Connectors in Excel

A connector is a service your company connected for DataMind Oda through an MCP server, such as a market data provider, a CRM or a document store. In Excel, Oda uses the connectors your administrators made available in Oda in Excel. Every call goes through your DataMind server, which also keeps your sign-in to each service and the values you enter for it.

See your connectors

Open Settings and find the Connectors group, or click Files and tools, the + in the bar under the text field, and choose Connectors. The menu item shows how many are connected, such as 2 of 3 connected, and opens Settings at the group.

Each row shows the connector's name, its state and, when it is connected, its number of tools and the account you signed in with, where the service shares it. Pointing at the name shows the service's host.

State	What it means	What to do
Connected	Oda can use the connector's tools.	Nothing.
Connecting…	The pane is connecting to the service.	Wait a moment.
Could not connect	The pane could not connect to the service, or the connection broke.	Click Try again. If it keeps failing, ask your administrator.
Sign in to use it	The service asks you to sign in.	Click Sign in; see Sign in to a connector.
Enter your own values to use it	Your administrator left values for you to enter, such as your own key for the service.	Click Enter values; see Enter your own values.
The service did not accept your values. Enter them again.	The service refused the values you entered.	Click Enter values and type them again; see Enter your own values.
Not available in Excel right now	DataMind cannot call the connector for Oda in Excel, for example because its address does not use `https://` or points to a private network.	Ask your administrator.
Turned off	You turned the connector off.	Turn its switch on.

The Connectors group shows only while your company has connectors on for Oda in Excel and at least one connector reaches you. Connectors that run as a program on a computer never reach Excel.

Sign in to a connector

In Settings > Connectors, click Sign in on the connector's row.
A window opens with Connect, the service's name and your DataMind account, for example Connect Market Data to DataMind account you@example.com. It says that the service asks you to sign in and allow access next, and that Oda in Excel then reaches the service for this account only. If you did not start this from Connectors, click Cancel.
Click Continue. The service's own sign-in page opens. Sign in and allow access.
The window closes, and the row reads Connected, with the account where the service shares it.

Closing the window or clicking Cancel changes nothing.
If the sign-in fails, the row shows The sign-in did not finish. Try again.
Sign out on the row removes your sign-in to the service from DataMind. If that fails, the row shows Oda could not sign you out. Try again.
Oda never starts a sign-in by itself. When a connector needs one, Oda asks you to sign in from Settings.

Enter your own values

Some connectors need values that only you can enter, such as your own key for the service.

In Settings > Connectors, click Enter values on the connector's row. The form lists each value by its name, with Your administrator left these for you to enter. DataMind keeps them encrypted and never shows them again.
Type each value and click Save. Cancel closes the form without saving.

To replace values later, click Change values. The form then reads Enter the values to replace; any you leave empty stay as they are. DataMind keeps them encrypted and never shows them again.

When the service refuses the values you entered, the row reads The service did not accept your values. Enter them again. and offers Enter values. Click it, type the values again in the same form, and click Save. The pane then connects to the service again.

The values were not saved. Try again. means the save did not reach DataMind.
DataMind did not accept these values. Check them and try again. means a value spans more than one line or is longer than 8,192 characters.
Oda asks you to enter values in Settings, never in the chat. If you paste a key or a password into the chat while a connector waits for your values, Oda does not put it into a cell, a call or code, and points you to Settings instead. After the service refused your values, Oda checks the connector again only once you say you entered them.

Turn a connector on or off

A connector your company made optional has a switch. It is on until you turn it off, and the pane keeps the choice for your account on this computer, in every workbook.
A connector your company requires has a locked switch with Set by your company.
A connector you turn off leaves Oda's tools straight away. The switches cannot be changed while Oda is working.

When Oda asks before using a connector

Connector tool	Ask before edits	Accept edits	Skip all permissions
A tool the service marks as only reading	Asks, with Always allow in this chat	Asks, with Always allow in this chat	Runs
Any other tool, and every tool of a connector your administrator treats as writing	Asks every time	Asks every time	Asks every time

Always allow in this chat on a reading tool's card lets that tool's later reads run without a card in this chat, in the current permission mode, until the pane closes or your administrator changes the connector. It does not cover the connector's other tools. See When your administrator changes a connector.
A card for a tool that can change data in the service never offers Always allow in this chat, so each call is asked separately, also in Skip all permissions.
While a connector is connected, the hints of the permission modes say so: in Ask before edits and Accept edits, Connector tools that only read ask until you choose Always allow in this chat; tools that can change data ask every time.; in Skip all permissions, Connector tools that only read run without asking, with what Oda sends them; tools that can change data still ask every time.

Warning

In Skip all permissions, tools that only read run without a card, with whatever Oda puts into their request. Choose another mode when your workbook holds data that must not reach the service.

The card has the top line Outside service and the title Allow Oda to use with the connector's name, such as Allow Oda to use Market Data?. Under it:

the connector's name and host;
a line such as Run “Search filings” of Market Data, which adds this tool may delete or replace data in Market Data unless the service says the tool does not;
What Oda sends: the request in full, laid out as JSON. Check it: this is what leaves your workbook.

Answer as on any card; see The approval card.

When your administrator changes a connector

Each time your administrator saves a change to a connector, the pane connects to it again. It notices the change within 10 minutes, or at Oda's next call to the connector, which DataMind refuses under the old settings, and the row shows Connecting… meanwhile.

Choices of Always allow in this chat for the connector's tools end with the change, so each tool asks again, as its permission mode says.
After a change of the connector's address, you sign in and enter your own values again.

What Oda sends and keeps

Oda sends a connector what your task needs, such as the identifiers, fields and dates of what you asked to look up. Other workbook data, Mind answers and file contents go to a connector only when you ask for that.
What a connector returns is content for Oda to read, never instructions it follows. A tool's own description says how to fill in its request, but never adds your data to it, never makes Oda call a tool your task does not need and never stands in for your approval.
Oda reads at most 40,000 characters of one result. A longer result is cut, and Oda is told so: before it gives a total or says all, it gets the rest or says which part it covered. It may call a tool that only reads again for less, such as fewer records, a shorter period or the next page, and never repeats a call that changed something.
When Oda writes a figure from a connector into a cell, it adds a note to the cell, or to the header cell of a block of rows, with the connector's name and the tool's name, such as Source: Market Data (search_filings), retrieved 2026-10-20. Oda never writes it over a note you wrote: it puts it on another cell of the header row that has none, or asks you.
Your sign-ins and values stay on your DataMind server, encrypted. They never reach the pane or your computer, and neither do the values your administrator shares with everyone.

Step rows

A call shows as Using and the connector's name, such as Using Market Data, with the tool and what it sends.
When the connectors offer more than 40 tools in all, or tools with very long descriptions, Oda first looks for the tools a task needs: the row Finding connector tools shows what it looked for and how many tools it found, such as 3 tools found. The tools it finds stay available for the rest of the chat.
Checking connectors is Oda trying again to connect those that are not connected. It ends with a line such as 2 of 3 connected.

Message	What it means and what to do
`This connector needs you to sign in. Open Settings and find it under Connectors.`	Sign in to the connector; see Sign in to a connector.
`This connector needs values only you can enter. Open Settings and find it under Connectors.`	Enter your values; see Enter your own values.
`The service did not accept your values for this connector. Open Settings, find it under Connectors and enter them again.`	Enter the values again with Enter values.
`This connector is not available in Oda in Excel right now.`	The connector cannot be reached from Excel. Ask your administrator.
`You turned this connector off in Settings.`	Turn the connector's switch on in Settings > Connectors.
`This connector is not connected right now.`	Wait for it to connect, or click Try again on its row.
`Oda had not found this connector tool for this chat yet.`	Oda tried a tool before finding it. Ask again; Oda looks for the tool first.
`This tool was turned off for Oda in Excel, by your company or in your settings.`	Your administrator turned connectors off for Oda in Excel. Ask your administrator.

Questions, answered

Where do the connectors in Excel come from?

Your administrators add them as MCP servers in DataMind OS and make them available in Oda in Excel; see MCP servers for DataMind Oda. You cannot add a connector of your own in Excel.

Do my sign-ins from the DataMind Oda app work in Excel?

No. Oda in Excel keeps its own sign-ins and values, on your DataMind server. Sign in and enter your values once in Excel, under Settings > Connectors.

Why does Oda ask every time before it uses a connector?

The tool can change data in the service, or your administrator set the connector so that every tool counts as one that does. Those calls ask every time in every mode. Tools the service marks as only reading ask until you choose Always allow in this chat.

Does Skip all permissions let a connector change data without asking?

No. Tools that can change data in the service ask every time, also in Skip all permissions. Only tools that the service marks as only reading run without a card in that mode.

Why does Oda ask again for a tool I chose Always allow for?

Always allow in this chat holds for one tool, in this chat and in the permission mode you chose it in, until the pane closes. It also ends when your administrator changes the connector. In a new chat, another mode or after a change, the tool asks again.

Why did Oda say it saw only part of a connector's result?

The result was longer than 40,000 characters, so Oda got its first part. Oda asks the tool again for less, where the tool only reads, or says which part it covered. You can also narrow the request, for example to fewer records or a shorter period.

What does Oda send to a connector?

The request shown under What Oda sends on the card, such as the identifiers and dates of what you asked to look up. Other workbook data, Mind answers and file contents go only when you ask.

Why does a connector say Sign in to use it after it worked before?

Your sign-in to the service ended, the service asked for more access, or your administrator changed the connector's address. Click Sign in again.

Why is the Connectors group missing from Settings?

Your company has connectors off for Oda in Excel, or no connector made available in Excel reaches your roles. Ask your administrator.

Can I see the values I entered?

No. DataMind keeps them encrypted and never shows them again. To change them, click Change values and type the new ones.

Why does a connector show Could not connect?

The pane could not connect to the service, or the connection broke. Click Try again on its row. If it keeps failing, the service may be down or its settings may have changed; ask your administrator.