Connecting your AI assistant to Chainels

You can connect AI assistants such as Claude, ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot to Chainels. Once connected, you can ask them in plain language to do things in your community for you. This connection is called the Chainels connector (technically: the Chainels MCP server).

Beta: The Chainels connector is in beta. What it can do, and how, may still change.

Which section do I need?

Most users: Connect Claude or Connect ChatGPT. No preparation needed.
IT or admins setting it up for a team: Connect Microsoft Copilot and For administrators.

What you can do with the Chainels connector

Just ask. For example:

Messages, events and surveys

"Show me the latest posts on the timeline."
"Draft a message to all tenants about the lift maintenance on Friday and schedule it for tomorrow at 9:00."
"Create an event for the summer drinks on 12 June, from 17:00 to 20:00, max 80 people."
"Create a short survey about the new parking rules."
"Which survey got the most responses, and what were the results?"

Bookings

"Is a meeting room free tomorrow afternoon? Book it from 14:00 to 15:00."
"Show my upcoming bookings." or "Cancel my booking for Thursday."

Issues and requests

"Report a broken light in the 2nd floor hallway of building B."
"Which issues are still open?" or "Mark issue KLM-1255 as resolved and let the reporter know."
"Fill in the work permit request form for me."
"Which requests are waiting for my approval?"

Turnover reporting

"Which turnover reports do I still have to submit?"
"Submit August's turnover: € 12,500 including VAT."
"Correct the July figure to € 13,000. Cash sales were missing."

Members, users and finance (community managers)

"Add the company Mall of Holland to the community."
"Invite jane@example.com as a user at Mall of Holland."
"Which invoices are overdue?" or "Show all active rental agreements."

Search

"Did anyone post about the parking garage last month?"

The assistant acts on your behalf. It uses your own Chainels account and permissions. It can only see what you can see and only do what you are allowed to do. Before it posts, books or changes anything, it shows you what it will do and asks you to confirm. Always check it before you approve.

Permissions: view only, or view and change

When you connect, you choose what the assistant is allowed to do:

Permission	Technical name	What it allows
View only	mcp.read	Look up messages, events, bookings, issues, requests, reports and community details
View and change	mcp.write	Also post messages, book rooms, report issues and submit forms and reports

Want the assistant to make changes for you? Choose both mcp.read and mcp.write.
Want it to only look things up? Choose only mcp.read.

Your admin decides which of these permissions are available in your organisation.

In the settings screens of your AI assistant, these permissions are called scopes.

Before you start

Assistant	What you need
Claude	No extra setup needed.
ChatGPT	No extra setup needed. Your ChatGPT workspace admin may need to turn on Developer Mode.
Microsoft Copilot	A Client ID and Client Secret from the Chainels developer portal. See "Create an OAuth client" under For administrators.

Every assistant uses the same address (server URL):

https://mcp.chainels.com/mcp

Connect Claude

Step 1: Add the connector

In Claude, go to Settings → Connectors.
Click Add custom connector.
In the Remote MCP server URL field, enter https://mcp.chainels.com/mcp.
Click Add.

Step 2: Connect your account

A Chainels login window opens. Sign in with your Chainels account.
Choose the permissions you want to give (mcp.read, mcp.write or both) and click Approve.

Step 3: Test it

Start a new chat and ask "Who am I?". Claude should reply with your Chainels name.

Not working? See Troubleshooting below.

Connect ChatGPT

Step 1: Open the Plugins page

Go to https://chatgpt.com/plugins?directoryTab=personal. Make sure you're logged in to your work ChatGPT account.

Don't see an Add button? Ask your ChatGPT workspace admin to turn on Developer Mode: Workspace Settings → Permissions & Roles → Connected Data. Developer Mode is available on ChatGPT Business, Enterprise, Edu, Plus, Pro and Team.

Step 2: Start a new plugin

Click Add in the top right.
Choose Create plugin.

Step 3: Fill in the basics

Icon (optional): upload a Chainels logo (PNG, max 10 KB).
Name: Chainels
Description (optional): for example Access my Chainels community.
Connection: keep Server URL selected and enter https://mcp.chainels.com/mcp.
Authentication: choose OAuth.

Step 4: Set up the connection

This step looks technical, but you only choose one option and leave the rest as it is.

Click Advanced OAuth settings to open it.
Under Registration method, choose Client Identifier Metadata Document (CIMD).
ChatGPT fills in the Callback URL and CIMD client metadata URL for you. Leave them as they are. You don't need to copy them.
You may see a warning that starts with "DCR is unavailable…". You can ignore it.

Step 5: Choose the permissions

Scroll to Default scopes:

Tick mcp.read and mcp.write if ChatGPT should be able to make changes.
Tick only mcp.read if ChatGPT should only look things up.

Leave Base scopes empty.

Step 6: Save the plugin

Scroll down and tick I understand and want to continue.
Click Create.

Step 7: Connect your account

Click Connect.
A Chainels login window opens. Sign in with your Chainels account.
Click Approve.

Step 8: Test it

Start a new chat, turn on the Chainels plugin and ask "Who am I?". ChatGPT should reply with your Chainels name.

Not working? See Troubleshooting below.

Step 9 (optional): Share it with your team

Once it works for you, a ChatGPT workspace admin can make it available to everyone:

Go to https://chatgpt.com/admin/apps?tab=drafts.
On the Drafts tab, find the Chainels plugin. It has a DEV label.
Click Publish.

The app is now available to your team. Each person signs in with their own Chainels account the first time they use it.

Connect Microsoft Copilot

Copilot needs a Client ID and Client Secret. Create an OAuth client first (see For administrators below).

Tip: Keep the developer portal open in a second browser tab. You'll go back to it in step 3.

Step 1: Add the Chainels tool

Go to copilotstudio.microsoft.com and open (or create) your agent.
Click Tools in the left menu.
Click + Add a tool → New tool → Model Context Protocol (MCP).
Enter a name (for example Chainels) and the server URL https://mcp.chainels.com/mcp.
Set Authentication to OAuth 2.0.
Choose Manual (not the automatic options).

Step 2: Fill in the login details

Field	Value
Client ID	From your OAuth client
Client Secret	From your OAuth client
Authorization URL	https://www.chainels.com/oauth/authorize
Token URL	https://www.chainels.com/oauth/access_token
Refresh URL	https://www.chainels.com/oauth/access_token
Scopes	mcp.read mcp.write (or only mcp.read for view only)

Click Create.

Step 3: Add the callback URL to Chainels

Copilot now shows a callback URL. Copy it.
Go to your OAuth client at www.chainels.com/developer and add it as a redirect URI. Save.
Back in Copilot, click Next.

Step 4: Connect your account

A Chainels login window opens. Sign in and click Approve.
Turn on the Chainels options you want, click Add to agent, then Save.

Step 5: Test it

Ask "Who am I?". Copilot should reply with your Chainels name.

Not working? See Troubleshooting below.

Troubleshooting

What you see	What to do
"401 Unauthorized" (a login error) while setting up	Copy the callback URL your assistant shows and add it to your OAuth client at www.chainels.com/developer.
"401 Unauthorized" after it worked before	Your login has expired. Reconnect, or re-enter the Client ID and Client Secret in the connection settings.
"invalid_scope"	The assistant asks for a permission your OAuth client doesn't allow. Check that mcp.read and/or mcp.write are allowed in the developer portal, and that the assistant asks for the same ones.
The assistant can look things up, but can't post or book	Only mcp.read was approved. Reconnect and also approve mcp.write.
No Chainels options show up	Check that the server URL is exactly https://mcp.chainels.com/mcp, including /mcp at the end.
An option is missing or works differently	The connector is in beta and can change. Refresh the list of options in your assistant.

Still stuck? Contact Chainels support.

For administrators

Create an OAuth client (Copilot only)

Claude and ChatGPT don't need this.

Go to the developer portal: www.chainels.com/developer.
Create a new OAuth client of type Authorization Code.
Under scopes, allow mcp.read and/or mcp.write.
Leave the redirect URI empty for now. You add it later (Copilot step 3).
Save your Client ID and Client Secret somewhere safe.

OAuth endpoints

Only needed if your assistant asks for them.

Endpoint	URL
Authorization	https://www.chainels.com/oauth/authorize
Token	https://www.chainels.com/oauth/access_token
JWKS	https://www.chainels.com/oauth/jwks.json

Demo environment

Want to try it out first? Use the demo environment. It needs its own login and its own OAuth client.

	Production
Server URL	https://mcp.chainels.com/mcp
Developer portal	www.chainels.com/developer
Authorization	https://www.chainels.com/oauth/authorize
Token	https://www.chainels.com/oauth/access_token
JWKS	https://www.chainels.com/oauth/jwks.json

	Demo
Server URL	https://mcp.demo.chainels.com/mcp
Developer portal	demo.chainels.com/developer
Authorization	https://demo.chainels.com/oauth/authorize
Token	https://demo.chainels.com/oauth/access_token
JWKS	https://demo.chainels.com/oauth/

Connecting your AI assistant to Chainels

Connect Claude, Microsoft Copilot, or ChatGPT to your Chainels community with the Chainels MCP server.

What you can do with the Chainels connector

Messages, events and surveys

Bookings

Issues and requests

Turnover reporting

Members, users and finance (community managers)

Search

Permissions: view only, or view and change

Before you start

Connect Claude

Step 1: Add the connector

Step 2: Connect your account

Step 3: Test it

Connect ChatGPT

Step 1: Open the Plugins page

Step 2: Start a new plugin

Step 3: Fill in the basics

Step 4: Set up the connection

Step 5: Choose the permissions

Step 6: Save the plugin

Step 7: Connect your account

Step 8: Test it

Step 9 (optional): Share it with your team

Connect Microsoft Copilot

Step 1: Add the Chainels tool

Step 2: Fill in the login details

Step 3: Add the callback URL to Chainels

Step 4: Connect your account

Step 5: Test it

Troubleshooting

For administrators

Create an OAuth client (Copilot only)

OAuth endpoints

Demo environment