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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://lava.so/docs/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

Lava routes calls to a catalog of connected services. Some are managed by Lava (no setup required); others need you to connect a personal account or paste an API key. This guide covers both connection paths and how to verify, troubleshoot, and remove connections.

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Prerequisites

  • A Lava account.
  • The Lava MCP installed in your AI chat. See How to Install the Lava MCP if you haven’t done this yet.
  • The service you want to connect must exist in the Lava catalog. Ask your chat Does Lava support Slack? (or whichever service you have in mind) to confirm.
On Team or Enterprise Claude accounts. A Claude org admin must enable Lava at the org level before any member can connect services through it. See Install for a Team or Enterprise Workspace for the admin and member setup.

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Two Connection Types

Some services need you to sign in with your own account (Gmail, Slack, Notion, web search, and most others). Others Lava manages for you (most paid AI model APIs) — those work right away with no setup. The connection flow below is the same either way; you’ll only run it for services that need a sign-in.

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Connect a Service via the Dashboard

The dashboard is the canonical path. It shows every service available to your account and the connection state for each.
  1. Open https://www.lava.so/dashboard/wallet/connected-services.
  2. Find the service in the list. Services with a “Connect” button are not yet connected.
  3. Click “Connect”. The dashboard opens the service’s auth flow — OAuth consent screen, an API-key entry form, or a federation handshake, depending on the service.
  4. Complete the auth flow. The dashboard returns you to the connected-services list.
Expected result. The service shows “Connected” with a timestamp.

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Connect a Service from Your Chat

You can also connect from inside the chat. This is useful when you’re already in a conversation and don’t want to leave. In your chat, type: 
Connect Slack to Lava.
Your chat hands off to Lava, which replies with a sign-in link: 
// Lava sends back:
{
  "url": "https://www.lava.so/auth/connect/slack?session=...",
  "expires_in": 600
}
Open the link within ten minutes (it expires). Complete the sign-in in the browser, then return to your chat. For services tied to a specific organization (a school’s Canvas instance, for example), name the host along with the service: 
Connect Canvas at canvas.yale.edu to Lava.
Expected result. Your chat can now use the service. Try it — for Slack, ask: 
List my Slack channels.

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Verify a Connection

To confirm a service is connected, ask your chat: 
What services do I have connected?
Your chat shows the services you’ve signed into: 
// Lava sends back:
{
  "data": [
    { "service": "slack", "connected_at": "2024-01-01T00:00:00Z" },
    { "service": "serper", "connected_at": "2024-01-01T00:00:00Z" }
  ]
}
Services Lava manages for you (most paid AI model APIs) don’t appear here — they aren’t tied to a personal sign-in. If you’re not sure whether a service needs a sign-in, ask your chat: 
Does OpenAI need me to sign in, or can I use it right away?
Your chat tells you whether the service is ready to use, already connected to your account, or still needs a one-time sign-in.

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Disconnect a Service

To remove a service: 
Disconnect Slack from Lava.
Lava removes the connection. You can also disconnect from the dashboard at https://www.lava.so/dashboard/wallet/connected-services — click the service and confirm removal. Expected result. The service no longer shows in your connected list. Calls to it stop working until you sign in again.

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Troubleshooting

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”The chat says the service isn’t connected, but I just connected it”

Your AI chat caches auth state for the session. After a fresh connection, ask the chat to refresh: 
List my connected services again.
If the service still doesn’t appear, the sign-in may not have finished cleanly. Try connecting again from your chat or from the dashboard. Lava requests the minimum scopes each service needs to support the tools the MCP exposes. If a scope feels too broad, cancel the consent flow and check the service’s scope documentation. You can request a narrower scope by contacting the Lava team.

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”Authorization URL expired”

The sign-in link expires after ten minutes. Ask your chat to connect the service again to get a fresh link.

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”I want to connect a service that isn’t in the catalog”

Ask your chat: 
Ask Lava to add Acme as a provider.
The Lava team reviews provider requests and may reach out by email for more context.

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Next Steps