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Tools are the apps an Agent can use while it works: read a Notion page, create a Linear issue, or publish a post to WordPress. Each tool is a connection to an account in that service, so the Agent does only what that account can do. Your Profound data is available to every Agent without any setup.

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Available tools

The external tools currently available are: Profound data (Visibility, Citations, Sentiment, FactCheck, prompts, and topics) is built in and isn’t listed among an Agent’s tools. It appears in Agent instructions as a Profound pill. This list grows over time, and the tools available to your organization may differ. Open the Add tool dialog on an Agent to see what’s available to you. To use a service that isn’t listed, add it as a custom connector.

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Add or remove a tool

To add a tool to your Agent:
  1. In the Agent’s settings panel, select Add next to Tools.
  2. Pick a tool from the list, or search for it. Tools the Agent already uses are listed under Connected, and common ones under Most used.
  3. Read what the tool lets the Agent do, select Connect account and sign in to the service, and then select Add tool. If more than one account is connected, choose one under Which account should the agent use? A lock icon marks tools that only an admin can connect.
Or ask Aim in the Agent’s chat to add a tool. For example, “Use Notion to read the brief” adds the Notion tool if it isn’t there yet and prompts you to connect it. To remove a tool, ask Aim to remove it, select the trash icon next to it in Tools, or select Remove tool in the Add tool dialog. Then update the instructions so they no longer refer to the tool. The change applies to the Agent right away.

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Tools, integrations, and connectors

Profound connects to outside services through tools, integrations, and connectors. Tools (also called connectors) are what Agents and Aim use. A tool is a connection to a service through its own API or Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, made under your personal account or an organization account. You add tools from an Agent or from Integrations in the platform settings. Integrations are what Workflows use. An integration adds Profound-built nodes to the Workflow Builder, one node per action. You set up integrations in Integrations in the platform settings. Some services are available both ways, for example Slack, Contentful, G2, WordPress, or Sanity. Others exist only as Workflow integrations today, such as Gamma. Learn more in Integrations vs connectors: what’s the difference?. To use a service that’s only available as a Workflow integration, build a Workflow that uses it, then add that Workflow to your Agent’s instructions. The Agent runs the Workflow as a step. Learn more in Agents and Workflows: when to use which.

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Add a custom connector

If a service has a public MCP server but isn’t in the list of tools, add it as a custom connector. Your Agents can then use it like any other tool.
  1. Go to Settings in the organization name menu at the top left of the screen > Integrations.
  2. Scroll to the bottom of the list and select Add custom connector.
  3. Enter a Name for the connector, for example “Exa Search”.
  4. In URL, paste the public HTTPS URL of the MCP server, for example https://mcp.example.com/mcp.
  5. Choose the Connection type the server uses: HTTP or SSE.
  6. Choose how the connector signs in to the server under Authentication (see the options below).
  7. Under Access, choose who can use the connector: Only me, or your organization’s name to share it with everyone in your organization.
  8. Optionally, open Appearance settings to add a Logo URL and a Description.
  9. Select Add connector. Profound connects to the server and discovers its tools.
Authentication options:
  • None: the server doesn’t need credentials.
  • Secret: Profound sends a header, such as an API key, with each request to the server. Enter the header name (for example, x-api-key) and the Secret value. Select Add secret to add more headers.
  • OAuth: you sign in to the service. Enter a Client ID and Client secret only if the service requires them.
Then add the connector to an Agent from the Add tool dialog, the same way as other tools.

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FAQ

The Agent can do only what the connected service allows for the connected account, and only what the instructions ask it to do. Actions that change something in the service need your permission during the run, unless you’ve set them to Allow.To see your permissions for each tool:
  1. Go to Settings in the organization name menu at the top left of the screen > Integrations.
  2. Select a service (for example, G2) to open its page.
  3. Switch to the Connector tab. View and edit permissions in the Tools & permissions section. Tools are grouped into reading, editing, and destructive tools. Set each one to Allow, Ask, or Block.
To open these settings from the Add tool dialog, select Manage next to Tools & permissions. Permissions apply to all your Agents.
It depends on the account you used to connect the tool. If it’s your personal account, the tool is yours: when you share an Agent, each person who runs it connects the tools they need under their own account. Anyone in your organization can use a tool connected to an organization account. When a tool isn’t connected, the Agent can’t run until someone connects it in the Tools section.