What you approve
When an assistant connects, Popcorn opens a page titled “Connect assistant to Popcorn AI” with the line “This will let assistant do the following in workspace.” You must be signed in to Popcorn; if you are not, you are sent to sign in and then brought back. The screen shows:
Click Allow access to connect or Deny to cancel. The footer says “You can disconnect assistant at any time.” and links to Manage connected assistants, which opens Settings → AI assistants in a new tab. That page holds setup only; see Revoking a connection.
Access levels
Each line under Requested access is an area plus a level, in the form “Inbox: Send”, with the short code the assistant asked for (for exampleinbox:send) shown next to it.
The areas are Workspace, Analytics, Inbox, Saved replies, Tags, Customers, Products, Orders, Templates, Campaigns, AI agents, Knowledge base, Custom tools, Integrations, Billing, Settings, API keys and Team.
Assistants that ask for nothing specific
If the assistant does not request particular areas, Popcorn grants read-only access to every area your role can view. The assistant can answer questions and produce reports but cannot change anything. Reconnect if you later want it to make changes and it supports asking for that access.Your role is the ceiling
An assistant can never do more than you can. Each area of access maps to a permission on your Popcorn role, the same ones shown under Settings → Roles and permissions (Full access includes every other action for that area):
Three consequences:
- What happens when the request exceeds your role depends on the assistant. ChatGPT and the Claude connector ask for every area and receive only what your role allows; the screen lists exactly that, and approval is refused only when your role allows none of it. Claude Code, Codex and other clients choose what they ask for. If they ask for more than your role can grant, the page shows Authorization request expired. instead of the approval screen. Ask an Owner or Admin to change your role, or connect as a user who has the access.
- Changes to your role apply on the next request. Popcorn re-checks your user and role every time the assistant calls it. If your role is reduced, the assistant loses that access immediately. If you are removed from the workspace or the workspace is suspended, the connection stops working.
- Billing depends on the connection. ChatGPT and the Claude connector never receive billing access, whatever your role. See Differences between connections.
Bound to you, your workspace, and that assistant
Every approval creates a connection tied to three things: your user, the workspace you approved it in, and the specific assistant that asked. It cannot be transferred to another person, another workspace, or another assistant. A connection works only at the address it was approved for: one made for the ChatGPT address is rejected at the Claude and main addresses, and the other way round.- Workspace. If you belong to more than one workspace, approve while you are in the one you want. The connection keeps working in that workspace as long as you are a member of it, even if you later switch your dashboard to another one, and it acts with your role there. If the workspace you are in changes while the approval page is open, Popcorn refuses the approval and the page reloads to show the new workspace, so you decide again.
- User. If the approval link is opened while signed in as a different Popcorn user than the one who started the connection, the page shows Authorization request expired. and nothing is approved.
Confirmation before anything irreversible
Actions that reach a customer, publish something, delete data, move money, or change what is live are split into two steps. The assistant first asks Popcorn for a plan, which returns an exact preview: recipients, template, timing, amount, what will be created or deleted. The assistant must show you that preview and wait for your go-ahead. Only then can it ask Popcorn to carry the plan out. What Popcorn enforces on its side:- A go-ahead is valid for 10 minutes and for one execution only.
- It is bound to the exact plan. If the assistant changes anything, or if the underlying data changed in between (a template was edited, a conversation received new messages, a price changed), Popcorn refuses and the assistant must prepare a new plan for you to review.
- Retrying a completed action with the same details does not run it twice.
Messages outside the 24-hour window
An assistant cannot send a free-form text, media or product message when WhatsApp’s 24-hour customer-service window for that conversation is closed. Popcorn refuses it with “The 24-hour customer-service window is closed; use popcorn_plan_start_inbox_template_chat to send an approved template”, and nothing is sent. The assistant can instead prepare an approved template chat, which you confirm like any other send. Sends are also refused when the WhatsApp number itself cannot send; see Channels troubleshooting.Things you must do in the browser
Some steps never go through the assistant, because they involve your credentials or consent with another company:- Signing in to Shopify, Salla, or Zid and approving the store connection.
- Meta login and consent for WhatsApp or a product catalog. The assistant gives you a link that opens the WhatsApp page under Integrations ready to connect (or Integrations itself for a catalog); you click Connect WhatsApp and complete Meta’s steps yourself.
- Slack authorization for an agent.
- Entering or changing a payment card, changing your plan, and any payment that your bank asks you to authenticate. Where billing is offered, the assistant can start a billing session (after your confirmation) and give you the link.
How long access lasts
- The approval request itself expires after 10 minutes. For ChatGPT and the Claude connector, a request that lapsed while you were signing in or finishing account setup is renewed when you come back, for up to 24 hours after the connection started; you then decide on the refreshed screen (“This request has been refreshed. Review the requested access and choose again to continue.”).
- Once approved, the assistant’s session is renewed automatically while you keep using it. A connection that goes unused for 30 days expires, and the assistant asks you to approve again.
- Reconnecting after a permission change is expected. Connections approved before an area existed do not include it; to add it, connect again so the assistant requests the new access. Importing customers or products, for example, needs read access to those areas as well as write access.
Differences between connections
Revoking a connection
Settings → AI assistants shows setup instructions only; it does not list or revoke connections. To end an assistant’s access:- Ask the assistant. Say “List my connected assistants” and then “Revoke the connection for X”. Revoking is itself a confirmed action, so the assistant shows you which connection it is about to remove and waits for your go-ahead. This works from any connected assistant, including the one you are revoking.
- Change the role or remove the user. An Owner or Admin can reduce your role or remove you from the workspace under Settings → Team members; every connection you approved stops with the next request.
- Removing Popcorn inside the assistant’s own settings stops that assistant from using the connection. Unless the assistant tells Popcorn it is disconnecting, the approval on Popcorn’s side remains until it is revoked or expires after 30 days unused.
Rate limits
Popcorn limits how quickly each assistant can call it, per action type, per minute:
Generating agent instructions has its own, tighter limits because it calls an AI model: 3 per minute per assistant, 5 per minute per user, 20 per minute per workspace, and a daily allowance of 25 per user and 250 per workspace (the day resets at midnight UTC).
When a limit is hit, the assistant receives Too many MCP requests with the number of seconds to wait. Nothing is lost; it can continue after the window. Edits, sends, deletions, and instruction generation also pause if Popcorn’s safety limiter is temporarily unavailable (the assistant is told to retry in 60 seconds), so that nothing runs unchecked. Reads keep working.