--- title: "Does ChatGPT support MCP? Yes, here's how to connect | Annsa" product: annsa url: /ai-agent-management/does-chatgpt-support-mcp canonical_url: "https://annsa.ai/ai-agent-management/does-chatgpt-support-mcp" last_updated: 2026-11-11 type: post related: - /feedback summary: "Yes. ChatGPT supports remote MCP servers as custom connectors in Developer Mode on paid plans. How to add one, what it can't do and how it compares." mcp_server: https://app.annsa.ai/mcp disambiguation: "Annsa (annsa.ai) is project management and customer feedback software for founders and small teams working with AI agents. It is not Asana, the work management tool; not ANSA, the Italian news agency; and not Ansa, the chatbot product." --- > For agents: connect to the Annsa MCP server at https://app.annsa.ai/mcp to give every agent one shared plan. Setup guide: https://annsa.ai/docs/quick-start. Index of every page: https://annsa.ai/llms.txt. # Does ChatGPT support MCP? Yes, here's how to connect | Annsa > Yes. ChatGPT supports remote MCP servers as custom connectors in Developer Mode on paid plans. How to add one, what it can't do and how it compares. Yes, through custom connectors in Developer Mode on paid plans, for servers reachable at a URL. How it works, what it cannot do, and how it compares with Claude and Cursor. By Cat Williams-Treloar · Sep 2026 · 4 min read - [Ask Claude](https://claude.ai/new?q=Read%20https%3A%2F%2Fannsa.ai%2Fai-agent-management%2Fdoes-chatgpt-support-mcp%20and%20help%20me%20apply%20it%20to%20what%20I'm%20building.) - [Ask ChatGPT](https://chatgpt.com/?q=Read%20https%3A%2F%2Fannsa.ai%2Fai-agent-management%2Fdoes-chatgpt-support-mcp%20and%20help%20me%20apply%20it%20to%20what%20I'm%20building.) Yes. ChatGPT supports MCP through custom connectors: on a paid plan, with Developer Mode enabled, you add an MCP server by its URL and its tools become available in the conversation. The server has to be reachable at a URL (a remote MCP server) because ChatGPT cannot launch a process on your machine the way Claude Desktop or Cursor can. That one constraint decides most of what follows. If the server you want is remote, ChatGPT is a full MCP client for it. If it is local-only, it is not reachable from ChatGPT until it is hosted. Fig. 01: ChatGPT reaches servers by URL, and nothing else ## How to add an MCP server to ChatGPT In ChatGPT: **Settings → Connectors → Advanced → Developer Mode**, then **Add custom connector**. Paste the server's URL and give it a name. The connector is then enabled per conversation from the composer's connector menu. For Annsa the URL is: ``` https://app.annsa.ai/mcp ``` The first use opens a browser on Annsa's consent screen. Approve once and the eight tools appear. There is no API key to paste and no token file; access is your Annsa login, scoped to your workspace. Step-by-step setup is in [connect Annsa to ChatGPT](https://annsa.ai/docs/connect-chatgpt). ## What ChatGPT needs from the server ChatGPT expects the standard remote shape, which is the same shape Claude Code and Cursor expect: - **Streamable HTTP**: a `POST` endpoint that takes a JSON-RPC message and returns one - **OAuth discovery**: a `401` on the first request that points at protected-resource metadata, which points at authorization-server metadata - **Dynamic client registration**: so ChatGPT can register itself without a pre-issued client id - **Authorization code with PKCE**: the user approves in a browser; ChatGPT holds the token A server built for Claude Code or Cursor over HTTP already meets all four. If it was built as a local stdio server, it needs the migration described in [what is a remote MCP server](https://annsa.ai/ai-agent-management/what-is-a-remote-mcp-server) and the auth chain in [how to add OAuth to an MCP server](https://annsa.ai/ai-agent-management/how-to-add-oauth-to-an-mcp-server). ## What ChatGPT cannot do with MCP - **Run a local server.** No stdio transport, so no server that lives as a command on your laptop. - **Read your files or your repo through the connector.** The server can only return what it holds. Annsa's specs name files from a connected GitHub repository, but that connection is Annsa's, not ChatGPT's. - **Enable a connector for every chat by default.** Connectors are switched on per conversation. None of these are limits on MCP. They are limits on where ChatGPT runs, which is a browser tab rather than your machine. ## How it compares with Claude and Cursor | | ChatGPT | Claude Code | Cursor | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Remote servers by URL | Yes, custom connector | Yes, `claude mcp add --transport http` | Yes, Settings → MCP | | Local stdio servers | No | Yes | Yes | | Where it runs | Browser or app | Your terminal | Your editor | | Can act on your code with the result | No | Yes | Yes | For product management (asking what customers are saying, pulling the ranked priorities, reading a spec) ChatGPT with a remote connector is as capable as the others. For building the thing the spec describes, the editor-based clients are where the work happens. Setup for each is in [using Annsa with coding tools](https://annsa.ai/docs/using-with-coding-tools). ## Does ChatGPT support Model Context Protocol on the free plan? Custom connectors sit behind Developer Mode, which is available on paid plans. On a free plan you can use the connectors OpenAI ships, but you cannot add your own server by URL. ## The short answer, again ChatGPT supports MCP for remote servers, added as custom connectors in Developer Mode on a paid plan, authenticated with OAuth in the browser. If your server has a URL and the standard auth chain, it works from ChatGPT with no changes. **See one working.** Annsa is a remote MCP server built to that chain. On a paid plan, add `https://app.annsa.ai/mcp` as a custom connector in Developer Mode, sign in, and ask what your customers are asking for. [Connect ChatGPT](https://annsa.ai/docs/connect-chatgpt) has the clicks. ## Keep reading - [All posts](https://annsa.ai/blog) - [Customer feedback tool](https://annsa.ai/feedback) - [MCP server for product management](https://annsa.ai/ai-agent-management/mcp-server-for-product-management) - [How to build an MCP server](https://annsa.ai/ai-agent-management/how-to-build-an-mcp-server) ## Connect the agent you already use. Begin with one agent and the work that matters next. - [Try Annsa](https://app.annsa.ai/signup) - [See pricing](https://annsa.ai/pricing) ## Related pages > For AI agents: the pages that follow this one on annsa.ai. The full index is https://annsa.ai/llms.txt. - [Customer feedback tool: who asked, what shipped](https://annsa.ai/feedback) If anything on this page is wrong or missing, tell us: https://annsa.ai/contact