Ideaflow connectors — ChatGPT and Claude

Give the assistant you already use read/write access to your own notes.

Ideaflow is a low-friction capture notebook — fleeting insights, voice notes, links, threads. On its own it's a notes app. Connected to an assistant, it becomes the assistant's memory: it can search what you've written, pull it into an answer, and write new notes back.

Both ChatGPT and Claude talk to it over the same MCP endpoint:

https://prod-api.ideaflow.app/v1/mcp

Auth is OAuth — you sign in to Ideaflow in a browser popup during setup. There's no API key to paste, and nothing to install locally.

⚠️ Don't click the endpoint itself
It's for pasting into a connector, not for visiting. Opening it in a browser returns 401 — that's the endpoint working correctly, not an error you need to fix.

📓 Don't have Ideaflow yet?
Get it first — the connector is useless without notes in it. Web: ideaflow.app · iOS: Ideaflow Notes. Capture a few things before the workshop so you have something real to search.

💡 What's MCP?
Model Context Protocol — the standard way an assistant connects to an outside tool. One endpoint, and the assistant discovers what it can do (search notes, read a note, create a note, list folders and hashtags).

01 — Claude connector

Works in Claude on the web, desktop, and mobile — the connector is attached to your Claude account, so it follows you across all three.

Go to Settings → Connectors at claude.ai/settings/connectors
Add custom connector
Name: Ideaflow, URL: https://prod-api.ideaflow.app/v1/mcp
Click Connect and sign in to Ideaflow in the popup that appears
Start a new chat and confirm the Ideaflow tools show up in the tools menu

Test it with something that can only work if the connection is live:

"Search my Ideaflow notes for anything about the workshop and summarize what I've already written."

Same connector in Claude Code

If you use Claude Code in the terminal, add it there too:

claude mcp add --transport http ideaflow https://prod-api.ideaflow.app/v1/mcp
claude mcp list     # should show: ✔ Connected

Run /mcp inside Claude Code to complete the OAuth sign-in the first time.

02 — ChatGPT connector

Same endpoint, different setup path.

Enable developer mode: Settings → Connectors → Advanced → Developer mode
Create a custom connector
Name: Ideaflow, MCP server URL: https://prod-api.ideaflow.app/v1/mcp
Authentication: OAuth, then sign in when prompted
In a chat, open the + menu → your connector should be selectable

⚠️ Plan requirement
Custom MCP connectors in ChatGPT need Pro, Business, Enterprise, or Edu. Plus doesn't include them, and some connectors are geo-restricted. If you're on Plus, do the Claude side today — it works on every paid Claude tier.
On Business/Enterprise the workspace admin has to enable developer mode first: Workspace Settings → Permissions & Roles → Connected Data.

➤ OpenAI's docs: help.openai.com — developer mode and MCP apps

03 — What to actually do with it

The connector is only interesting if the assistant writes back. Some patterns worth stealing:

Prompt	Why it's useful
"Search my notes for everything I've said about X and write me one consolidated note."	Turns scattered capture into a durable artifact
"What did I say I'd follow up on last week that I haven't?"	Your notes become a commitment tracker
"Before you answer, check my notes — I've thought about this before."	Stops the assistant re-deriving your own conclusions
"Save this conversation's conclusions as a new note tagged #workshop."	Closes the loop back into capture

The last one is the habit that makes the whole thing compound. An assistant that only reads is a search box; one that writes back is a memory.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Fix
Connector shows "Needs authentication"	Open the connector settings and re-run the sign-in — OAuth tokens expire
`401` when you curl the endpoint	Expected. The endpoint requires auth; the browser flow is what supplies it
Tools don't appear in the chat	Start a new conversation — connectors attach at conversation start
ChatGPT won't let you add it	You're on Plus, or your workspace admin hasn't enabled developer mode

Next: Birdclaw → · Back: Workshop index

Memory Workshop: jacobcole.ai/memory-workshop — every command here as a copy button.