An MCP server gives your AI assistant a new skill: reading a database, booking a meeting, or, in our case, making a finished PDF. The Model Context Protocol was introduced by Anthropic and is now supported by every major assistant, but each one hides the setting somewhere else. This guide collects the steps for each app in one place.
The examples use Pressa, whose server lives at https://api.pressa.dev/mcp and needs no account or key. Swap in the address of any other remote MCP server and the steps are the same.
The shortcut: let your assistant do it
You may not need any of the steps below. Paste this sentence into your assistant:
Read https://pressa.dev/setup.md and connect Pressa for me.Assistants that can run commands or edit their own settings, such as Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Grok Build and OpenClaw, connect it themselves after asking you. Chat apps such as claude.ai, Grok and ChatGPT cannot change their own settings, so they walk you through the few clicks described below.
At a glance
| App | Where | Who can add one |
|---|---|---|
| claude.ai, Claude Desktop, Cowork | Customize, Connectors | All plans; Free allows one custom connector |
| Claude Code | One terminal command | Everyone |
| ChatGPT | Developer mode | Business, Enterprise and Edu workspaces |
| Codex | config.toml | Everyone |
| Grok | grok.com/connectors | All users |
| Grok Build | One terminal command | Everyone |
| OpenClaw | One command, or Settings, MCP | Everyone |
| Cursor | mcp.json | Everyone |
Claude: claude.ai, Claude Desktop and Cowork
A connector added once is tied to your Claude account, so it works on the web and in the desktop app alike.
- Open Customize, then Connectors.
- Click "+ Add", then "Add custom connector".
- Name it Pressa and paste https://api.pressa.dev/mcp, then click Continue.
- Under Authentication choose "No sign in", and click Add.
- Start a new chat and ask for a document.
Custom connectors are available on every plan, and the Free plan allows one. On Team and Enterprise plans an owner adds the connector for the organisation first. Anthropic's own guide: custom connectors using remote MCP.
Claude Code
One command in your terminal, or ask Claude Code to run it for you:
claude mcp add --transport http pressa https://api.pressa.dev/mcpAdd --scope user to have it in every project. Claude Code MCP documentation.
ChatGPT
In ChatGPT, your own MCP servers need developer mode, which OpenAI currently offers on Business, Enterprise and Edu workspaces, on the web. On Business it is switched on while creating a custom app in the workspace settings; on Enterprise and Edu an admin enables it under Settings, Apps, Advanced settings. Then you add an app with the server's address. The menus have moved several times, so check OpenAI's developer mode guide for the current path.
On a personal plan, the simplest route to the same result is Codex, below, or for ready-made documents the template forms on our site, which need no assistant at all.
Codex
Codex, OpenAI's coding agent, reads its servers from ~/.codex/config.toml (the command line tool and the IDE extension share it). Add these two lines and restart Codex:
[mcp_servers.pressa]
url = "https://api.pressa.dev/mcp"Grok
- Open grok.com/connectors.
- Click New Connector, then choose Custom.
- Paste https://api.pressa.dev/mcp and save. Grok finds the tools on its own.
xAI says connectors are available to all Grok users; on Business and Enterprise an admin provisions them first. Grok connectors documentation.
Grok Build
xAI's terminal coding agent takes one command:
grok mcp add --transport http pressa https://api.pressa.dev/mcpAdd --scope project to save it in the project's .grok/config.toml instead of your own. Grok Build MCP documentation.
OpenClaw
OpenClaw, the open source personal agent, takes a command too:
openclaw mcp add pressa --url https://api.pressa.dev/mcp --transport streamable-http
openclaw mcp doctor pressa --probeThe second command checks that the server answers and lists its tools. In the Control UI the same is under Settings, MCP, Add server, with Streamable HTTP as the transport. OpenClaw MCP documentation.
Cursor
Add the server to ~/.cursor/mcp.json for all your projects, or .cursor/mcp.json for one:
{"mcpServers": {"pressa": {"url": "https://api.pressa.dev/mcp"}}}Any other MCP client
Most clients now accept a remote server by its address; look for "remote", "HTTP" or "Streamable HTTP" in the MCP settings. A client that can only start local servers runs Pressa through npm instead, with the command npx -y @pressa/mcp.
Check that it works
Start a new chat and ask: "What can you do with Pressa?" The assistant should name its new tools. Then ask for something real, an invoice or a one-page report, and you get a link to the PDF.
A word on API keys
Pressa works without a key for a few documents a day, and with a free account for 50 a month. When a server needs a key, put it where the app asks for it: the request headers of a Claude connector, an environment variable for Codex or Claude Code. Never paste a key into the chat itself, where it stays in the conversation history.