Connect the AI you already use

Before you start

Only an owner or admin can do this. Crew members do not see the Developer tab.

You will create a Developer API key and paste it into the AI tool. Treat the key like a password: one per tool, and revoke it if you stop using that tool.

This works on every plan, including the trial. There is no add-on.

The assistant inside Crewfather is separate. That lives in the app on Pro. Connecting Claude, ChatGPT, or Grok uses your own AI, through a key you control.

Create a key

1. Open Settings, then Developer, then API.
2. Choose Create API key.
3. Give it an integration name you will recognise later, for example Claude Desktop.
4. Under Access, choose Read-only unless you want the AI to create or change work. Full access: read and write can also create a job, add a note, or move a card.
5. Choose Create key, copy the value, and store it somewhere safe. This is the only time the full key is shown. If it is lost, revoke it and create a new one.

Open the MCP page

Open Settings, then Developer, then MCP.

That screen shows your Server URL. On the hosted app it is https://api.crewfather.com/v1/mcp. Copy it from the page rather than typing it.

It also lists the clients people connect most often. Open the one you use for the exact fields or config. The rest of this article covers Claude Desktop and ChatGPT in full, because those are the ones a field-service owner asks about first. Everything else uses the same URL and the same key.

Authenticate with Authorization: Bearer plus the key. Do not put the word Bearer in the key field itself when a form asks for the key separately.

Connect Claude Desktop

claude.ai’s web connectors only support OAuth, so use the desktop app (or Claude Code) with your API key.

1. Open Claude Desktop Settings, then Developer, then Edit Config.
2. Add this entry to claude_desktop_config.json, with your key in place of YOUR_API_KEY:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "crewfather": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://api.crewfather.com/v1/mcp",
        "--header",
        "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
      ]
    }
  }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop. Crewfather appears under search and tools.

Connect ChatGPT

1. Open ChatGPT in a desktop browser.

2. Go to Settings, then Apps & Connectors, then Advanced settings, and enable Developer mode.

3. Return to Apps & Connectors and choose Create.

4. Enter:

   Field	Value
   Name	Crewfather
   MCP Server URL	the Server URL from Settings, then Developer, then MCP
   Authentication	API key
   Method	Bearer
   API key	paste your key, without the word Bearer

5. Choose Scan Tools, wait for the scan to finish, then choose Create.

6. Start a new chat and select Crewfather from the Apps menu.

Connect Grok or any other MCP client

Grok is not a tile on the MCP page. If Grok, or any other tool, can add an MCP server by URL:

1. Paste the Server URL from Settings, then Developer, then MCP.
2. Authenticate with Bearer and your Developer API key.
3. Turn the server on.

Tiles on that same page cover Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf, Zed, Cline, Gemini CLI, Raycast, and n8n. Open the tile for the config that client actually expects. Do not reuse the Claude Desktop snippet in a client that wants a URL instead of npx.

Try it

Ask:

What’s on my schedule this week?

If the answer names real visits, the connection is working.

You can also ask for a customer by name, what is still unscheduled, or who is assigned tomorrow. The AI reads the live workspace, scoped to your account.

It cannot request a photo from the crew, or prepare an estimate or invoice, the way the in-app assistant can. Those actions only exist inside Crewfather.

Stop a connection

Revoke the key from Settings, then Developer, then API. Any tool using that key stops working within a minute. Then remove the Crewfather server from the AI tool as well, so it does not keep trying a dead key.

Records in Crewfather are unchanged. Revoking a key only cuts the AI’s access.

Your key, your AI

Crewfather does not send your workspace to Anthropic, OpenAI, or xAI. You connect them. That is an arrangement between you and the provider; they are not Crewfather’s subprocessors.

Claude is a trademark of Anthropic PBC. ChatGPT is a trademark of OpenAI. Grok is a trademark of xAI. Those companies do not sponsor or endorse Crewfather.