What Do I Do When My AI Agent Keeps Asking for a Tool I Am Not Ready to Connect?
In my initial prompt, I said I'm going to use Slack, but now I'm pausing.
Tell your AI agent in plain words that you are pausing on that tool, the way I told mine I'd pause on connecting Slack. That way it won't continue to prompt you to ask for it.
In my first prompt on October 7, 2026, I said I was going to use Slack. Partway through the build I decided to pause on it, so I told my AI agent, and that way it won't continue to prompt me to ask for it (38:16).
Why is my AI agent asking for this tool?
In my build, the answer was in the goals I had dictated earlier in the hour.
From the recording, 12:10. So I'd like to follow up on Slack messages, emails, and send useful information through Slack.
When I reached the skills step, I named that as the reason myself.
From the recording, 38:10. In my initial prompt, I said I'm going to use Slack, but now I'm pausing.
What are your choices?
On October 7, 2026 I gave the group two options for connecting email, and later showed a third for any tool you are not ready for.
The first is to connect it now.
From the recording, 27:00. If you feel comfortable setting up an email account and connecting your agent to it today, you can do that.
The second is to follow along without connecting anything.
From the recording, 27:06. If you're not yet comfortable, just continue to follow along.
The third is to pause that one tool in plain words, which is what the next section shows.
How do you pause it in plain words?
The build in the session ran in Gumloop. Checked on 2026-11-05 against Gumloop's connectors documentation: the connectors you add are what the AI agent can reach, so a tool you have not connected is one it will ask for. On my relationship to Gumloop, I said this:
From the recording, 33:22. I don't work for Gumloop. I found this tool over the summer through Lenny's podcast, and I started using it and have since made myself an ambassador for them. I've created a relationship with Gumloop. I am not an employee.
While my AI agent was working on the skills, I said:
From the recording, 37:59. I'm not going to connect mine to Slack now, so I'm also going to say I'll pause on connecting Slack.
The steps, as shown October 7, 2026:
- 01
Connect the tool you are ready for, from inside the chat.
I had not connected my calendar in the connector section. You'll notice the chat offered a one-click log in, and I used it there (37:49).
- 02
Say the pause in plain words.
I told my AI agent I'd pause on connecting Slack.
- 03
Press the up arrow.
I asked everyone to type what they saw on my screen, minus the pause on connecting Slack, and hit the up arrow (38:22). Your AI agent then begins to think and should come back and ask you a few questions (38:33).
My reason for saying it out loud:
From the recording, 38:16. I can now tell the agent I'll pause on that so it won't continue to prompt me to ask for that.
The session page adds a check you can run afterward. Step 4 says to open Connectors and expect Gmail and Google Calendar listed there, with no other tool, if you connected them. The steps are on the session page.
What goes wrong
One thing came up.
A connectors screen that does not close on its own. If you do connect a tool in the connector section, this is what I said about leaving that screen:
From the recording, 31:20. You actually have to click the save button to exit out of the screen
What the recording does not show: a second request after the pause, so this page cannot say how my AI agent answered one.
Where this comes from
This article grows from the session I taught live with Women Applying AI on October 7, 2026. The quoted passages are my own words, taken verbatim from the recording. The steps, tables and checklists around them were drafted by my team's AI agents from those words and my published pages, and checked against the recording before publishing. Screen steps are dated as shown October 7, 2026, and screens change.
Build Your First AI Agent in One Hour: the full session with the clips, the prompts and the transcript.
Related reading: How Do You Create Skills for an AI Agent?, Which Connectors Does an AI Agent Need?.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to connect a tool my AI agent asks for?
On October 7, 2026 I gave two options for email, connect it if you feel comfortable or follow along if you do not yet, and I showed a third: tell the AI agent you are pausing on that tool.
What exactly did I say to my AI agent?
I said I'd pause on connecting Slack. I had named Slack in my first prompt, and I told the AI agent so that it would not continue to prompt me for it.
Where do I check what is connected?
The session page, Step 4, points to the Connectors list inside your AI agent's settings.
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