Check your ChatGPT plan
OpenAI currently documents full MCP support, including writes, for Business, Enterprise and Edu on ChatGPT web. Pro users can connect MCP apps with read/fetch permissions in developer mode. This guide does not promise custom MCP access on Free or Plus. Check OpenAI’s current availability before starting.
On Business, Enterprise, and Edu workspaces, developer mode and app publication are admin-controlled. Business admins or owners create and test apps; Enterprise/Edu may also authorize selected members. Ask your workspace administrator if the controls below are unavailable.
Enable Developer mode
Open Settings → Apps → Advanced settings and turn on Developer mode if your account is authorized. Workspace admins can also start from Workspace settings → Apps → Create. Enterprise/Edu members may need an admin to grant developer access first.
Developer mode lets you add a custom app. Your plan and app permissions determine which actions can run; enabling this mode does not itself grant write access.
Add Penny as a custom app
With Developer mode on, open Settings → Apps → Create, or Workspace settings → Apps → Create for an admin. Give the app a name like Penny and enter this as the MCP server URL:
https://app.mypenny.ai/mcp/chatgptIf you already have an older Penny connector, give this one a distinct name, such as Penny — updated, so you can select it for the test below. Keep the old connector until the new one works.
For authentication, select OAuth. Penny advertises its OAuth configuration through standard discovery metadata, so ChatGPT can negotiate the rest of the handshake on its own — you don't need to paste a client ID or secret. If asked for a registration method, choose Dynamic Client Registration (DCR). Review the custom-server notice and choose Create. If your account shows a separate Scan Tools step, complete it first.
Authorize in your browser
During setup or your first tool call, a browser window opens to the Penny sign-in page. Sign in or create a Penny account, then approve the access request. ChatGPT receives an access token and stores it with the app.
Review Penny's actions
Open the Penny app’s permissions in Settings → Apps. Review its available read and write actions. Workspace admins may need to publish the app and configure its actions and access. Approve individual changes when ChatGPT asks. Pro connections are read/fetch only; app permissions cannot add unsupported write access.
Test in a fresh chat
After completing setup and changing permissions, start a new ChatGPT chat. Use this fresh conversation for the test, even if you already tried Penny in an older chat. Select your new connector from the composer's ＋ menu (under Developer mode on some accounts).
First, ask Penny to read:
Search Penny for the exact phrase "Penny connection check 7c98e2". An empty result is fine. Do not save or change anything.On a workspace plan with write access, save a test note and approve the action if asked:
Use Penny to save a note: "ChatGPT connection test." Only confirm it is saved if the tool succeeds.Confirm a successful read even if no tags exist. If you tested a save, check the note in your Penny dashboard and remove the test note afterward. Pro users should skip the save test.
If you replaced an older connector, you can now delete the old one from Settings → Apps and rename the new one. Select the new connector in future chats.
Add memory to your custom instructions
On a workspace plan with write access, these instructions guide recall and saving. If you are using Pro’s read/fetch access, use the read-only instruction below instead of the full block.
Penny is your long-term memory about me and our work, which you access by using the Penny connector's tools. Use it as a working habit, not on request.
At the start of each conversation, read my profile and search Penny before answering. This step is mandatory, no matter the topic. Don't reason from scratch about something that might be saved — search first, then answer.
When something durable emerges — a decision, a finding, a plan, a correction I make, a fact about how I work — save it right then with the Penny connector tools, mid-conversation, without asking permission. A one-line "noting that" is enough; depth can come later. Saving is yours to do; correcting is mine.
Before ending any reply that produced something real — research, a plan, a diagnosis, a draft — save what got figured out and what's still open.
Don't save small talk, transient task mechanics, or anything already on file, and don't ask "want me to save this?" — just save and mention it in a line. If you've gone several substantive turns without saving, treat that as the signal you've drifted, and save now.Pro / read-only instruction:
At the start of each conversation with Penny enabled, read my profile and search Penny before answering. Use Penny only for reading. Do not try to save or change anything.In ChatGPT, open Settings → Personalization → Custom Instructions and add the instruction that matches your available actions. Instructions guide the assistant; they cannot grant unsupported permissions.
It spells out the habit directly: read your profile and search before answering, save the moment something worth keeping comes up, and check in at the end of each substantive reply. It also tells the assistant to read your profile, where Penny hands it the finer detail (confidence, tagging, when to stay quiet), which we keep improving on our side.
Want more control? Append any of these:
- “Propose saves to me first rather than writing silently.” — approve every note before it's stored.
- “Only use Penny for <project or area>.” — confine memory to one part of your life.
- “Read from Penny but don't write yet.” — try recall before letting it save.
Get set up
Start a new conversation and say:
Let's set up Penny.If the setup tool is available to your app, ChatGPT opens a setup panel from Penny. It shows custom instructions to copy and a few prompts to try. If you added the instructions in the previous step, skip that part and try one of the prompts.
If the setup panel is unavailable, use the read check above. Pro users should skip any profile-saving step that requires write access.
Use Penny in your chats
Select Penny when you want ChatGPT to use saved context. On a plan with write access, it can also save approved changes. Your notes are available in the Penny dashboard and through your other connected AI apps.
Memory returned by a tool enters the ChatGPT conversation. Review your workspace’s sharing, history and data controls before using private notes. Disconnect or remove the app in ChatGPT’s Apps settings and revoke its connection in your Penny account to stop future access.
Permissions and privacy
Sign in with your own Penny account. The public installer contains no account credentials or someone else’s memory. After authorization, the app can call the Penny actions you allow. Notes returned by a tool become part of the AI conversation, so review the app’s history, sharing and data controls before using private notes. Disconnecting stops future access; it does not remove context already returned to a chat or notes already saved in Penny.
Update or disconnect
In ChatGPT Settings → Apps, open Penny and use Disconnect to stop that account connection. Workspace admins manage custom-app publication and action access. OpenAI freezes an app’s tool snapshot, so when Penny adds or changes tools an admin may need to refresh the app’s actions before they appear. Start a new chat after changes.
To revoke future Penny access, open Penny Settings → Connections and disconnect this app’s connection. Remove Penny’s custom instructions if you added them. Reconnect later with your own account and repeat the read check in a fresh conversation.
Having trouble?
If the developer controls are missing, check your plan and ask a workspace administrator about access. If Penny appears but a call cannot authenticate, reconnect from Apps and sign in to your own Penny account. After changing permissions or refreshing actions, select Penny in a new chat and retry the read check. Confirm your Penny subscription is active.
If the read still fails, contact Penny Support with your ChatGPT plan, workspace type and error message. Leave credentials and private tool results out of support messages.
Keep these instructions handy
Open this guide in your Penny dashboard · Read as Markdown
Need help with your connection? Email support@mypenny.ai. Keep passwords, tokens and private notes out of support messages.