"use strict";
const {Fragment: _Fragment, jsx: _jsx, jsxs: _jsxs} = arguments[0];
function _createMdxContent(props) {
  const _components = {
    a: "a",
    h2: "h2",
    p: "p",
    span: "span",
    ...props.components
  };
  return _jsxs(_Fragment, {
    children: [_jsxs(_components.h2, {
      id: "did-you-know",
      children: [_jsx(_components.a, {
        "aria-hidden": "true",
        tabIndex: "-1",
        href: "#did-you-know",
        children: _jsx(_components.span, {
          className: "icon icon-link"
        })
      }), "Did You Know?"]
    }), "\n", _jsx(_components.p, {
      children: "That Slack is an acronym for \"Searchable Log of All Communication and Knowledge\"? Or that it was created as an internal communication tool by the game company Tiny Speck while they were working on a game called Glitch. Glitch wasn't hitting escape velocity, so they pivoted and went all in on Slack."
    }), "\n", _jsx(_components.p, {
      children: "And what a pivot it was!"
    }), "\n", _jsx(_components.p, {
      children: "You may also not know that Ask Steve can now write results directly into a public Slack channel or a private Slack group, which makes it super easy to capture and share content and quick thoughts as you're going about your day."
    }), "\n", _jsx(_components.p, {
      children: "If you're a Slack user, give it a try! As soon as you create an account you'll get a free 30 day trial of Ask Steve Premium, which gives you access to Slack tools."
    }), "\n", _jsx("div", {
      style: {
        position: 'relative',
        paddingBottom: '56.25%',
        height: 0,
        overflow: 'hidden',
        maxWidth: '100%',
        height: 'auto'
      },
      children: _jsx("iframe", {
        src: "https://www.youtube.com/embed/VhiVctErttQ?si=Ws31iWd_OWM-FFGx",
        title: "YouTube video player",
        frameBorder: "0",
        allow: "accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen",
        referrerPolicy: "strict-origin-when-cross-origin",
        allowFullScreen: true,
        style: {
          position: 'absolute',
          top: 0,
          left: 0,
          width: '100%',
          height: '100%'
        }
      })
    }), "\n", _jsx("br", {}), "\n", _jsxs(_components.h2, {
      id: "questions-or-problems",
      children: [_jsx(_components.a, {
        "aria-hidden": "true",
        tabIndex: "-1",
        href: "#questions-or-problems",
        children: _jsx(_components.span, {
          className: "icon icon-link"
        })
      }), "Questions or Problems?"]
    }), "\n", _jsxs(_components.p, {
      children: ["Ask for help in our ", _jsx(_components.a, {
        href: "https://groups.google.com/g/ask-steve",
        children: "User Community"
      })]
    })]
  });
}
function MDXContent(props = {}) {
  const {wrapper: MDXLayout} = props.components || ({});
  return MDXLayout ? _jsx(MDXLayout, {
    ...props,
    children: _jsx(_createMdxContent, {
      ...props
    })
  }) : _createMdxContent(props);
}
return {
  default: MDXContent
};


Features


We've built integrations into Google Sheets, Google Docs, Google Chat, Google Calendar and Gmail, to help you be more productive!

## Gmail
<div style={{ position: 'relative', paddingBottom: '56.25%', height: 0, overflow: 'hidden', maxWidth: '100%', height: 'auto' }}>
  <iframe 
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IvGOaM6JdZ0?si=Ny_nJuczLQ0tTg02" 
    title="YouTube video player" 
    frameBorder="0" 
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen" 
    referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" 
    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
  </iframe>
</div>
[Learn More](/blog/features/gmail)

## Google Sheets
<div style={{ position: 'relative', paddingBottom: '56.25%', height: 0, overflow: 'hidden', maxWidth: '100%', height: 'auto' }}>
  <iframe 
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XnUPV-5sRRc?si=JYcHRG45zLdQo_zo" 
    title="YouTube video player" 
    frameBorder="0" 
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen" 
    referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" 
    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
  </iframe>
</div>
[Learn More](/docs/connections#google-sheets)

## Google Docs
<div style={{ position: 'relative', paddingBottom: '56.25%', height: 0, overflow: 'hidden', maxWidth: '100%', height: 'auto' }}>
  <iframe 
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CF4wJiIxJ8Y?si=dAbh38_w38xzPFlB" 
    title="YouTube video player" 
    frameBorder="0" 
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen" 
    referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" 
    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
  </iframe>
</div>
[Learn More](/docs/connections#google-docs)


## Google Calendar
<div style={{ position: 'relative', paddingBottom: '56.25%', height: 0, overflow: 'hidden', maxWidth: '100%', height: 'auto' }}>
  <iframe 
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/g58tDvIb6UQ?si=7ILcqjlhOeeevKYv" 
    title="YouTube video player" 
    frameBorder="0" 
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen" 
    referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" 
    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
  </iframe>
</div>
[Learn More](/docs/connections#google-calendar)

## Google Chat
<div style={{ position: 'relative', paddingBottom: '56.25%', height: 0, overflow: 'hidden', maxWidth: '100%', height: 'auto' }}>
  <iframe 
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/o_Mjn0ksDMs?si=txGIcY-Fw1oNbLdz" 
    title="YouTube video player" 
    frameBorder="0" 
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen" 
    referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" 
    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
  </iframe>
</div>
[Learn More](/docs/connections#google-chat)


Use Ask Steve's AI Power Tools for Google Workspace


We've built integrations into several of the Microsoft 365 web applications to make you more productive!

## Outlook Mail
<div style={{ position: 'relative', paddingBottom: '56.25%', height: 0, overflow: 'hidden', maxWidth: '100%', height: 'auto' }}>
  <iframe 
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yepLEar9u08?si=WzX1A3VXylrQMDQJ" 
    title="YouTube video player" 
    frameBorder="0" 
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen" 
    referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" 
    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
  </iframe>
</div>
[Learn More](/docs/connections#microsoft-outlook-mail)

## Outlook Calendar
<div style={{ position: 'relative', paddingBottom: '56.25%', height: 0, overflow: 'hidden', maxWidth: '100%', height: 'auto' }}>
  <iframe 
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ThZuRm16zKs?si=6vSWYwcx90UmR3_K" 
    title="YouTube video player" 
    frameBorder="0" 
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen" 
    referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" 
    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
  </iframe>
</div>
[Learn More](/docs/connections#microsoft-outlook-calendar)

## Microsoft Excel
<div style={{ position: 'relative', paddingBottom: '56.25%', height: 0, overflow: 'hidden', maxWidth: '100%', height: 'auto' }}>
  <iframe 
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XQI-ifD9tg4?si=QxoewyUgVZMimYgC" 
    title="YouTube video player" 
    frameBorder="0" 
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen" 
    referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" 
    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
  </iframe>
</div>
[Learn More](/docs/connections#microsoft-excel)


## Microsoft Teams Chat
<div style={{ position: 'relative', paddingBottom: '56.25%', height: 0, overflow: 'hidden', maxWidth: '100%', height: 'auto' }}>
  <iframe 
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/W1chDjY5Bu0?si=zjoJwbNWHKwTOR85" 
    title="YouTube video player" 
    frameBorder="0" 
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen" 
    referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" 
    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
  </iframe>
</div>
[Learn More](/docs/connections#microsoft-teams)


Use Ask Steve's AI Power Tools for Microsoft 365


## Tame Your Outlook for the Web Inbox
We added Outlook for the Web integration and several new AI Tools to help you manage the flood of your incoming email. These Tools only show on Outlook web pages. Outlook Tools are available on the FREE Standard plan. Watch the videos below for details.

## Install the Outlook Tools
You can install all the Outlook tools from the [Tool Packs page](https://quickstart.asksteve.to/packs.html). Ask Steve needs to be installed and enabled.

## Folder Tools
All these Tools work on **the first 100 unread email conversations** in the folder that you're currently looking at. The Tools can all be edited or copied. The Tools have access to the following data for each email conversation: 
* Subject
* Sender
* Snippet (the 1-2 line preview of the email that shows)
* Categories (the existing categories on the email conversation)

### Archive unread emails
You tell Ask Steve what you want, and it will try to find the conversations you specify and archive them.
<div style={{ position: 'relative', paddingBottom: '56.25%', height: 0, overflow: 'hidden', maxWidth: '100%', height: 'auto' }}>
  <iframe 
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HDr0UK1KruQ?si=HgMA5V7t9qosz4QW" 
    title="YouTube video player" 
    frameBorder="0" 
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen" 
    referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" 
    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
  </iframe>
</div>
<br />


### Categorize unread emails
You tell Ask Steve what you want, and it will try to find the conversations you specify and categorize them accordingly.
<div style={{ position: 'relative', paddingBottom: '56.25%', height: 0, overflow: 'hidden', maxWidth: '100%', height: 'auto' }}>
  <iframe 
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/a57UHMi2DdA?si=yLVUwDhc5w3YqGPS" 
    title="YouTube video player" 
    frameBorder="0" 
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen" 
    referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" 
    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
  </iframe>
</div>
<br />


### List specific unread emails
You could try to figure out the exact boolean search to get the subset of emails that you want (if it would even be possible), or now you can just ask for what you want using natural language.
<div style={{ position: 'relative', paddingBottom: '56.25%', height: 0, overflow: 'hidden', maxWidth: '100%', height: 'auto' }}>
  <iframe 
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_1xAQZoC42k?si=iZpAfTobkk65i8Bp" 
    title="YouTube video player" 
    frameBorder="0" 
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen" 
    referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" 
    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
  </iframe>
</div>
<br />


### Move unread emails to folder
You tell Ask Steve what you want, and it will try to find the conversations you specify and move them to the folder that you want.
<div style={{ position: 'relative', paddingBottom: '56.25%', height: 0, overflow: 'hidden', maxWidth: '100%', height: 'auto' }}>
  <iframe 
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pfhUVATut9Y?si=PGLd9OSzthWMqiki" 
    title="YouTube video player" 
    frameBorder="0" 
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen" 
    referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" 
    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
  </iframe>
</div>
<br />


### Summarize unread emails
A user-customizable summary of the first 100 unread emails.  
<div style={{ position: 'relative', paddingBottom: '56.25%', height: 0, overflow: 'hidden', maxWidth: '100%', height: 'auto' }}>
  <iframe 
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bExbD76XWww?si=vSIAlVagtOAuM7kw" 
    title="YouTube video player" 
    frameBorder="0" 
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen" 
    referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" 
    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
  </iframe>
</div>
<br />


## Email Conversation Tools
All these Tools work on the email conversation that you're currently looking at. The Tools can all be edited or copied. The Tools have access to the following data for each email conversation: 
* Subject
* Sender
* Body (the contents of the most recent email in the conversation)
* Snippet (the 1-2 line preview of the email that shows)
* Categories (the categories on the email conversation)

### Draft a reply
Give Ask Steve your writing instructions and writing samples, as well as what you want your reply to include. It puts the drafted reply right in the reply box. It remembers the writing instructions and samples, so you only need to enter them once. And you can keep iterating until it writes the way you want it to.    
<div style={{ position: 'relative', paddingBottom: '56.25%', height: 0, overflow: 'hidden', maxWidth: '100%', height: 'auto' }}>
  <iframe 
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HcsdjcJNejw?si=kIQNJ6kQI8aTRZOp" 
    title="YouTube video player" 
    frameBorder="0" 
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen" 
    referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" 
    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
  </iframe>
</div>
<br />

### Save Events in Outlook Calendar
Run on any email or text selection to create Outlook Calendar events.
<div style={{ position: 'relative', paddingBottom: '56.25%', height: 0, overflow: 'hidden', maxWidth: '100%', height: 'auto' }}>
  <iframe 
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Bei88ezMnAc?si=vh81QxvOXqXDnQX5" 
    title="YouTube video player" 
    frameBorder="0" 
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen" 
    referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" 
    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
  </iframe>
</div>
<br />

### Summarize this email conversation
You customize what you want in your summary. 
<div style={{ position: 'relative', paddingBottom: '56.25%', height: 0, overflow: 'hidden', maxWidth: '100%', height: 'auto' }}>
  <iframe 
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4vS1WaVUtaU?si=zxw6cEsiD22KIgTK" 
    title="YouTube video player" 
    frameBorder="0" 
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen" 
    referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" 
    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
  </iframe>
</div>
<br />

### Writing Tools
Get help writing, rewriting and editing right in the Outlook compose window with the [Writing Helper](/docs/writing-helper).
<div style={{ position: 'relative', paddingBottom: '56.25%', height: 0, overflow: 'hidden', maxWidth: '100%', height: 'auto' }}>
  <iframe 
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SCGTXPrztxE?si=vWOTp61qCVZJSxIF" 
    title="YouTube video player" 
    frameBorder="0" 
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen" 
    referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" 
    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
  </iframe>
</div>
<br />

## See our Other Microsoft Office Integrations
* [Microsoft Excel](/docs/connections#microsoft-excel)
* [Microsoft Teams](/docs/connections#microsoft-teams)
* [Microsoft Outlook Calendar](/docs/connections#microsoft-outlook-calendar)


## Questions or Problems? 
Ask for help in our [User Community](https://groups.google.com/g/ask-steve)





Take Control of Your Outlook Inbox with AI Tools from Ask Steve


## Tame Your Gmail Inbox
We added Gmail integration and several new AI Tools to help you manage the flood of your incoming email. These Tools only show on Gmail pages. Gmail Tools are available on the FREE Standard plan. Watch the videos below for details.

## Install the Gmail Tools
You can install all the Gmail tools from the [Tool Packs page](https://quickstart.asksteve.to/packs.html). Ask Steve needs to be installed and enabled.

## Folder Tools
All these Tools work on **the first 100 unread email threads** in the folder that you're currently looking at. The Tools can all be edited or copied. The Tools have access to the following data for each email thread: 
* Subject
* Sender
* Snippet (the 1-2 line preview of the email that shows)
* Labels (the labels on the email thread)

### Add labels to unread emails
You tell Ask Steve what you want, and it will try to find the threads you specify and label them accordingly.  
<div style={{ position: 'relative', paddingBottom: '56.25%', height: 0, overflow: 'hidden', maxWidth: '100%', height: 'auto' }}>
  <iframe 
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CD_aze_5SHM?si=UigHe_0-6Q0husjh" 
    title="YouTube video player" 
    frameBorder="0" 
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen" 
    referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" 
    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
  </iframe>
</div>
<br />

### Archive unread emails
You tell Ask Steve what you want, and it will try to find the threads you specify and archive them.
<div style={{ position: 'relative', paddingBottom: '56.25%', height: 0, overflow: 'hidden', maxWidth: '100%', height: 'auto' }}>
  <iframe 
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dRK2fUHrnJg?si=WUW8QPI9KUrsVWBQ" 
    title="YouTube video player" 
    frameBorder="0" 
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen" 
    referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" 
    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
  </iframe>
</div>
<br />

### List specific unread emails
You could try to figure out the exact boolean search to get the subset of emails that you want (if it would even be possible), or now you can just ask for what you want using natural language. Clicking on any of the list items navigates directly to that email.
<div style={{ position: 'relative', paddingBottom: '56.25%', height: 0, overflow: 'hidden', maxWidth: '100%', height: 'auto' }}>
  <iframe 
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3ei5dxFtNrk?si=0frCzzgB3BzR1M7C" 
    title="YouTube video player" 
    frameBorder="0" 
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen" 
    referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" 
    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
  </iframe>
</div>
<br />

### Summarize unread emails
A user-customizable summary of the first 100 unread emails.  
<div style={{ position: 'relative', paddingBottom: '56.25%', height: 0, overflow: 'hidden', maxWidth: '100%', height: 'auto' }}>
  <iframe 
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3UZ6tu6Sg_o?si=GFhV4yDP_WL1qf4X" 
    title="YouTube video player" 
    frameBorder="0" 
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen" 
    referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" 
    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
  </iframe>
</div>
<br />


## Email Thread Tools
All these Tools work on the email thread that you're currently looking at. The Tools can all be edited or copied. The Tools have access to the following data for each email thread: 
* Subject
* Sender
* Body (the contents of the most recent email in the thread)
* Snippet (the 1-2 line preview of the email that shows)
* Labels (the labels on the email thread)

### Draft a reply
Give Ask Steve your writing instructions and writing samples, as well as what you want your reply to include. It puts the drafted reply right in the reply box. It remembers the writing instructions and samples, so you only need to enter them once. And you can keep iterating until it writes the way you want it to. Works much better than Gmail's built in reply drafting which generates really generic stuff.   
<div style={{ position: 'relative', paddingBottom: '56.25%', height: 0, overflow: 'hidden', maxWidth: '100%', height: 'auto' }}>
  <iframe 
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3qngBI6Llt4?si=Wm_uzpffbM_tlyCJ" 
    title="YouTube video player" 
    frameBorder="0" 
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen" 
    referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" 
    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
  </iframe>
</div>
<br />

### Save Events in Google Calendar
Run on any email or text selection to create Google Calendar events. Works much better than the "Create event" button in Gmail which can't do this at all.   
<div style={{ position: 'relative', paddingBottom: '56.25%', height: 0, overflow: 'hidden', maxWidth: '100%', height: 'auto' }}>
  <iframe 
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/94CDe62MosM?si=B5iWmTeookVqxnG8" 
    title="YouTube video player" 
    frameBorder="0" 
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen" 
    referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" 
    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
  </iframe>
</div>
<br />

### Summarize this email thread
You customize what you want in your summary, instead of having to use what Gmail provides (if Gemini is even available). 
<div style={{ position: 'relative', paddingBottom: '56.25%', height: 0, overflow: 'hidden', maxWidth: '100%', height: 'auto' }}>
  <iframe 
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bqo7qg-gLtg?si=bG8DdoyDwhnMHn3o" 
    title="YouTube video player" 
    frameBorder="0" 
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen" 
    referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" 
    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
  </iframe>
</div>
<br />

### Writing Tools
Get help writing, rewriting and editing right in the Gmail compose window with the [Writing Helper](/docs/writing-helper).
<div style={{ position: 'relative', paddingBottom: '56.25%', height: 0, overflow: 'hidden', maxWidth: '100%', height: 'auto' }}>
  <iframe 
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kwPy0rdMQEU?si=NyYa8CgvLr5l2uDk" 
    title="YouTube video player" 
    frameBorder="0" 
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen" 
    referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" 
    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
  </iframe>
</div>
<br />


## Calendar Tools
Along with the **Save Events in Google Calendar** Tool above, Ask Steve can read the events that you're currently viewing in Google Calendar, so you can run any Tool or Chat with your Calendar. We have created one additional special tool that helps you find free time slots across all the calendars that you're currently looking at. 

### List free times
This Tool gives you a list of free time slots that you can send to someone. 
* It uses all the visible calendars. If you don't want a calendar included, uncheck it. This way you can find free time slots across multiple people's calendars.
* It limits itself to the current Google Calendar view: Day, Week, Month, Year, Schedule or your custom view. 
* If you're on the Year view or the Schedule view, it uses the data for the Week view instead. 
* This Tool is part of the [Gmail Tool Pack](https://quickstart.asksteve.to/packs.html), but can also be installed by itself from [here](chrome-extension://gldebcpkoojijledacjeboaehblhfbjg/library.html?skillId=google-calendar-free-time).

<br />
<div style={{ position: 'relative', paddingBottom: '56.25%', height: 0, overflow: 'hidden', maxWidth: '100%', height: 'auto' }}>
  <iframe 
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/o3jdon01g7s?si=IrF8vavfIfIvqOcK" 
    title="YouTube video player" 
    frameBorder="0" 
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen" 
    referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" 
    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
  </iframe>
</div>

<br />
You can change the following arguments in the Tool Instructions: 
* **workingDays**: This defaults to Monday-Friday [1,2,3,4,5]. Each day is represented as it's day number in the week, with Sunday being 0 and Saturday being 6. 
* **workingHoursStart**: The default is 9am (9). Supported numbers are 1-24
* **workingHoursEnd**: The default is 5pm (17). Supported numbers are 1-24
* **timeSlotDuration**: By default you're given the options to pick 30, 60, 90 and 120 minute time slots, but you can change these to any numbers.




## See our Other Google Workspace Integrations
* [Google Sheets](/docs/connections#google-sheets)
* [Google Docs](/docs/connections#google-docs)
* [Google Chat](/docs/connections#google-chat)
* [Google Calendar](/docs/connections#google-calendar)

## Questions or Problems? 
Ask for help in our [User Community](https://groups.google.com/g/ask-steve)





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## You down with MCP? 
<div style={{ position: 'relative', paddingBottom: '56.25%', height: 0, overflow: 'hidden', maxWidth: '100%', height: 'auto' }}>
  <iframe 
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AP9QpPP83nE?si=dduvMzLBcFzbJMe-" 
    title="YouTube video player" 
    frameBorder="0" 
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen" 
    referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" 
    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
  </iframe>
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<br />

We've been building direct integrations between Ask Steve and [a number of services](/docs/connections) (Sheets, Calendar, Excel, Slack, etc.). We thought it would be cool if Ask Steve could also connect to remote MCP servers, which would unlock **infinitely more integrations**. 

If you haven't heard of [MCP](https://www.anthropic.com/news/model-context-protocol), it's basically a middleware layer between an LLM and the existing API of an online service - think Gmail, Sheets, Asana, Salesforce etc. Anything that exposes an API can be made available for an LLM to use via MCP. So now aside from just processing words, the model can actually INTERACT WITH AND TAKE ACTION in other services.

## Benefits of MCP
The biggest benefit of this is that you can now interact with **any MCP-enabled service**, versus just the ones that we have explicitly built support for. Right now we've built [~15 connections](/docs/connections) into Ask Steve, but now you can connect to THOUSANDS of applications. Zapier alone says [they support 7,000+](https://zapier.com/mcp).

The biggest difference is that in the dedicated integrations we build, we are deciding ahead of time the action to be taken (e.g. "Add a Contact") and the sequence of steps to accomplish that, and using an LLM as one step in a sequence. Typically that step is only to take unstructured data and turn it into structured data that can be written into the target system. 

With MCPs, you're basically telling the LLM to do something, and it will look at the MCP tools that is has at its disposal, decide if it can use any of them, and then tries to do things. You are trusting the model with the whole task, vs. just a small piece of it.

Which leads to the second big benefit - which is that you can ask for any "combination" of things and it will try to figure out how to accomplish them. This means that **you don't need to know what you want to do ahead of time**. For example "If the contact is named Mike and works as a recruiter, add them to Crelate, otherwise add them to Salesforce". You could never write code to support the infinite variations, but the LLM can figure it out!

Whether it works or not is another matter, but I have been consistently surprised at (a) how good the models can do sometimes (b) how bad the models can do sometimes :) You never know until you try things!

## Ask Steve and MCP

After doing the research, we came to the conclusion that **I** shouldn't build anything, because the model decides what MCP tools to call, so we should just wait until the model providers MCP-enable their API offerings. 

Which as of the last few days is now the case!

- [Anthropic has a beta MCP connector for their API](https://www.anthropic.com/news/agent-capabilities-api). You add the specs for your MCP servers to your API call and Claude does everything else behind the scenes - it connects to the servers, retrieves tools, executes the calls, keeps making calls until it's done, etc. This is nice because your client doesn't really need to do anything. 

- [OpenAI has added something similar](https://cookbook.openai.com/examples/mcp/mcp_tool_guide) to their Responses API. 

- [Google has also implemented something for Gemini](https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/function-calling?example=meeting#model_context_protocol_mcp), but their implementation seems to put more work on the client, so isn't supported by Ask Steve. 
<br />
All that said, while it's now possible to CONNECT to MCP servers, doing anything that requires authentication (which is the interesting stuff) still requires work.

Let's say you want an LLM to be able to interact with a Google Sheet of yours:
- First you need to find a trusted MCP server for Google Sheets somewhere and login/create an account with that service.
- Then you'll need to OAuth authenticate with Google Sheets on that MCP server to give it access to your Google Sheets. 
- Then the MCP server provider will either give you your own unique URL to use (but you better make sure no one else sees it, because if they do, they now have access to all your Google Sheets) or a generic URL and a unique access token.
- Then you need to add the url of the MCP server and optionally the access token to your API request. 
<br />

For the flexibility it provides, it might be worth it! So now you know - Ask Steve can now call LLMs that support MCP to interact with other services. We added new MCP model templates for Anthropic and OpenAI that you can use to get started quickly. Watch the video above to see how to set everything up!

## Questions or Problems? 
Ask for help in our [User Community](https://groups.google.com/g/ask-steve)





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## It's hard to know what to believe online
There are people out there intentionally trying to manipulate your opinion and feed you mis- and disinformation.

Social media companies have largely given up defending against this, so we have to protect ourselves. But manually verifying everything you read is so time consuming that it's basically impossible. The Free Fact Checker helps make that quicker and easier.

**Learn more and get it now [here](/free-fact-checker)!**




The Internet is Full of Lies. Protect Yourself with our Free Fact Checker


## Did You Know?
That Slack is an acronym for "Searchable Log of All Communication and Knowledge"? Or that it was created as an internal communication tool by the game company Tiny Speck while they were working on a game called Glitch. Glitch wasn't hitting escape velocity, so they pivoted and went all in on Slack.

And what a pivot it was!

You may also not know that Ask Steve can now write results directly into a public Slack channel or a private Slack group, which makes it super easy to capture and share content and quick thoughts as you're going about your day. 

If you're a Slack user, give it a try! As soon as you create an account you'll get a free 30 day trial of Ask Steve Premium, which gives you access to Slack tools. 

<div style={{ position: 'relative', paddingBottom: '56.25%', height: 0, overflow: 'hidden', maxWidth: '100%', height: 'auto' }}>
  <iframe 
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VhiVctErttQ?si=Ws31iWd_OWM-FFGx" 
    title="YouTube video player" 
    frameBorder="0" 
    allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share; fullscreen" 
    referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" 
    allowFullScreen 
    style={{ position: 'absolute', top: 0, left: 0, width: '100%', height: '100%' }}>
  </iframe>
</div>
<br />


## Questions or Problems? 
Ask for help in our [User Community](https://groups.google.com/g/ask-steve)





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Use Ask Steve's AI Power Tools for Google Workspace

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Give Ask Steve Infinite Capabilities with MCP Servers

The Internet is Full of Lies. Protect Yourself with our Free Fact Checker

Use AI and Ask Steve to Share Links, Comments, Summaries etc. Directly into Slack

Share links, comments, summaries, etc. to any public Slack channel with 1-click, without leaving the page you're on

Did You Know?

Questions or Problems?

Read more about 🚀Features

Use Ask Steve's AI Power Tools for Google Workspace

Use Ask Steve's AI Power Tools for Microsoft 365

Take Control of Your Outlook Inbox with AI Tools from Ask Steve

Take Control of Your Gmail Inbox with AI Tools from Ask Steve

Give Ask Steve Infinite Capabilities with MCP Servers

The Internet is Full of Lies. Protect Yourself with our Free Fact Checker

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