Connect ChatGPT and Claude to Softr with MCP
You want ChatGPT or Claude to work with your Softr workspace. That sounds simple until you realize the real risk is not “AI.” It is pointing an assistant at the wrong workspace, or giving it permission to delete records before you have seen what it can actually reach.
Softr’s MCP server is how you let an assistant talk to Softr Studio as you. You connect ChatGPT or Claude, approve access on Softr’s own authorization screen, and the assistant works inside the scopes you choose. The best part? Using Softr over MCP does not consume Softr AI credits — the connected tool uses its own quota.
A quick boundary that saves confusion later: this is workspace builder MCP. App MCP — where end users connect their own assistant to a published app — is a different product. Keep them separate.
Softr Studio also keeps the setup guide in product. Open your workspace name at the top of the left sidebar, then API tokens or Use Softr. That in-product path is useful when a client UI has moved.
Before you authorize anything writeable, decide what a first proof should look like. For Databases, View only can read databases, tables, fields, views, and records. Edit data can create, update, and delete records. Full access can also delete fields, tables, and whole databases. If you want a connection that cannot delete anything in Databases, View only is the level to pick. Leave Applications & Forms and Workflows on None or Read only for that same first check if you want. You can raise permissions later.
Connecting Claude
In Claude (web, desktop, or Cowork), go to Customize → Connectors, click +, then Add custom connector. Name it Softr, paste https://mcp.softr.io/mcp as the remote MCP server URL, and continue. Claude detects Softr’s authentication settings — leave them as they are and add the connector. Click Connect, choose workspaces and access levels on Softr’s screen, then Allow.
On Team or Enterprise plans, only an Owner can add the custom connector. If you do not see +, ask an Owner to add Softr once. After that, members connect from the same screen.
Connecting ChatGPT
Softr’s current connect docs put Softr in ChatGPT’s plugin directory. There is no server URL to paste and no developer mode to turn on. Open Softr in the plugin directory, click Connect, approve workspaces and access levels on Softr’s screen, then Allow.
ChatGPT’s UI moves, and older write-ups still show pasting the MCP server URL as a custom connector. Prefer the plugin-directory path in Softr’s current docs. If the directory label has shifted, fall back to Studio’s in-product guide.
What you approve on Softr’s screen
However you connect, the last step is the same Softr authorization screen. The assistant cannot pre-select permissions. You choose which workspaces it can reach, then an access level for Applications & Forms (None, Read only, or Full access — full includes actions such as preview and publish), Databases (None, View only, Edit data, or Full access), and Workflows (None, Read only, or Full access). Then Allow.
You can change or revoke access later under API tokens / Authorized apps in your Softr account menu. Revoking an authorized app invalidates its tokens immediately.
Prove it before you raise permissions
After Allow, resist the urge to ask for edits. Ask one narrow question View only can answer: list databases in this workspace, list tables in a named database, or clarify the difference between the app name and the database name for this project.
In Softr’s boat-rental demo, a solid proof looks like this: the assistant identifies the Harbor Day Boat Rentals database, reports its seven tables, and does not confuse that database name with an app name. When the answer matches Harbor Day Boat Rentals and those tables, connection and resource identification are proven.
Database name and app name are not the same thing. Speak precisely in the prompt. Once that check works, decide — on purpose — whether to raise Databases beyond View only, or open Applications & Forms or Workflows. Softr MCP can do more once permissions allow. That does not mean your first connection needs those permissions.
When something goes wrong
If the connector is missing in Claude on Team or Enterprise, an Owner still needs to add Softr once. If the assistant names the wrong workspace or resource, revoke or tighten access, reconnect, and name the workspace and database explicitly — list databases first, then tables. To change or remove access, open API tokens in Softr: edit or delete personal access tokens, or use Authorized apps → Revoke for an OAuth-connected tool. If ChatGPT’s path does not match an older tutorial, trust Softr’s current connect docs or Studio’s built-in guide. And if the assistant claims it can edit when you only wanted a check, you likely granted Edit data or Full access on Databases — revoke, reconnect with View only, and re-run the read-only ask.
You are in good shape when ChatGPT or Claude is connected to the intended Softr workspace, Databases is set to the level you meant, and a read-only request returns the correct database and tables without mixing them up with an app name.
Keep Softr’s connect guide and MCP overview open while you work: https://docs.softr.io/mcp/connect https://docs.softr.io/mcp/overview
If you want help deciding which Softr systems an assistant should touch first — and which should stay View only — start with a short systems review before you raise permissions: https://www.coconutbreezemedia.com/ai-quicklaunch-guide
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