Organization connections

Organization connections let an Owner link external government data sources to the whole workspace. Connect a source once and every member’s agent can search and analyze it during a conversation; no per-person setup. This is different from personal Connections, which link your own Google Drive or OneDrive; organization connections are shared, public data sources managed for the entire org.

Only users with the Owner role (or a role granted the organization-management permission) can manage organization connections.

Connect a source

Open the Connections page

Switch to the Organization area in the sidebar and click Connections. The page shows the most common source types (CKAN and Socrata open-data portals, ArcGIS servers, and Legistar portals), a link to the full catalog, and any connections you’ve already made.

The organization Connections page with available sources

Pick a source and paste its address

Click Connect on the source you want, or Configure on it in the full catalog, then paste the portal or server address. Any page on the site usually works, because Mesa normalizes the address. Click Test to confirm Mesa can reach it; a successful test shows details like the site’s title, the government’s name, or how many datasets it found.

Connecting a Socrata open-data portal, with a successful test showing the portal's public asset count

Name it and connect

Optionally add a display label or government name of your own, then confirm. The source is added under Active connections, and every member’s agent can use it right away.

Add a public source

Click Browse full catalog on the Connections page to see every source your organization can connect, with a search box to filter by name. Public sources need no setup at all: click Add and they’re connected immediately.

The source catalog, filtered to show the US Census Bureau's one-click Add button

Available sources

Sources you connect by address (click Connect or Configure, then paste the address):

Source	What the agent can research	Address to paste
Open Data Portal (CKAN)	Datasets on a CKAN open-data portal	The portal’s base URL, for example `data.boston.gov`
Open Data Portal (Socrata)	Datasets on a Socrata (Tyler Data & Insights) portal	The portal’s domain, for example `data.sfgov.org`
ArcGIS Server	GIS layers such as parcels, zoning, and district boundaries	The server’s REST services URL
Legistar Portal	A city, county, or state council’s agendas, legislation, meetings, and votes	The Legistar portal URL or client code
IQM2 meeting portal	The meeting calendar, agendas, minutes, and legislative files such as resolutions and ordinances	The portal URL, for example `https://plainfieldcitynj.iqm2.com`
CivicClerk meeting portal	The meeting calendar, agendas, agenda packets, minutes, and meeting video, with full-text search	The portal URL, for example `https://ivgid.portal.civicclerk.com`
Municode Meetings portal	The meeting calendar with agendas, agenda packets, and minutes for boards and committees	The portal URL, for example `https://indianapolis-in.municodemeetings.com`
Granicus meeting archive	Council and commission meetings with agendas, agenda packets, minutes, and video, plus keyword search across agenda items	The ViewPublisher URL including its `view_id`, for example `https://bishop-ca.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=8`. One host can publish several views (one per board or committee), so connect the one that lists the meetings you care about
DocuShare document server	Public collections of records, reports, minutes, and scanned historical documents, with full-text search	The server URL, for example `https://www4.honolulu.gov/docushare`. DocuShare doesn’t report which government runs it, so you also enter a Government name

Public sources (click Add in the full catalog):

Source	What the agent can research
US Census Bureau	American Community Survey and decennial census tables, TIGERweb boundary layers, and address geocoding for any US geography
Federal Register	Federal rules, proposed rules, notices, and presidential documents from 1994 on, searchable by agency, affected CFR part, docket, and effective or comment-closing date
Regulations.gov	Federal rulemaking dockets, supporting analyses, and the public comments filed on proposed rules, with full-text search across comments and their attachments
New Jersey Legislature	New Jersey bills and resolutions from 2000 on with their versions, statements, fiscal estimates, votes, and chapter laws, plus committees, agendas, and legislators
Honolulu Legislative Documents (HNLDOC)	The City and County of Honolulu’s bills, resolutions, ordinances, committee reports, agendas, minutes, and communications
Kentucky Secretary of State	Kentucky’s registry of business entities and their corporate filings
California Postmiles (Caltrans)	Conversion between California highway postmiles and map coordinates

Once a source is connected, members can ask the agent to search it and read the documents and data behind it, for example the minutes of a council meeting or the public comments on a federal rule.

Members choose which connected sources to point the agent at from the Sources button on the chat box. See Text editor.

Remove a connection

Open the connection and remove it, or use the trash icon on its row. Removal takes effect for the whole organization immediately, and the agent loses access to the source.

Connections

Link your own Google Drive or OneDrive for personal file imports.

Text editor

Point the agent at specific sources from the chat box.

Organization admin

Manage members, roles, and usage across your workspace.

Getting started

Chat features

Files and library

Customization

Organization

Organization connections

Connect a source

Add a public source

Available sources

Remove a connection

Connections

Text editor

Organization admin

​Connect a source

​Add a public source

​Available sources

​Remove a connection

​Related articles

Connections

Text editor

Organization admin

Connect a source

Add a public source

Available sources

Remove a connection

Related articles