Every surface has a provider

A surface is a view of work. Its provider supplies the data or service behind that view. The provider determines where an action takes effect and which source answers for its result.

Connections, bridges and embedded links #

A connection authorises access to an external tool. GitHub App installation is the supported connection flow in Integrations. GitHub remains authoritative for its repositories and pull requests. The application also stores connection information and can cache review responses. Connecting doesn’t mean that no local copy exists.

A bridge relays conversation between platforms. Slack and Microsoft Teams bridge setup is unavailable in the application. A bridge is different from a provider because it concerns messages rather than the data behind a surface.

An embedded link points to another item. Opening a link or seeing a preview doesn’t install its provider, copy its permissions or grant an agent access. Access to the linked item still depends on the tool that serves it.

Availability is specific to the tool #

A provider reference describes the supported connection and its limits. Tools without setup controls cannot be connected by following the GitHub procedure. There is no generic MCP or API-key form and no general surface-provider switch.

An installed App is also not a promise that every action is available. The App’s granted permissions, selected repositories and the application’s permissions constrain its use. GitHub repository rules continue to apply.

Authority and freshness #

Check the provider before relying on a result. The application caches review responses briefly, so a displayed response can lag a change in GitHub. Reload the pull request before acting on a changed head. A connection failure prevents a new read; it doesn’t make an earlier response current.

Disconnect revokes access. It is not a migration or a promise to erase records already held in the application. The GitHub reference states its record, cache and disconnect behaviour. Other tools have no supported connection behaviour to rely on yet.