# Google Search Console integration

## Status

Accepted

## Context

Users previously got Search Console data into OpenSEO by manually exporting CSVs. We want the agent to read a project's real first-party search data (clicks, impressions, CTR, position) directly. Google does not charge for this data, so it should not consume credits the way DataForSEO does.

## Decision

Add a native GSC connection plus two read-only MCP tools.

**Auth (incremental OAuth grant).** Connecting requests a read-only Search Console scope through a dedicated Better Auth `genericOAuth` provider (`google-search-console`), separate from logging in with Google. `allowDifferentEmails` lets a user connect a Google account whose email differs from their OpenSEO login (an agency connecting a client). OAuth tokens are encrypted at rest.

**Scoping.** A connection maps one verified property to one project (`gsc_connections`, unique per project). The connection belongs to the project/workspace; any member can query it, and requests run under the connecting member's grant. Property selection lives in the Integrations UI (account dropdown), not an MCP tool.

**MCP tools** — read-only, free (no Autumn metering), scoped to a project the caller's workspace owns:

- `get_search_console_performance`: thin pass-through of Search Analytics (group by query/page/country/device/date, simple AND filters, ≤1000 rows with offset paging, 16-month and ~3-day-lag clamps).
- `inspect_urls`: URL Inspection for 1–10 URLs with per-URL partial results; connection-level failures (not connected / expired grant) abort the call with a reconnect prompt.

Whether an inspected URL belongs to the property is enforced by Google's API, not re-checked locally, so both `sc-domain:` and URL-prefix properties work.

**Disconnect** removes the project's property mapping and unlinks the OAuth grant only when its connector has no other connected project — never as a side effect of a different member disconnecting.

## Rationale

Leaning on Better Auth's incremental OAuth keeps token storage and refresh out of feature code. Per-project property mapping matches how teams work (a different site per project) and keeps queries scoped to a workspace the caller owns. Treating GSC reads as free reflects that Google doesn't bill for them and makes connecting an activation hook rather than a metered cost.

## Consequences

- The read-only scope is a Google "sensitive" scope: until the OAuth app clears verification, only test users can connect and their grant expires ~weekly.
- "Connected by" surfaces the OpenSEO member who connected, not the Google account's email.
- One property per project (re-selecting replaces it); no history or caching — every query hits Google live.
- New GSC capabilities should extend `GscService` and the MCP tools, keeping reads free and project-scoped.