How to Connect Your First Data Source
Learn how to connect Shopify, Amazon, QuickBooks, Stripe, or upload a CSV to AskBiz. Step-by-step instructions for activating your Business Pulse score.
Why Connect a Data Source?
AskBiz becomes a genuinely useful AI business analyst when it can see your actual numbers. Without a connected source, it can only answer general questions. With one connected, it answers questions like *'Why did revenue drop last Tuesday?'* or *'Which product has the highest margin?'* with your real data.
Getting to the Sources Page
Navigate to /sources from the left sidebar (the plug icon). You'll see all available connectors grouped by category:
- Ecommerce — Shopify, Amazon, TikTok Shop, Instagram, Pinterest
- Accounting — QuickBooks, Xero
- Payments — Stripe, Square
- Manual — Google Sheets, CSV/Excel upload
One-Click OAuth Connectors
Shopify, Amazon, TikTok Shop, QuickBooks, and Stripe all use OAuth — meaning you click Connect, log in to the platform, and grant read-only access. AskBiz never sees or stores your login credentials. The connection is:
- Read-only — AskBiz cannot place orders, modify listings, or change settings
- Encrypted at rest — tokens stored with AES-256 encryption
- Revocable at any time — from /sources or from the platform itself
CSV / Excel Upload
If your platform isn't listed, or you want to analyse historical data, use the CSV Upload connector. Supported formats: .csv, .xlsx, .xls. Accepted column headers are flexible — AskBiz uses AI to map your columns to the right fields (revenue, date, product, quantity, etc.). For best results, include a date column and at least one numeric column (sales, revenue, or orders).
After Connecting
AskBiz will:
1. Pull your last 90 days of data (configurable)
2. Run anomaly detection across the dataset
3. Calculate your Business Pulse score
4. Queue your first Daily Brief for the next morning
The initial sync takes 30–90 seconds depending on data volume. You'll see a progress indicator on the /sources page.