# Google Calendar

Google Calendar is the foundation of Formata's meeting preparation system. By connecting your calendar, Formata knows exactly when you have customer meetings scheduled and can deliver your prep briefs at the perfect time.

### Why Google Calendar Integration is Required

Formata uses your Google Calendar to:

* **Identify customer meetings** by detecting external attendees (customer email addresses)
* **Schedule brief delivery** automatically 30 minutes before each meeting
* **Extract meeting context** from titles, descriptions, and attendee information
* **Prioritize relevant data** based on meeting participants and timing

Without calendar access, Formata cannot determine when you need meeting preparation, making this integration essential for the platform to function.

### What Formata Accesses

When you connect Google Calendar, Formata requests permission to:

**✅ Read your calendar events**

* Meeting titles and descriptions
* Start and end times
* Attendee email addresses
* Meeting locations (if specified)

**✅ Identify meeting patterns**

* Recurring meeting series
* Meeting frequency with specific accounts
* Historical meeting data for context

Formata operates with **read-only access** and never modifies, creates, or deletes calendar events.

### Setup Process

Setting up Google Calendar integration takes less than a minute:

#### Step 1: Initiate Connection

1. Navigate to the **Integrations** page in your Formata dashboard
2. Find the **Google Calendar** section
3. Click **Connect Google Calendar**

#### Step 2: Authorize Access

1. You'll be redirected to Google's authorization page
2. Review the permissions Formata is requesting
3. Click **Allow** to grant access
4. You'll be automatically redirected back to Formata

#### Step 3: Confirm Connection

Once connected, you'll see:

* ✅ **Google Calendar: Connected** status in your integrations dashboard
* Your primary calendar name and email address
* Connection timestamp

**Total setup time: 30 seconds**

### How Meeting Detection Works

Formata automatically identifies customer meetings using these criteria:

#### Meetings That Trigger Briefs

* **External attendees present**: At least one attendee with an email domain different from your organization
* **Future meetings**: Scheduled at least 30 minutes from now
* **Standard meeting types**: One-on-one calls, group meetings, recurring series

#### Meetings That Don't Trigger Briefs

* **Internal-only meetings**: All attendees from your organization
* **All-day events**: Events without specific start times
* **Past meetings**: Historical events won't generate new briefs
* **Very short notice**: Meetings scheduled less than 30 minutes in advance

### Brief Delivery Timing

**Standard Delivery**: 30 minutes before meeting start time

**Why 30 minutes?**

* Gives you enough time to review and absorb the information
* Close enough to the meeting to ensure relevance
* Allows for any last-minute meeting preparation or adjustment

### Multiple Calendars

If you have multiple Google calendars:

**Primary Calendar**: Formata monitors your primary Google Calendar by default

**Additional Calendars**: Currently, Formata focuses on your primary calendar to avoid duplicate briefs and ensure consistent delivery

**Shared Calendars**: Meetings from shared calendars where you're listed as an attendee will be detected if they appear in your primary calendar view

### Troubleshooting

#### "No briefs are being delivered"

**Check these common issues:**

1. **Meeting attendees**: Ensure your meetings include external email addresses (customers)
2. **Timing**: Meetings must be scheduled at least 30 minutes in advance
3. **Calendar permissions**: Verify the integration shows as "Connected" in your dashboard
4. **Slack setup**: Confirm your Slack integration is also configured to receive briefs

#### "Briefs for wrong meetings"

**Possible causes:**

* Personal meetings with external attendees (friends, family) may trigger briefs
* Vendor meetings might be detected as customer meetings

**Solution**: Formata learns from your patterns over time and improves meeting detection accuracy

#### "Missing some meetings"

**Common reasons:**

* Meeting invites sent from external organizers may not appear in your primary calendar view
* Very last-minute meetings (under 30 minutes notice) won't generate briefs
* All-day events or events without specific times are excluded

### Privacy & Security

**Data Protection**:

* Formata uses enterprise-grade encryption for all calendar data
* Calendar information is processed securely and never shared with third parties
* You can disconnect the integration at any time from your dashboard

**Access Control**:

* Integration uses OAuth 2.0 for secure, revocable access
* No passwords are stored - only secure access tokens
* You maintain full control over your calendar data

### Managing Your Integration

#### Reconnecting

If your integration becomes disconnected:

1. Go to **Integrations** in your dashboard
2. Click **Reconnect** next to Google Calendar
3. Follow the same authorization process

#### Disconnecting

To remove calendar access:

1. Click **Disconnect** in your Formata integrations dashboard
2. Optionally revoke access through your [Google Account permissions](https://myaccount.google.com/permissions)

**Note**: Disconnecting Google Calendar will stop all meeting brief delivery since Formata won't know when meetings are scheduled.

### Next Steps

Once your Google Calendar is connected:

1. **Set up Slack integration** to receive your briefs
2. **Add Gmail integration** for richer meeting context
3. **Schedule a test meeting** with an external attendee to see your first brief