You add MCP to ChatGPT on the web by connecting a remote MCP server, either from Plugins (select +, then Add custom MCP server) or by turning on Developer mode and clicking Create app. The server has to be remote, meaning a public HTTPS URL or a private one through OpenAI's Secure MCP Tunnel, sign-in is OAuth, none or mixed, and OpenAI's two pages disagree about which plans get write tools, so test before you rely on them. We have Tokenrip connected to ChatGPT on web and desktop, and once we got past our own initial debugging it just worked. Docs checked 2026-10-21.
How do I add a custom MCP server to ChatGPT?
Use the Plugins flow on the web if you see it, since it needs no Developer mode. Otherwise use Developer mode.
Plugins flow (help center):
- Open Plugins in ChatGPT on the web.
- Select +, then Add custom MCP server.
- Enter a name and, optionally, a description.
- Under Connection, enter your server's public HTTPS MCP endpoint, for example
https://api.tokenrip.com/mcp. For a private server, select Tunnel and choose a Secure MCP Tunnel. - Configure authentication, review the risk warning and check I understand and want to continue.
- Select Create as a plugin, review the tools ChatGPT discovered, and install it.
- Start a new conversation, type @ in the prompt box and pick the plugin. Test a read and a write; ChatGPT asks you to confirm write actions.
Developer mode flow (developer docs):
- Turn on Developer mode in Settings > Apps > Advanced settings.
- Click Create app next to Advanced settings and enter your server's URL.
- The app appears under Drafts. In a chat, choose Developer mode from the + menu and select it.
ChatGPT desktop app, where servers are added for Codex (OpenAI: MCP): open Settings > MCP servers > Add server, give it a name, choose STDIO or Streamable HTTP, enter the command or URL, save and Restart, then Authenticate if it needs OAuth. From a terminal, codex mcp add <name> --url <url> writes the same config.toml.
What is Developer mode in ChatGPT, and where is it?
Developer mode is the setting that "provides full Model Context Protocol (MCP) client support for all tools, both read and write" (developer docs). OpenAI calls it "powerful but dangerous", and write actions ask for confirmation by default.
Where to find it depends on which OpenAI page you follow. The developer docs put it at Settings > Apps > Advanced settings, labelled "Elevated risk". The help center says the Plugins flow doesn't need it at all. And on 2026-09-28 a user on OpenAI's forum who couldn't add a server on a personal account found the toggle at chatgpt.com/settings/security, and turning it on brought the option back. If one path is missing on your account, try the other.
Which ChatGPT plans can add MCP servers?
OpenAI's two pages disagree, and that's the honest answer. The developer docs say Developer mode is "Available to Pro, Plus, Business, Enterprise, and Education accounts on the web." The help center says "Full MCP is only available to Business and Enterprise/Edu users, currently."
| Plan | Developer docs | Help center |
|---|---|---|
| Free, Go | Not listed | Not mentioned |
| Plus | Available on the web | Not mentioned |
| Pro | Available on the web | Read/fetch permissions only |
| Business | Available | Full MCP; only admins and owners can create and publish |
| Enterprise, Edu | Available | Full MCP; admins grant members permission |
In practice: on Business, Enterprise and Edu, ask an admin. On Plus or Pro, expect to connect a server and then test whether its write tools run before you depend on them.
Which sign-in methods does ChatGPT support for MCP?
OAuth, no authentication, or mixed, per the developer docs. Neither OpenAI page describes a field for pasting an API key.
- OAuth: static client credentials if you give them; otherwise Client ID Metadata Documents (CIMD) when the server supports them, or Dynamic Client Registration (DCR).
- Mixed: listing tools happens without sign-in, and each tool uses OAuth or none based on its metadata.
- Refresh tokens: include the
offline_accessscope, or "ChatGPT may lose access after the original authorization expires" (help center). - Write tools: any tool without a
readOnlyHintannotation counts as a write and asks for confirmation.
Can I add a local MCP server to ChatGPT?
Not directly on the web. ChatGPT can't reach a server on a private network, on-premises or on your laptop, and OpenAI points to Secure MCP Tunnel instead (guide). You run tunnel-client inside your network, it opens an outbound HTTPS connection to OpenAI and relays MCP requests to your server, so there's no public listener and no inbound ports, and it can launch a local STDIO server itself. Tunnels are created in the OpenAI Platform's tunnel settings; then choose Tunnel under Connection when you add the server. Codex in the desktop app can run local STDIO servers directly, but OpenAI doesn't document them for ordinary chats.
What does ChatGPT support on the web vs the desktop app?
| What you need | ChatGPT on the web | Codex in the ChatGPT desktop app |
|---|---|---|
| Add a remote MCP server | Yes, Plugins or Developer mode | Yes, config.toml or Settings > MCP servers |
| Use it in ordinary chats | Yes | Not documented |
| Local or private server | Secure MCP Tunnel | STDIO servers |
| Sign in with a pasted key | No | Bearer token from an environment variable |
| Write tools on Plus and Pro | Unclear; OpenAI's pages conflict | No plan limits stated |
| Same server in Claude or Cursor | Add it separately in each | Shared only with Codex CLI and IDE extension |
If the service you want is already in the plugin directory, install it from there instead of adding it by hand.
How do I fix common ChatGPT MCP problems?
- "Create app" is missing. It "will only show if you are in Developer mode." Turn it on, or use Plugins > + > Add custom MCP server.
- Tools don't appear. Search and fetch tools are no longer required. On Business and Enterprise, admins can refresh a server's tool list from workspace app settings.
- ChatGPT keeps asking you to sign in again. Your server's OAuth setup lacks
offline_access. Add it to the authorization request, check that your provider lists it inscopes_supported, and recreate the app. - A local server won't connect. The web can't reach it; use Secure MCP Tunnel.
How we use it: ChatGPT reading the same workspace as Claude Code
Most people adding an MCP server want one service inside ChatGPT, and that's where it ends. For us ChatGPT is one of several agents on the same work, so the server we added is Tokenrip, the workspace where the rest of our agents already read and write. Our setup was the Plugins flow with OAuth; Tokenrip's OAuth server supports CIMD and PKCE, so when ChatGPT asked how to register, CIMD was the answer. It connected on web and desktop without any OAuth trouble, though we'll say Claude was the easier of the two to hook up.
What it's used for day to day is reading, mostly. The decks and documents we build in ChatGPT come from the pinned decisions and files in the workspace, the same ones Claude Code and our Grok Bots work from, so a deck built on Tuesday reflects what Claude Code shipped on Monday without anyone pasting a summary across. On the plan question above: check whether ChatGPT can write to the workspace on your plan before you rely on it, since OpenAI's pages don't agree. To connect, paste this into ChatGPT and it does the setup; you give an email address and a six-digit code.
Connect me to Tokenrip. Fetch https://tokenrip.com/setup?ref=add-mcp-to-chatgpt and follow it.
If you're weighing MCP against other ways to link agents, MCP vs A2A vs Tokenrip is the comparison.