Connect your services: OAuth, access key or your own application

For a Voltask block to read your emails, write to a spreadsheet or query a database, Voltask must be allowed to act on that service on your behalf. This permission is called a connection. There are three ways to create one. This guide helps you choose and explains the constraints of each.

Don't mix them up. Signing in to Voltask (your Voltask email and password) has nothing to do with connecting a service (Gmail, Notion, OpenAI…) to a block. This guide covers only the second.

The three ways to connect a service

1. One-click connection

This is the recommended way whenever it is offered: a "Connect with Google" button (or Microsoft, Airtable) appears at the top of the block's configuration form.

1. Select the block, then open its configuration (the button under the block title).
2. Click "Connect with…". A tab opens at the provider.
3. Choose your account and accept the requested permissions.
4. The tab says "You can close this tab": close it and go back to Voltask. The configuration is filled in and the enabled switch turns on.

Voltask then stores the credentials in the configuration, exactly as if you had typed them yourself. You can reuse the configuration in several blocks.

Constraints to know

• The shared application must exist. Its credentials are set once for the whole installation by the administrator (see "For administrators" below). If that has not been done, the tab shows "Sign in with Google is not set up on this Voltask server": use way 2 or 3 instead, or ask your administrator.
• Google restricts access until the application is verified. A Google application "in testing" only accepts accounts added by hand (100 at most), and the authorization expires after 7 days: you then click the button again. To open it to everyone, the administrator must publish the application and have Google verify it. Access to email (Gmail) additionally requires an external security assessment; Google Sheets and Google Calendar are easier to get verified.
• You stay in control. You can remove access at any time from your account at the provider (for example "Google Account → Security → Third-party access"). The block then stops working until you connect again.
• The permissions requested are kept to what is needed: Gmail reads and modifies emails, Google Sheets reads and writes spreadsheets, Google Calendar reads and creates events.

2. Your own OAuth application (advanced)

You create the application at the provider yourself, then copy its credentials into the fields of the form, under the button: clientId, clientSecret and refresh token.

Choose this if:

• the administrator has not set up one-click connection, or Google has not verified it yet;
• your organization requires access to go through its own application (compliance, audit, separate quotas);
• you do not want to depend on the limits of a shared application.

Steps for Google:

1. In the Google Cloud console, create a project, then an OAuth consent screen.
2. Enable the API you need (Gmail, Sheets or Calendar).
3. Create an OAuth client ID of type "Web application". Declare the redirect address given by your administrator.
4. Copy the ID and secret into Voltask, then obtain a refresh token for the scope you need.

Constraints: it takes longer, and renewing expiring tokens is up to you. Secret fields are write-only: once saved, they are not displayed again. Leave them empty to keep the stored value.

3. Access key (API key or token)

Many services do not use OAuth. You generate a key in your account at the service, paste it into the form field, and that's it.

Constraints: a key often grants more rights than needed, so create one dedicated to Voltask when the service allows it. If you regenerate the key at the service, replace it in Voltask. For any service that exposes a key-based API but has no connector, use the HTTP block.

Which one should I choose?

• The button exists and works → way 1.
• The button says "not set up", or the authorization expires every 7 days → way 2, or ask the administrator to finish the verification with Google.
• The service offers an API key → way 3, the simplest.
• You are an organization with strict rules → way 2, with your own application.

For administrators (self-hosted Voltask)

The one-click buttons use an application created once for the whole installation. Your users have nothing to create. The credentials are set through environment variables of the Voltask service:

Secrets also accept a <NAME>_FILE variant pointing to a file (handy with Docker secrets).

Redirect addresses to declare at the provider (replace with the public address of your Voltask, including its path prefix if any, for example /voltask):

• Google: https://your-domain/voltask/oauth/google/redirect
• SharePoint: https://your-domain/voltask/oauth/sharepoint/redirect
• Microsoft: https://your-domain/voltask/oauth/microsoft/redirect
• Airtable: https://your-domain/voltask/oauth/airtable/redirect

Steps for Google

1. Google Cloud console → new project → OAuth consent screen → type External.
2. Enable the Gmail, Google Sheets and Google Calendar APIs you need.
3. Credentials → Create credentials → OAuth client ID → "Web application", with the redirect address above.
4. Set the ID and secret in the variables, then restart Voltask.
5. While the application is "In testing", add the allowed accounts (100 at most, 7-day authorization). To open it to the public, publish the application, provide a privacy policy page and a verified domain, then submit it to Google for verification.

Frequently asked questions

The tab says "not set up on this Voltask server". The administrator has not yet filled in the shared application. Use way 2 or 3.

The block worked, then stops after a week. You are on a Google application "in testing": the authorization expires after 7 days. Click the button again, or ask the administrator to publish the application.

Where can I find the key I entered? Nowhere: secret fields are write-only. If you lost it, generate a new one at the service and replace it.

Can I have several accounts (for example two Gmail inboxes)? Yes: create one configuration per account (New configuration) and choose it in each block.

Updated on: 06/10/2026