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When you connect Google, Kay normally signs you in through its own registered Google app — that’s what the consent screen names, and whose API quota your requests count against. If you’d rather own that relationship, you can create a Google app of your own and tell Kay to use it instead. Kay calls this using your own OAuth client. You might want this because:
  • The consent screen is yours. You approve an app you created and control, not a shared one.
  • The API quota is yours. Your Google API usage counts against your own Google Cloud project, not a pool shared with other Kay users.
  • Your organization requires it. A Workspace admin can allow their own app where an unknown third-party app would be blocked.
This is an advanced, optional setup. Google is the only service that supports it today, and everything works without it — if you never touch this, Kay’s built-in client keeps working. If your organization publishes its own client through Kay, it applies automatically and there is nothing to set up.

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1. Create the client in Google Cloud

You create the OAuth client on Google’s side, in the Google Cloud console. Kay shows these same steps in the app, with an Open Google setup guide button that takes you to the right console page.
1

Create or pick a project

In the Google Cloud console, create a project or pick an existing one.
2

Enable the APIs you need

Under APIs & Services › Library, enable the APIs your workflows need — for Kay today that’s the Gmail and Google Calendar APIs.
3

Set the user type

Under Google Auth Platform › Audience — part of the OAuth consent screen settings — set the user type. On a Google Workspace account choose Internal. A personal Gmail account has no organization, so Internal is greyed out there: choose External.
4

External only: stay in testing mode and add yourself

On the External path only, still under Audience: leave the publishing status on Testing, and add your own Google address under Test users.
5

Create the client

Under Google Auth Platform › Clients, create an OAuth client of type Desktop app, and keep its ID and secret to hand.
Worth knowing before you choose:
  • Internal skips Google’s verification and CASA review even for restricted scopes, so prefer it when you can select it.
  • On the External path, an address missing from Test users is refused at sign-in.
  • Google warns during sign-in that an unverified app is unsafe — continue via Advanced.
  • External testing-mode access lapses after seven days, so expect to reconnect weekly.

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2. Register it in Kay

1

Open the Google connection

Go to Settings → Plugins and open Google, then choose Options.
2

Choose to use your own client

Expand Advanced: use your own OAuth client and choose Use my own client.
3

Paste the ID and secret

Kay asks for the client ID and secret in a secure prompt — they never appear on the settings page itself. Kay checks the ID looks like a real Google client ID and refuses its own built-in one, so you can’t accidentally register a client that isn’t yours.
4

Connect your account

Saving the client also selects it, so you don’t need to flip anything — just connect your Google account. A toggle (Kay’s built-in client / Your own OAuth client) appears alongside, for switching back and forth later.

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Check which client a connection actually uses

A connected Google account states which client signed it in — “Connected using Kay’s built-in client”, “your own OAuth client”, or “your organization’s OAuth client” — so you never have to guess whether the switch took effect. A connection keeps the client it was created with for as long as it lives: flipping the toggle changes which client new connections use, but an existing connection continues to refresh through the client that made it. To move an account onto your own client, disconnect it and connect again with Your own OAuth client selected. The setup steps stay available after you’ve registered a client — Show setup steps on the same panel brings them back, which is handy when a failed sign-in sends you back to check your Google Cloud configuration.

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Removing your client

Remove client on the same panel first shows you how many connected accounts were signed in through your client, and asks you to confirm. Removing it doesn’t silently move those accounts to Kay’s built-in client — each one stays listed but shows “OAuth client removed — reconnect to continue” until you sign it in again. Fresh connections then use the built-in client.

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Troubleshooting