Connecting Claude to Thoughts takes one custom connector and one sign-in. You paste https://thoughtsai.cc/mcp into Claude's connector settings, continue with the Google account you use for Thoughts, and approve the access. From then on, Claude can search your synced notes, read a thought in full, catch you up on a project, and save new thoughts when you ask. This guide covers setup, first questions to try, and the privacy boundary to understand first.
Before you connect
Make sure Thoughts AI is installed on your iPhone and you are signed in. Turn on cloud sync for at least one project — or have some synced Unfiled thoughts — because the connector only works with content you have chosen to sync. If everything in your library is local-only, Claude will connect successfully and find nothing, which looks like a bug but is the privacy boundary working as intended.
It helps to know which projects you are comfortable bringing into an AI conversation. A personal journal project and a shared planning project are different audiences. Sync deliberately, at the project level. Our explainer on private AI notes on iPhone walks through that decision.
Step 1: Add the custom connector
- In Claude, open Settings → Connectors.
- Choose Add custom connector.
- Give it a recognisable name — “Thoughts” — and paste
https://thoughtsai.cc/mcp.
That URL is the whole server address. There is no API key to copy and nothing to install on your phone or computer; authorisation happens through the sign-in in the next step.
Step 2: Sign in and approve access
Continue with Google using the same identity you use in Thoughts, then read the consent screen. It lists what Claude will be able to do: see your account name and email, read synced projects you own or belong to including shared projects, read synced unlocked thought text, see collaborator names, authors and recent changes, see invitation and shared-thought notification summaries, and create a cloud-synced project or a typed thought in a synced project when you ask.
Just as important is what is not on that screen because it is not possible: editing or deleting existing content, inviting members, or reaching local-only data, locked thoughts, recordings, or drafts. If that boundary matches what you want, approve it. You can revoke access later from Connected apps.
Step 3: Ask your first questions
Start with something you can quickly verify in the app. Good first prompts:
Show me my recent thoughts.
What is my Kitchen renovation project about? Summarise it, then list its most recent thoughts.
Find my thought about the cabinet quote and read the whole thing.
What has someone else changed recently?
Notice the pattern: name the project when you can, and ask Claude to read the full thought before it summarises. Search in Thoughts is literal word matching across titles, text and tags — not semantic search — so distinctive words from the note (“cabinet quote”) work better than vague topics (“the house thing”). Asking AI about your own notes has more question patterns that reliably get good answers.
Saving work back into Thoughts
The connector is read-mostly, with two deliberate exceptions: creating a thought and creating a project, both only when you ask. After Claude helps you draft next steps, a summary, or a plan, say:
Save those next steps as a new thought in my Launch project in Thoughts.
Create a Thoughts project called Autumn trip, then save this itinerary as its first thought.
Then open Thoughts and confirm it arrived. If a save reports an error, check the app before asking again — creates are not idempotent, so a blind retry can leave you with duplicates. And remember that a thought saved into a shared project is visible to its members, exactly as if you had typed it there.
Claude and ChatGPT can share the same library
Nothing about this connection is Claude-specific. The same MCP server works in ChatGPT, so a thought you save from a Claude conversation on Monday is readable in ChatGPT on Tuesday. If you use both assistants, that shared shelf is the point: one second brain for ChatGPT and Claude explains how to keep it tidy, and our ChatGPT setup guide covers the other side step by step.
If something looks wrong
Claude finds no notes
Check, in order: is the project synced and finished syncing? Did you sign in with the same Google account as in the app? Is the thought locked? Locked and local-only content is intentionally invisible.
An answer seems incomplete
Ask Claude to read the full thought rather than working from a preview, and give it the project name. For long thoughts it can page through the complete text when asked to “read the whole thing”.
You want to undo the connection
Revoke it from Connected apps and remove the connector in Claude. Revoking stops future access; thoughts already saved stay saved, because they are yours in Thoughts now, not copies in Claude.
The connection guide keeps the current URL, steps and starter questions together. Bookmark it for the next device you set up.
Frequently asked questions
Where do I add the Thoughts connector in Claude?
Open Settings, then Connectors, choose Add custom connector, and paste https://thoughtsai.cc/mcp. Sign in with Google and review the consent screen to finish.
Do I need an API key to connect Claude to Thoughts?
No. There is no API key. You add the MCP server URL and authorise through a Google sign-in and consent step, which you can revoke later from Connected apps.
Can Claude change or delete my existing notes?
No. Claude can read synced, unlocked content and create a new thought or project when you ask. It cannot edit or delete existing content, invite people, or access local-only notes, locked thoughts, recordings or drafts.
Can I use the same Thoughts library in Claude and ChatGPT?
Yes. Both connect to the same MCP server and the same synced library, so a thought saved from one assistant can be found and read in the other.