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Your agent can communicate with you and your team through Google Chat, appearing as its own named app. People @mention it in a space, or direct-message it, and the agent replies using its full context, capabilities, and history — just like in the portal. Each Google Chat–enabled agent has its own Google Chat app, configured in your Google Cloud project.
Abundly uses the classic HTTP Chat app, not the Google Workspace add-on. When you configure the Chat API, you point it at Abundly’s HTTP endpoint — you do not build it as a Workspace add-on (the “gsuiteaddons” model). The add-on model makes threaded replies harder and pulls in Marketplace publishing; the classic HTTP app sidesteps both. The steps below set up the classic app.

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Example use cases

  • “@Researcher summarise everything we know about Acme Corp” — kicks off a research agent from a space
  • “@Releaser time to cut a new release” — triggers your deployment agent directly in a space
  • A direct message to your assistant agent for a quick, private back-and-forth

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Modes

Google Chat has two reply modes, selectable on the capability card under Settings → Capabilities → Google Chat. Pick based on how much setup you want and what behaviour you need.
Direct reply (simple)API (advanced)
SetupHTTP endpoint only+ service account key
How replies are sentreturned in the webhook responseposted via the Chat REST API
Response timebounded by Google’s ~30s webhook timeoutno limit — handles long, tool-using turns
Threadinga top-level @mention’s reply starts a new threadreply lands in the @mention’s thread
Agent tools (post to other spaces/DMs)—✅ post / reply / direct-message tools
Best forquick conversational replies, easy to get goingtool-heavy or long-running agents, tidy threading
Start with Direct reply to get going fast. Switch to API when you want threaded replies, long-running turns, or the agent to post into other spaces.

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Which Google API each mode uses

  • Direct reply (sync) — your endpoint returns a Google Chat Message in the HTTP response and Google posts it for you. No outbound API call, no credentials.
  • API (async) — the agent posts via the Chat REST API (spaces.messages.create, chat.bot scope) using a service account, with messageReplyOption so the reply threads correctly.
  • Not used: the Workspace add-ons API (hostAppDataAction / gsuiteaddons). Abundly deliberately runs as a classic HTTP app, so neither mode uses the add-on response format.

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Prerequisites

  • A Google Cloud project in the organization tied to your Google Workspace (see the warning below)
  • Permission to enable APIs and create service accounts in that project
  • A Google Workspace account you use for Google Chat
  • The Abundly agent you want to connect
The project’s org must match your Workspace. A Chat app can only post into spaces in the Workspace whose organization owns its Cloud project. A GCP organization’s display name is not a reliable guide — match the Directory Customer ID instead: get your Workspace Customer ID from the Google Admin console (Account → Account settings), then run gcloud organizations list and pick the org whose DIRECTORY_CUSTOMER_ID matches. Build the Chat app in a project under that org. If the project is under the wrong org, posting fails with 403 "This Chat app is not a member of this space".

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How to connect

1

Enable the Google Chat API

  1. In the Google Cloud Console, select (or create) a project under the org tied to your Workspace (see the warning above).
  2. Enable the Google Chat API for that project.
2

Configure the Chat app (classic HTTP)

Open Google Chat API → Configuration and fill in:
  1. Application info — app name (e.g. your agent’s name), avatar URL, description.
  2. Interactive features — enabled.
  3. Connection settings — choose HTTP endpoint URL (not Apps Script, Dialogflow, or Pub/Sub) and paste the messaging endpoint Abundly shows you: 
    https://your-domain/api/google-chat/bot/YOUR-AGENT-ID
    If a “Use a common HTTP endpoint URL for all triggers” toggle is shown, enable it.
  4. Authentication Audience — set this to App URL. Nothing else to configure: Abundly verifies each request against the endpoint URL it gave you.
    Abundly verifies every request’s signed audience claim against the endpoint URL and rejects mismatches — there’s no fallback to “signature only”. App URL is the only supported mode, so leave the Authentication Audience on App URL (not App project number).
  5. Visibility — add yourself (and anyone else who should use it). Set the app status to Live.
Do not enable the Google Workspace Marketplace SDK or publish this as a Workspace add-on. Abundly is a classic HTTP Chat app.
3

(API mode only) Create a service account key

Direct-reply mode needs nothing here — skip to the next step. For API (async) mode, the agent posts via the Chat REST API and needs a service account:
  1. In the same project, go to IAM & Admin → Service Accounts → Create service account (no project roles required).
  2. Open it → Keys → Add key → Create new key → JSON and download the file.
  3. In Abundly, create a secret of type Google Chat and paste the entire JSON key into it.
The service account must live in the same project as the Chat app — that’s how chat.bot authentication maps the call to your app. No Marketplace publish or scope approval is needed for chat.bot.
4

Enable the capability in Abundly

In your agent’s Settings → Capabilities, enable Google Chat, then on the capability card:
  1. Choose the reply mode — Direct reply or API.
  2. API mode: select the service account key secret you created.
  3. The messaging endpoint URL shown here is the one you pasted into the Chat API Configuration.
5

Add the app and talk to it

  1. In Google Chat, @mention the app in a space, or open a direct message with it.
  2. In a space, the first @mention adds the app and gets a reply.
The agent replies. In a DM, keep chatting — every message reaches it. In a space, @mention it each turn (see below).

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How conversations work

Every Google Chat conversation maps to a persistent Abundly chat, with the same instructions, memory, and capabilities the agent has in the portal. These chats appear in the sidebar alongside portal chats and are marked as “remote”.
  • Direct messages (1:1 with the app) — every message reaches the agent, no @mention needed. A free-flowing conversation.
  • Spaces (rooms) — Google only delivers messages to an HTTP app when it’s @mentioned, so you @mention the agent on each turn. Each space maps to its own Abundly chat.
  • Threading — in API mode the reply lands in your message’s thread (tidy, contiguous). In Direct-reply mode a top-level @mention’s reply starts a new thread, because Google ignores threading on synchronous responses.
  • Group chats — Google Chat apps can’t be added to multi-person group chats; only DMs and spaces are supported.
Google Chat–originated chats are read-only in the portal — reply from Google Chat to keep the thread in the agent’s working context.

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Agent tools (API mode)

In API mode, the agent gets tools to post into other Google Chat conversations (its reply to the current conversation is always delivered automatically — these are for reaching elsewhere):
ToolPurpose
post_google_chat_messagePost a new message to a space (room or DM space), by spaces/... id
reply_to_google_chat_messageReply inside an existing thread, by spaces/.../threads/...
send_google_chat_direct_messageDM a user by users/... id (resolves the existing DM space)
All use the chat.bot scope — no Marketplace or admin approval. They’re available only in API mode (Direct-reply mode stays minimal). A DM is just a space, so post_google_chat_message with a DM space id reaches a person too; the direct-message tool is the convenience for when you have a user id but not their DM space id.

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Things to know

One app per agent — each agent uses its own Google Chat app and (for API mode) its own service account.
Direct-reply mode has a ~30-second ceiling. Google times out the webhook, so a long or heavily tool-using turn won’t post a reply in Direct-reply mode. Use API mode for those.

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Troubleshooting

The app isn’t a recognized member of the space. Almost always the project is under the wrong organization — it must be the org tied to your Workspace (match the Directory Customer ID; see the prerequisites warning). Also confirm the service account is in the same project as the Chat app, and that the app has been added to the space.
The agent made a raw, unauthenticated HTTP call instead of using the dedicated Google Chat tool. Ensure you’re in API mode with a service account key set (which loads the post_google_chat_message / reply_to_google_chat_message tools), and restart the service so the tools are loaded.
Expected behaviour pattern when something’s off in API mode — the ack and the async post are out of sync. If you see it persistently, confirm you’re on the latest build (the async acknowledgement returns an empty response).
In spaces, Google only forwards @mentions to the app. Make sure you @mention it. Unmentioned follow-ups in a space thread are not delivered to a Google Chat HTTP app (unlike Microsoft Teams, which has Resource-Specific Consent for this).
Direct-reply (sync) mode cannot thread a top-level @mention’s reply — Google ignores the thread on synchronous responses. Switch to API mode for threaded replies.
With the App URL audience, Google sends a standard Google-issued OpenID Connect token (iss: accounts.google.com). Abundly verifies its signature against Google’s public keys, checks the aud claim equals your endpoint URL, and confirms the token’s email is chat@system.gserviceaccount.com (which proves the caller is Google Chat) — rejecting any mismatch.Two things to check: the Authentication Audience in the Chat API Configuration must be App URL (not App project number — Abundly only supports App URL), and the endpoint URL you pasted must exactly match the one Abundly gave you. If you see audience mismatches, re-copy the messaging endpoint URL and confirm the audience is set to App URL.