How abilities work
When you enable an ability, your AI assistant gains permission to interact with specific apps and services on your behalf. It decides when to use each ability based on your requests — you don’t need to tell it which tool to use.“Remind me to call mom tomorrow” → AI uses Reminders “What’s on my calendar today?” → AI uses Calendar “Summarize today’s unread email” → AI uses Email
Available abilities
Notes
Read, search, and create notes in Apple Notes. Mac desktop app required.
Reminders
Create reminders with due dates, manage to-do lists. Mac desktop app required.
Calendar
Check schedule, create events via Google Calendar integration.
Read, search, and send emails via Gmail or IMAP/SMTP.
Web browsing is not available right now. Ara does not support a built-in browser ability at this time. Agents can still fetch public URLs via MCP integrations where available.
Built-in tools
Every AI assistant also has access to tools that run inside your container:| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
| Shell | Execute commands in the container |
| File read/write | Create and edit files in the workspace |
| File search | Find files by name or content |
| Memory | Save and recall information across sessions |
250+ integrations
Through MCP integrations, your AI can connect to external services:- Google Workspace (Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets)
- GitHub, Slack, Linear, Notion, Trello
- And many more
See all integrations
How to connect external services.
You’re in control
Each ability only does what you enable. Turn abilities on or off at any time from your Ara settings. Your AI only accesses information when it’s directly relevant to helping you.Abilities only request the minimum permissions needed. If you just enable calendar, that’s all your AI gets.