Use ChatGPT and Claude

Before connecting

You do not need to prepare anything in Ridian. If you have no Ridian account yet, you create one while connecting. Ridian is available as a Community Connector in the public Claude directory. Search for Ridian there and start connecting. Custom connector support depends on your client and plan.

Connect the Ridian endpoint

Where your client supports a custom remote MCP connector, use https://api.getridian.com/mcp. The Ridian OAuth flow opens in your browser.

The first time you connect a client, Ridian guides you through a short setup before you approve:

1. Accounts. Connect a Google or Microsoft account, or keep the accounts you have already connected. First tick what the assistant may use: calendar is always included, tasks are preselected, contacts and sending email are off until you tick them. Google or Microsoft then only asks for those areas. Anything you decline on the provider’s screen stays off; use Add access next to the account to enable more later. Rooms need a Microsoft 365 work account or a Google Workspace administrator and are added separately under Connections. Use Apple iCloud & more for CalDAV accounts such as Apple iCloud, GMX or WEB.DE; they provide calendars only.
2. Access. Full access is preselected: every function the client requested, all accounts, calendars and Agent Mailboxes, and full event details. It grows with new connections and features until you customize it. This includes managing calendar syncs. A sync the assistant creates keeps copying events even after you revoke the assistant’s access; remove it under Syncs. Choose Customize to limit functions, accounts, calendars or the detail level.
3. Approve and connect. This button is your approval; no separate approval page follows. The setup shows where your assistant continues, for example claude.ai. A confirmation with example prompts to copy follows, and you return to your assistant automatically after a few seconds. While your pointer rests on the prompts, the countdown pauses.

If you create a Ridian account during this flow, the confirmation email contains only a six-digit code. Enter it in the window where you are signing up. If you lost that window, sign in again: Ridian sends a new code and continues afterwards.

You cannot approve without a connected account, so the assistant never starts with an empty calendar list. If the setup stays open for more than fifteen minutes, start the connection again from your assistant. The next time you connect the same client, Ridian skips the setup; change its access under AI & Assistants. Never paste provider credentials into a chat.

Start with a read

Ask: “List the calendars I have allowed you to use.” Then request a short, explicit window in your test calendar. For example: “Show events tomorrow in my test calendar, in Europe/Berlin.” Verify the calendar and time zone against your provider’s app.

For a write test, explicitly ask for one standalone event without guests. Check it in the provider app, then ask to rename and delete that specific test event. Do not use a real meeting as a test. For CalDAV calendars, see CalDAV for supported operations.

Tools and permission changes

An assistant saying “I cannot create events” is not enough to identify the cause. The client may have an old tool list, the write scope may be absent, or effective calendar rights may deny writing. Check missing tools before repeating the request.

Use the Ridian client controls to narrow or revoke access. Disconnecting one assistant is a different action from disconnecting the underlying calendar account.

Alvin in the console

Alvin is available directly in Ridian without an external MCP connection. It shows your permitted syncs and saved sync drafts in a read-only canvas. Creating syncs, changing selection rules, pausing and resuming follow your execution mode. Editing links open the sync editor. See Manage syncs with Alvin for prerequisites, examples and effects. Alvin’s capabilities and confirmations differ from the tools available to external MCP clients.

Choose how Alvin acts

Use the mode badge next to the Enter hint in the chat input to choose Ask before changes or Execute automatically, then save. The choice applies to you in the current workspace, across your Alvin chats.

• Ask before changes: review and confirm each change, including mailbox actions and sending email.
• Execute automatically: Alvin carries out your requests within its granted permissions, including sending email, deleting events and changing sync rules. It still asks about unclear details.

New access starts with confirmation. Existing access keeps its previous behavior until you choose: confirmation for calendars, tasks, syncs and timezone, with mailbox actions carried out directly when requested and permitted. Full access controls what Alvin may use; it does not select automatic execution. Change permissions under Chat options → Configure access. With restricted access, Reset to full access appears next to the menu; it preserves your execution mode.

Changing the mode or permissions invalidates active requests and pending proposals. Cancel an old proposal and request it again. Completed actions remain in effect. External MCP clients keep their own authorization and approval behavior.

Edit existing events with Alvin

Tell Alvin the calendar, date and event title, for example: “Move my focus block in Work on 15 October 2026 from 10–11 am to 2–3 pm, time zone Europe/Berlin.” Alvin reads the current event and shows the account, calendar and changes. In Ask before changes, review the preview and confirm the action; “Delete this focus block” also requires confirmation. In Execute automatically, permitted changes run directly. Respond to an invitation with “accept”, “tentative” or “decline”; no response email is sent to the organizer.

Supported: standalone events and single occurrences of your own series without guests or meeting data in Google, Microsoft and CalDAV, and responses to standalone invitations in Google and Microsoft. For an occurrence, the preview states “Only this occurrence”; all other occurrences stay unchanged. On request, Alvin also renames an entire series or changes its description or location. Use your calendar app for recurrence rules, series with guests and moving all-day events. Alvin needs read access, full event details and the relevant write or invitation-response permission. If the event or your access changes, read its current state and request a new preview. Check your calendar app first if an action’s outcome is uncertain.

Compact confirmations and recurrence

The confirmation card shows the action, the event and the actual changes. Unchanged values are not marked as changes. Long names are shortened; their full text is available in the tooltip and details. Open More details to review additional information before confirming or cancelling.

For Google and Microsoft, Alvin can also create weekly series without guests: one weekday, every week or every N weeks, with 2–104 occurrences within 104 weeks. Use the calendar app for other patterns, schedule changes and deleting entire series. The recurrence overview distinguishes Alvin, MCP and calendar sync.

Personal default timezone

Choose your timezone in Settings. During initial setup, Ridian suggests your browser’s timezone; confirm it with Continue in the first step before choosing your goals. Search the picker by city or timezone. Your confirmed timezone stays saved even if you skip the following steps. It applies to you across workspaces and stays the same when you travel. Alvin uses it unless you specify a different timezone. A timezone given for one request does not change your profile.

You can explicitly ask Alvin: “Save Europe/Berlin as my default timezone.” In Ask before changes, review the previous and new zone in the preview and confirm; in Execute automatically, an authorized change runs directly. Existing appointments are not moved. Under Configure access, you can separately revoke reading and changes to your default timezone. With restricted access, you can still change it yourself in Settings.

The profile setting applies to Alvin in the console. External MCP and REST requests still supply their own timezone.

Alvin in WhatsApp

Start directly with WhatsApp

Open Set up Alvin for WhatsApp. First select the country for your WhatsApp number and enter the number. The selected calling code is added automatically. Search the country selector by country or calling code; pasting an international number selects its country code. You can also start on the WhatsApp page; the number you enter there carries over to sign-in. Then sign in with Google, Microsoft or a one-time email code. Existing Ridian accounts use the same flow; a verified session skips sign-in.

With Google or Microsoft, you can grant access to calendars, tasks and contacts directly. Under Connect more accounts, you can also add iCloud or another CalDAV calendar. CalDAV connects calendars. You can continue without a data account and connect it later. Check the displayed workspace, timezone and execution mode. Act directly is preselected during first-time setup; you can choose Ask first instead. An existing mode is preserved and also applies in the app.

Open WhatsApp using the button or scan the QR code on your computer. Use the number you entered, send the prepared message and confirm the connection with the button in the chat. The one-time connection code in the message is valid for ten minutes. If it expires, create a new one in the setup window. Start setup again after switching accounts or workspaces.

If the email code doesn’t arrive, check your spam folder and the address you entered. Request a new code after the displayed waiting period. If you cancel data access in the provider dialog, you can retry the connection or continue without a data account.

Connect from the app

Open Connections → Channels or the WhatsApp entry on your dashboard and select Set up now. Start with your WhatsApp number and follow the same setup described above. You stay signed in. Send the prepared message to Alvin and confirm the connection directly in the chat.

If the number is already linked to your account in the current workspace, open WhatsApp directly. If it is linked to a different account, choose Sign in with another account or Change number. To use it with a new account, disconnect the existing connection in the previous account first, then set it up again.

If you send “Start Alvin” directly in the chat outside this setup, Alvin replies with a link to Ridian. After signing in, check the number and workspace and confirm the connection. This link is valid for ten minutes.

Try asking: “What’s on my calendar tomorrow?” Alvin supports text messages and approval buttons. Calendars, tasks, contact lookup, your personal timezone and Agent Mailbox follow your existing permissions and each provider’s supported features. Manage calendar syncs in the app. Use text instead of voice messages.

With Ask before changes, approve prepared actions using a WhatsApp button or the app; typing “yes” does not approve them. With Execute automatically, Alvin carries out permitted requests without another individual approval. Change permissions and mode under Connections → Channels.

Send “stop” in WhatsApp or select Disconnect under Connections → Channels to unlink. A WhatsApp number can be linked to one workspace at a time. Messages pass through Meta; see the privacy policy for details.

Beta notifications

For Slack and Microsoft Teams, select Notify me for beta under Connections → Channels to request one email to your account address when that channel’s beta starts. You can cancel the notification on the same card. Each channel has its own preference; your newsletter subscriptions stay unchanged.