Enable new tools automatically
Choose how Glean enables recommended new tools for eligible connectors. Select Automatically enable after review period to review recommended tools and let Glean enable the ones you don't exclude when the review period ends. Select Keep disabled until manual review to review recommended tools and enable only the ones you choose. You can also require manual enablement for write tools.
Why tool enablement matters
Useful capabilities often go unused because an administrator has to discover a tool, understand its value, and prioritize its setup. No administrator can track every team's workflows or anticipate every user's needs, and each new tool or supported app adds more of this work. Tool enablement reduces that recurring effort: Glean surfaces relevant tools and enables them according to the policy you choose. When the right tools are available, more users adopt them and get more value from Glean.
Understand tool enablement
Tools let Glean Assistant and agents perform operations in connected apps. Read tools retrieve information. Write tools create or update information.
This setting controls how Glean adds recommended tools to connectors. It does not authorize users in the app or complete app-specific setup. Users may still need to connect their accounts, and some apps require an administrator to grant consent before users can run tools.
Check which connectors qualify
Glean determines which connectors and tools qualify for tool enablement. A connector does not qualify just because it appears in the connector catalog. Glean adds connectors after validating their tools and any required app setup.
Glean recommends tools first for core connectors, including Atlassian, Google, Slack, Microsoft, Salesforce, and GitHub, and adds more connectors over time.
For existing workspaces, Glean can recommend tools for a connector after you configure indexing for that connector. Some apps also require an administrator to finish setup or grant consent in the app before users can run tools.
Choose how Glean enables tools
Select one of these options in the Admin console:
| Option | What happens |
|---|---|
| Automatically enable after review period (recommended) | Glean recommends eligible new tools and gives you a 14-day review period to exclude any you don't want. When the review period ends, Glean enables the tools you did not exclude. |
| Keep disabled until manual review | Glean recommends eligible new tools but does not enable anything automatically. You enable only the tools you choose. |
Under Automatically enable after review period, you can also select Require manual enablement for write tools. This checkbox is deselected by default. When you select it, write tools remain available for review but stay disabled until you enable them, even after the 14-day review period ends.
Tool recommendations are ongoing, not a one-time event. Glean keeps recommending new tools as apps become relevant to your organization and can be enabled with minimal setup. You can change your tool enablement option at any time, and Glean applies your choice to all future recommendations.
Review recommended tools
Glean presents recommended tools as a review. The Admin console shows a notice, such as New connectors and tools to enable, with a Review action. On the review page, Glean lists each connector with the number of tools it adds. Expand a connector to see the individual read and write tools.
How the review resolves depends on your option:
- Automatically enable after review period: Exclude any tools you don't want. If you make no changes within the 14-day window, Glean enables the remaining tools when the review period ends. If you selected Require manual enablement for write tools, write tools stay disabled until you enable them.
- Keep disabled until manual review: Enable only the tools you choose. Recommendations do not expire, and nothing is enabled automatically. Glean refreshes the recommendations each month as new eligible tools become available, limited to the top 10 ranked by activity.
Find more tools later
Glean seeds only the tools you select. Tools you don't select are not added in a disabled state; they stay available as recommendations in future refreshes so Glean can recommend them again. To enable tools you did not select earlier, including write tools, use Refresh tools on the Tools page. The Tools page indicates when more eligible tools are available to enable.
Understand the default behavior
Glean selects an initial option for every workspace, so one option is already applied when you first open the setting. Because the starting option can differ between organizations, check your current option in the Admin console rather than assuming a specific default. You can change it at any time to the policy that fits your organization. Glean recommends Automatically enable after review period.
Glean sets the initial option using its internal account classification. This classification is not something you configure or need to know; use the Admin console to see and change your current option.
Glean does not re-recommend tools you already configured as read-only, read and write, or off during onboarding or unified setup.
Keep your current tool settings
Glean keeps your existing custom tool settings. For new tools, Glean applies your default global settings and default role-based access control. Changes to this setting can take up to 24 hours to appear.
Change the setting
- Open the Glean Admin console.
- Go to Connectors.
- Open Enable new tools in the Tools section.
- Select Automatically enable after review period or Keep disabled until manual review. If you choose Automatically enable after review period, specify whether to require manual enablement for write tools.
You can choose which Glean surfaces can use each tool and turn off individual tools after Glean enables them. See Enable tools for Glean Assistant, Agents, and the Glean MCP server and Enabling or disabling individual tools.
See also
- Tools overview — Learn how to set up and manage tools.
- Managing tool access — Control who can add or configure tools.