Frequently asked questions

Q: What’s the difference between the native (indexed) and federated modes for Google Calendar?

• Native (data crawling and indexing):
  • Stores meeting metadata in Glean’s index.
  • Powers rich meeting search, hero cards, Meeting Summary agent, and calendar tools.
• Federated (data fetching):
  • Does not index meeting content; fetches live data at query time.
  • Historically used for homescreen widgets and simple availability lookup, without AI features.

You can enable both retrieval methods on a single connector for maximum flexibility.

Q: How far back and ahead does Glean index my meetings?

• Up to 6 months of past events.
• Up to 3 months of future events.

Events outside this window will not appear in search, Meeting Summary agent, or calendar tools.

Q: Why do some meetings show only as “busy” with no details in Glean search or in Calendar?

Glean respects Google Calendar permissions and event visibility:

• If the event is marked private, or if the user only has free/busy access on the calendar, Glean surfaces only a busy block without title/description.
• Opening the event in Calendar from Glean will show the same limited view (e.g., “Private” with just time and busy status).

Q: What’s required for a Meeting Summary agent to work?

• The Google Calendar connector must have data crawling and indexing enabled and a successful crawl.
• The meeting must have either a Google Meet transcript or Gemini-generated notes accessible via Google Drive.
• The event must be within the indexed time window (6 months past / 3 months future).

Q: Do I need to set up anything special for Calendar Search tools in agents?

Yes:

1. Ensure data crawling and indexing is enabled and healthy for the Google Calendar connector.
2. In each agent’s configuration, enable Calendar search.