Install Penny for Gemini

Google offers custom apps in Gemini to people who are 18 or older and in the US, signed in with a personal Google account, with Keep Activity turned on and Gemini set to English. Work and school Google accounts cannot add custom apps.

Add Penny on the web at gemini.google.com. Once connected there, the Gemini phone app can use the same connection.

In Gemini, open Settings → Personal Intelligence → Connected Apps, or go straight to gemini.google.com/customize/connectors. Some screens show Customize → Connectors. Choose + Custom and paste this as the MCP Server URL:

Leave Additional settings empty. Gemini registers itself with Penny’s sign-in service, so there is no client ID or secret to paste. Choose Next.

Review what the custom app can do. Select I understand and accept the security and privacy risks, then Connect. Google asks you to link your account with [Custom] Mypenny, a label it takes from the address. Choose Agree and continue.

In the Penny window, sign in with your existing Penny account and choose Allow. Penny appears under Custom apps. After its first successful tool call, you can confirm the connection under Penny Settings → Connections.

The Penny skill tells Gemini when to search, what to save and how to keep memory tidy. Start a new chat, type @, choose Penny, and send this exact request:

Allow Penny’s tools when Gemini asks. The skill appears as my-penny under Customize → Skills, with its reference files. Send the same message later to update it.

Keep selecting or enabling Penny in chats where you want to use it. Add this to your existing instructions so the assistant is asked to load Penny’s skill at the start of a chat. Preserve any other instructions you use.

In Gemini, open Settings → Personal Intelligence → Instructions for Gemini, choose Add, paste it, and choose Submit. Gemini saves instructions in its own words; check the saved version still says to read the Penny skill at the start of each chat.

These instructions do not guarantee that the AI will load Penny in every chat. Test them in a new chat before relying on them. If Penny is missing, select or enable it and ask the assistant to use Penny.

For more control, append a preference:

• “Propose saves to me first rather than writing silently.”
• “Only use Penny for <project or area>.”
• “Read from Penny but don’t write yet.”

Gemini brings a connected app into a chat when your request points at it. Pick Penny from the @ menu and name Penny in your request. Gemini asks before tools run. Review and approve each save when Gemini asks, including any Allow once or Always allow options shown; future writes may still require confirmation.

Choose three harmless words you have not used for a Penny test before. Replace the brackets and send this with Penny selected:

Review and approve the save when your AI app asks. Inspect the successful Penny tool results and confirm the note also appears in your Penny dashboard. A connected card alone does not verify saving.

Open another new chat or task. Select or enable Penny again, then send this without including your three words:

Saving and recall are verified when Penny’s tool results confirm the save and the new chat returns your exact words. An answer from the original conversation can come from that conversation’s text.

You can move the test note to Trash in your Penny dashboard when finished. Remove only that test note.

Start a new chat with Penny selected or enabled and say:

The assistant offers to bring over what it already remembers about you, asks the questions it couldn’t answer, and shows what Penny can do using your own details. Anything it brings over is saved only after you’ve reviewed it, and you can say “skip” at any point.