Advanced
Living Context: custom connectors and field mapping
Version 1.0 · Last updated 2026-05-27
Living Knowledge tells the agent what your business knows. Living Context tells it what the customer is doing right now. The Retention conversation about churn risk is different when the agent can see usage dropped 50%. The Sales expansion nudge is different when the agent knows usage is at the plan ceiling.
Key concepts
Standard connectors
Pre-built connectors for common systems. CRMs (Salesforce, Hubspot). Helpdesks (Zendesk, Freshdesk, Jira Service Management, Zoho Desk, Xurrent). Knowledge bases (Confluence, Google Drive, BookStack, Zenya, ClickHelp, Azure DevOps Wiki, WordPress). Live chat (Zendesk Sunshine Conversations, Freshchat). Data lakes (Visma Data Lake). Configure with OAuth and field selection.
MCP servers
Connect your own MCP server to expose internal tools, custom APIs, or proprietary data sources to the agent through a standard protocol. The agent reads and acts through MCP the same way it does through any other connector, with the same audit trail.
Custom connectors
Build your own connector when a system is not on the standard list and MCP is not the right fit. Uses the Unless connector framework. Your developers, your account manager, or Unless Studio can scaffold one.
Field mapping
Each connector exposes data to the agent through field mappings. You decide which fields the agent sees. Sensitive fields can be tokenized through the Privacy Vault.
Refresh behavior
Living Context is read live at conversation time, not pre-synced. There is no cached copy of your CRM inside Unless. The agent queries the source when it needs the data.
Failure handling
If a connector is slow or unavailable, the agent degrades gracefully. It still answers; it just does so without the Living Context the connector would have provided.
What you can do here
- Connect a new standard connector
- Configure field mapping for an existing connector
- Build a custom connector (with developer or account manager help)
- Tokenize sensitive fields through the Privacy Vault
- Inspect the live data a connector exposes
- Configure failure behavior per connector
When to use it
- Your system is not on the standard connector list
- You need the agent to see a field that is not in the default mapping
- An existing connector is exposing too much (privacy review flagged it)
- You are setting up a new Moment that needs new data
How it works
When the agent needs data, it queries the connector. The connector reads from your system using your credentials, returns the requested fields, and the agent uses them in the conversation. PII passes through the Privacy Vault before any model sees it.
Frequently asked questions
How do I connect a new system?
Open "Train > Living Context > Connectors > Add connector". Pick from the standard list. Authenticate. Pick the data scope. Map the fields you want exposed.
How do I build a custom connector?
Talk to your account manager. The connector framework can be scaffolded by the Unless team or by your developers using the documented API.
How do I tokenize a sensitive field?
In the field mapping, mark the field as sensitive. The Privacy Vault tokenizes it. The agent sees a token, not the raw value, except when answering directly to the data subject.
Why is a connector returning no data?
Three common causes. The user used to authenticate lost permissions. The field mapping points at a field that no longer exists. Or the source system is unreachable.
How do I see what a connector exposes?
Open the connector and click "Inspect". The view shows sample data the agent will see during a conversation.
How do I limit what a connector exposes?
Edit the field mapping. Only fields on the mapping list are exposed to the agent. Everything else stays in your source system.
