Google Chat

Mention @Factory in a Google Chat space or send it a direct message to have Droid investigate, implement, and test work on a remote computer. Droid posts progress and results in the same thread.

You delegate directly from Google Chat; you do not need to create a Software Factory automation. The Delegations settings control the shared agent profile.

Prerequisites

To connect and configure Google Chat delegation, you need:

• A Factory organization on any paid plan, including individual plans and organization plans.
• Someone who has both the Manager or Owner role in the Factory organization and administrator access to your Google Workspace. Connecting reads your Workspace customer ID, which only a Workspace administrator can authorize.
• Access to Settings → Delegations, including Google Chat app setup.
• Service-account access and an active service account for shared execution.
• An Environment for Dynamic compute, or service-account-owned Droid Computers for Persistent compute.

Team members who delegate work need a Factory account in the connected organization. Use the same work email in Google Chat and Factory so Factory can match the person making the request.

Connect your workspace

1. 1
   Open Google Chat delegation settings

   In Factory, open Settings → Delegations. Under Delegation Apps, find Google Chat and select Set Up for Org.

   If Google Chat is already connected, select Configure to open its setup page.

2. 2
   Authorize your Google Workspace

   Select Connect and sign in with a Google Workspace administrator account. Approve the requested access so Factory can link your Workspace to your Factory organization.

   Check that you are connecting the intended Workspace to the intended Factory organization.

3. 3
   Add Factory in Google Chat

   In Google Chat, add the Factory app to the spaces where it should receive requests, or open a direct message with it. Your Workspace administrator may need to allow the app for your domain.

   If you add Factory in a Workspace that is not connected yet, it replies with instructions for connecting.

Configure shared execution

In Settings → Delegations, find Agent Profiles and select Edit on Apps.

Follow Configure delegated sessions to review:

This agent profile is shared with other delegation apps, so changes can affect more than Google Chat.

Personal and shared identity

• Direct messages to Factory run as the person sending the message, with their personal Git credentials and connectors.
• Space requests using the Apps agent profile run as its service account, with that account's Git credentials and connectors, not the sender's personal connections.

By default, a DM runs on a computer provisioned for the sender from the Apps agent profile's Environment, not the service account's compute. To run your DMs on one of your own computers or a different Environment, set a DM delegation machine in your personal delegation defaults. Without that setting, DMs require the agent profile to have an Environment, even when it uses Persistent compute for space requests.

Delegate a task

1. 1
   Open a space where Factory has been added, or a direct message with Factory.
2. 2
   Mention @Factory and describe the task, including the repository, desired outcome, and verification steps.
3. 3
   Send the message.

For example:

@Factory In the storefront repository, investigate the failing checkout test. Fix the cause, run the relevant tests, and open a pull request with a summary and test results.

Follow progress and send follow-ups

Reply in the same thread and mention @Factory again to continue the task. If Droid asks a question, the run stops and quotes the question; mention Factory again in the thread with your answer to continue.

Only the person who started the delegation can send follow-ups or stop the task. Start a new thread for a separate task.

Commands

You can also select Stop on the running task's status card. Stopping does not undo work already performed.

Troubleshooting