects your chatbot to a Google Spreadsheet. The assistant can read rows and columns from a sheet and include that data in its answers — useful for pricing tables, staff directories, event schedules, or any structured content you maintain in a sheet.
Connecting a sheet#
The connection runs as a service account you own. You create it in your own Google Cloud project, switch the Sheets API on in that project, and keep the account — Gydr holds only the key you hand it, and nothing about the connection expires on its own.
In the Google Cloud console#
- Open APIs & Services → Library → search Google Sheets API → Enable.
- Open IAM & Admin → Service Accounts → Create service account. The name is up to you —
gydr-sheetsis only a suggestion — then press Done; leave both the role and the grant steps empty. - Open that service account → Keys → Add key → Create new key → JSON. Save the downloaded file.
- Copy the service account's email address from its page in the list — it ends in
iam.gserviceaccount.com.
In the spreadsheet#
- Share → paste that email → Viewer (read only) or Editor (read + append rows) → untick Notify people → Send. Sharing with your whole organisation does not reach a service account — it has to be that address.
Then paste the entire downloaded JSON file into the Service Account Key field in the Console, and save — your sheet tabs and column headers load onto the Data Logging tab, which means the connection works. A wrong key, a disabled Google Sheets API or a missing share is reported at setup rather than discovered later.
Changing your mind later. The service account's email address is shown on the Plugin's Connection tab, so you can copy it into the Share dialog at any time. To revoke access, either remove the share on the spreadsheet or delete the key in Google Cloud — and to rotate the key, press Replace and paste a new one. Remove disconnects the account from Gydr: nothing changes until you press Save Changes and confirm, so cancelling or leaving the page keeps the connection. Your spreadsheet ID and the tabs you loaded on Data Logging are kept either way, and the key itself stays in Google Cloud until you delete it there.
What is filled in for you#
| Field | How to fill it in |
|---|---|
| Spreadsheet | Paste the spreadsheet ID from its URL. Nothing else about the workbook is typed by hand — see below. |
| Sheet tabs & columns | Loaded automatically. When you install the Plugin, Gydr reads the workbook and loads every tab name and its column headers, so the assistant already knows how to structure a row — and you can reload from the spreadsheet whenever the tabs or headers change. |
Example#
A visitor asks “What are your current membership prices?” The assistant reads the pricing tab and answers with the up-to-date values — no re-deployment needed when your prices change in the sheet.
REST API#
The REST API Plugin lets you describe your own HTTP endpoints and have the assistant call them during a conversation. You define each endpoint — method, path, parameters, and authentication — and the assistant decides when to call it based on what the visitor is asking. This Plugin is available on Growth tier and above.
What you configure#
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Base URL | The root of your API — HTTPS only, no private IP addresses. |
| Authentication | Choose one of: none, API key header, Bearer token, Basic auth, or OAuth 2.0 (client credentials or refresh token grant). |
| Endpoints | 1–100 endpoints per attachment. Each has a tool name, HTTP method, path (with {param} placeholders for path parameters), optional query parameters, and a description of what the response contains. |
Example#
Define an endpoint on your order-status API. The assistant calls it when a visitor asks about their order, passes the order number from the conversation as a path parameter, and replies with the live status.
Tool name: get_order_status
Method: GET
Path: /orders/{order_id}/status
Path params: order_id — "The order number the visitor provided"
Description: Returns the current fulfillment status and estimated delivery date.Shopify Storefront#
The Shopify Storefront Plugin turns your chatbot into a personal shopping assistant for your Shopify store. The assistant can search products, browse collections, and check availability. Access is read-only: purchases always happen on your store's own pages — the assistant shares a direct product link.
A headless storefront with its own customer-account sign-in can also let the assistant answer “where is my order?”: switch on the order tools in the plugin's Signed-in shoppers section and give the chat the shopper's Customer Account token asvisitor token keyed by https://<your-store-domain>. A standard Online Store theme cannot supply that token.
What you configure#
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Store domain | Your permanent Shopify domain (the *.myshopify.com one, not a custom domain). |
| Storefront access token | A public Storefront API access token generated by your store's Headless channel storefront (Basic plan or higher). A legacy custom-app token also works. Gydr never stores this unencrypted. |
Example#
A shopper asks “Do you have the Merino wool sweater in size M?” The assistant searches your product catalog, returns matching variants with prices and availability, and shares the product's link so the shopper can buy it on your Shopify store.
Answer quality#
Answers from a connected store are best effort. A store search matches keywords in your catalogue's own language rather than meaning, so product recommendations and answers across languages are noticeably weaker than they are from an internal Product Knowledge Base, which is embedded for semantic search. For the strongest results, import your products into a Product Knowledge Base, or set the catalogue language(s) accurately on the Localization tab so the assistant searches in the right language.
The assistant shows products exactly as your store exposes them. A product in no collection, and placeholder products such as an unnamed item priced at zero, appear to shoppers as they are — Gydr cannot rename or hide them. Tidy these in your Shopify admin so shoppers see a clean catalogue.
WooCommerce Storefront#
The WooCommerce Storefront Plugin turns your chatbot into a personal shopping assistant for your WooCommerce store. The assistant can search products, browse categories, and show product details including availability and variations. Purchases always happen on the store's own pages — the assistant shares a direct product link; it cannot add to a cart or place orders.
The plugin uses WooCommerce's public Store API (wc/store/v1), which requires no credential — just your store's URL. Answering order questions for signed-in shoppers needs the Gydr WordPress plugin instead — see Order Status & Delivery Tracking.
What you configure#
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Store URL | The https:// address of your WordPress site, for example https://shop.example.com. If WordPress is installed in a subdirectory, include that path (e.g. https://example.com/store). |
Prerequisites
- WooCommerce 6.4 or later — the Store API is included by default from this version.
- Pretty permalinks enabled — go to Settings → Permalinks and choose any option other than “Plain”. The Store API does not work on the Plain setting.
- Allow
/wp-json/wc/store/through any firewall or Cloudflare bot rule — security plugins and CDN bot-protection rules sometimes block this path. Add an allow rule if needed.
Example#
A shopper asks “Do you have running shoes under $80?” The assistant searches your store, returns matching products with name, price, and availability, and shares the product link so the shopper can complete their purchase on your store.
Answer quality#
Answers from a connected store are best effort. The Store API search matches keywords in your catalogue's own language rather than meaning, so product recommendations and answers across languages are noticeably weaker than they are from an internal Product Knowledge Base, which is embedded for semantic search. For the strongest results, import your products into a Product Knowledge Base, or set the catalogue language(s) accurately on the Localization tab so the assistant searches in the right language.
The assistant shows products exactly as your store exposes them. Products filed only under the default Uncategorized category, and placeholder products such as an unnamed item priced at zero, appear to shoppers as they are — Gydr cannot rename or hide them. Tidy these in your WooCommerce admin so shoppers see a clean catalogue.
Order Status & Delivery Tracking#
Turn this on and the assistant answers “where is my order?” for signed-in shoppers — order status, items, total and tracking — without the shopper leaving the chat. Anyone who is not signed in is asked to sign in first. It's off by default. For a step-by-step WordPress walkthrough, see WordPress & WooCommerce setup.
What you configure#
- Field
- Answer order & delivery questions
- Notes
- Switched on when you complete the Order & delivery status step of the setup (or with the switch on the Orders tab). Off until then. There is no key to create: orders are read through the shopper's own sign-in.
- Field
- Signed-in shoppers
- Notes
- Nothing to map. The Gydr WordPress plugin (version 1.5.0 or later) gives the chat a visitor token your own site checks, so a signed-in shopper’s orders come from your store directly. An older plugin is reported as needing an update; there is no fallback. See Signed-in visitors.
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Answer order & delivery questions | Switched on when you complete the Order & delivery status step of the setup (or with the switch on the Orders tab). Off until then. There is no key to create: orders are read through the shopper's own sign-in. |
| Signed-in shoppers | Nothing to map. The Gydr WordPress plugin (version 1.5.0 or later) gives the chat a visitor token your own site checks, so a signed-in shopper’s orders come from your store directly. An older plugin is reported as needing an update; there is no fallback. See Signed-in visitors. |
Who can see an order#
- Signed-in shoppers (on the Gydr WordPress plugin 1.5.0 or later) see their 5 most recent orders, with tracking for the newest, without being asked anything. Asking about a specific order they own shows it. Another customer’s order number gets “no order with that number” — the assistant never reveals that it exists.
- Not signed in — the assistant asks the shopper to sign in first. It does not ask for an order number or billing email, and orders placed as a guest checkout (customer id 0) are not available through the chat.
- On WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram and Telegram order lookup is not available: those channels identify the person by their messaging account only, not by your website sign-in. Product search still works there.
What the assistant shows — and never shows#
Order status, items, total and tracking. Tracking appears when your store uses WooCommerce Shipment Tracking, Advanced Shipment Tracking (AST), or WooCommerce's own order fulfilments.
The assistant never shows a shipping or billing address or a phone number, and it cannot change or cancel an order. Conversations that showed an order are never listed in the visitor’s past chats.
MCP Connector#
The MCP Connector lets you connect your chatbot to any remote Model Context Protocol (MCP) server. Gydr connects to the server, discovers its tools, and lets you grant each tool individually to the assistant. The assistant then calls the granted tools at chat time, just like any other Plugin.
This is useful for connecting to any service that exposes an MCP server — internal tooling, third-party SaaS products, or your own custom server. The MCP Connector supports Streamable HTTP transport.
What you configure#
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Server URL | The HTTPS URL from your provider's MCP documentation. Paste the address without a path and Gydr will try the conventional /mcp and /sse endpoints for you. |
| Authentication | Detected for you. Gydr asks the server how it authenticates and acts on the answer: for OAuth it registers itself with the provider and sends you to that provider's own sign-in page, so there is nothing to fill in. If the server instead wants a token you already hold, or is one of the few providers that requires an app you register yourself, the Console asks for that one thing — and only then. |
| Tool permissions | After connecting, Gydr discovers the server's tools and shows them in the Permissions tab. Read-only tools are enabled by default. Tools that can modify data are disabled by default — you enable each one explicitly. |
Example#
You have an internal support tool that exposes an MCP server. Enter its URL in the Console, click Connect — approving access at your provider if it asks — and Gydr discovers the available tools — for example, get_ticket_status and list_open_tickets. Enable those tools in the Permissions tab, attach the Plugin to a Skill, and your chatbot can now look up support ticket status in real time without any additional integration work.
The MCP Connector supports up to 30 tools per connected server. Tools are re-discovered each time you click Test connection & refresh tools in the Console — changes on the server do not appear automatically.