Connections & setup

How to connect each source Sidenote reads from - and what to check when a connection misbehaves.

The basics

Connections live in two places: the Ingest card in the extension sidebar (it offers the right connect button for the page you're on), and the Connections page in the dashboard. Every connector uses the provider's official API with read-only access, and Sidenote only reads the documents you explicitly ingest. Disconnecting a provider deletes the stored access token immediately.

Google Docs

Connecting

Connect with a standard Google sign-in - there's nothing for a Workspace admin to deploy or approve org-wide. The required scope, documents.readonly, reads only the specific Doc you open; there is no Drive browsing or listing, no Sheets, no Slides, and no write access. A document is only ever read once you open and ingest it.

Pixel-perfect pages in the viewer

When you save a Doc from the extension, Sidenote captures Google's own typeset PDF of the document through your signed-in browser session, the same file you would get from the File, Download menu. That is what lets the viewer show fonts, colours, columns and text boxes exactly as Google renders them, with each tab of a multi-tab document kept as its own titled section. It needs no Drive access and no extra clicks. If the capture cannot run, Sidenote falls back to a plain text rendering of the document, so a save never fails.

Notion

Connect through Notion's own authorization flow, where you choose exactly which pages and teamspaces to share - read-only. There's no workspace-wide integration for an admin to approve; each person connects their own access. Once connected, open a Notion page and ingest it from the sidebar. If a page won't ingest, check that it (or a parent page) was included in what you shared with Sidenote during the Notion authorization - you can adjust the selection by reconnecting.

SharePoint & OneDrive

Connect Microsoft from the Connections page, then open a SharePoint page, Office file, or OneDrive document and ingest it from the sidebar. The connection uses delegated, read-only Microsoft Graph scopes - permissions stay exactly where SharePoint put them, so if you can't open a file, neither can Sidenote.

SharePoint and OneDrive files often open in the Office web viewer, where the address bar doesn't show the file - if detection doesn't trigger, use the paste-the-link option in the Ingest card. On organizations that restrict app consent, your Microsoft administrator may need to approve Sidenote once.

Outlook mail & attachments

The same Microsoft connection covers Outlook on the web. Open a message and the sidebar offers to read the email itself, or the PDF, Word document or PowerPoint attached to it - no downloading and re-uploading. Access is read-only (the Mail.Read scope) and only ever reads the message you have open; nothing scans your mailbox in the background. If you connected Microsoft before Outlook support shipped, reconnect once from the Connections page to grant the added scope.

Gmail attachments

No connector needed. Open a Gmail message in the browser and the sidebar offers the email itself and any PDF, Word or PowerPoint attachments on it - Sidenote reads them through your own signed-in Gmail session, the same way you would, and only from the message you have open.

Google Drive files

Open a PDF, Word document or deck from Drive and ingest it from the sidebar, or paste a Drive link into the Ingest card to bring a file in without opening it. Files are read through your own signed-in session; nothing crawls your Drive.

Slack canvases

Connect Slack from the Ingest card, then open a canvas and ingest it from the sidebar - the connection is read-only and there's nothing for a Slack admin to install for canvas reading. If the canvas is open in a channel side panel - where the page URL doesn't change - use the paste-the-link option in the Ingest card: copy the link from the canvas's ••• menu and paste it in.

The Sidenote Slack app

Separately from canvas reading, Sidenote also ships a Slack app that works inside Slack: a /sidenote slash command and a Save to Sidenote message shortcut.

Installing

The app is installed once per workspace (the “Add to Slack” flow). Installation only grants the slash command - it doesn't read your channels. After installing, run /sidenote helpin any channel to see what's available.

Linking your Sidenote account

Each teammate links their own account. Run any /sidenote command and, if you're not linked yet, Sidenote replies (only visible to you) with a Connect account button that opens the account-linking page - sign in to Sidenote if needed, confirm, and you're done. If you already connected Slack for canvas ingest, your account is linked automatically. Your Slack identity links to one Sidenote account - to move it to a different account, run /sidenote unlink first. And your Sidenote account holds one Slack link at a time, so linking from a different workspace replaces the previous link (and disconnects canvas ingest for the old workspace).

Commands

/sidenote ask <question> - a cited answer drawn from your Sidenote library (Pro and trial plans).
/sidenote search <query> - semantic search across your library, on any plan.
/sidenote help - the command list.
/sidenote unlink - unlinks your Slack identity from your Sidenote account. This also disconnects canvas ingest if you had it connected; you can re-connect either at any time.

All command responses are ephemeral - only you see them; nothing is posted to the channel. The Save to Sidenotemessage shortcut saves a message's text into your library as a source; saving the same message twice just tells you it's already there.