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Connect HippoKit to ChatGPT (MCP)

OpenAI ships MCP support as "Connectors" inside ChatGPT. This guide walks you through the connect flow, troubleshoots common issues, and answers the questions you'll have once HippoKit is live in ChatGPT.

ChatGPTBetaChatGPT Connectors are rolling out to Plus, Team, Enterprise, and Edu plans on the web app first; mobile parity follows.

OpenAI ships MCP support as "Connectors" inside ChatGPT. The surface is newer than Claude Desktop's and still labelled beta, but the wiring is the same: a connector URL, a bearer token, and a one-time approval flow. Once HippoKit is connected, you can ask ChatGPT to generate study kits, look up kits in your library, and run quiz sessions without leaving the chat.

What you can do once connected

Once ChatGPT can call HippoKit, you can ask it to:

  • Generate a study kit from any topic — flashcards, quiz, ebook, audience-themed slide deck, or AI-narrated audio. Each format obeys your HippoKit plan's quotas and feature gating.
  • List or search your library — the host can look up kits you've already generated and pull them into the conversation by topic, audience, or recency.
  • Run a review session — call get_due_cards and review_card to walk through the flashcards your spaced-repetition queue has surfaced for today.
  • Run a quiz — call start_quiz on any kit you own and answer each question conversationally.
  • Claim an anonymous preview — if a teammate sent you a preview kit URL, HippoKit can claim it into your library straight from the chat.

Connect HippoKit in 5 steps

Total time: about two minutes. You only need to do this once per device.

  1. Generate a HippoKit personal access token (PAT)

    Open https://hippokit.ai/settings/mcp while signed in to HippoKit. Click "Create token", name it for the host you're connecting (e.g. "Claude Desktop on laptop"), and copy the token — you only see it once. The token inherits your plan's daily quota and format gating.

  2. Open Settings → Connectors

    In the host you want to connect, navigate to Settings → Connectors. This is where MCP servers (sometimes labelled "connectors", "extensions", or "tools") are managed.

  3. Add HippoKit as a new MCP server

    Add a new MCP server / connector using the URL https://mcp.hippokit.ai/chatgpt. When you save it, your host opens HippoKit in a browser to authorize the connection. That browser screen is where you'll paste your token in the next step.

  4. Approve the connection

    On the HippoKit authorization screen, paste the personal access token you created in step 1, then approve. ChatGPT shows an approval card listing every HippoKit tool the connector exposes. Tap "Connect" — ChatGPT may ask you to approve individual tools the first time they run inside a conversation. You can revisit Settings → Connectors at any time to revoke.

  5. Test it

    Start a new conversation and ask the host: "Generate flashcards on photosynthesis using HippoKit". The host should call HippoKit's `generate_kit` tool, then return a shareable kit URL. If you see the kit, the connection is wired up correctly.

Quick reference

MCP server URL

https://mcp.hippokit.ai/mcp

Where PATs live

hippokit.ai/settings/mcp

Settings location

Settings → Connectors

Smoke-test prompt

“Generate flashcards on photosynthesis using HippoKit”

60-second video walkthrough

A short screencast of the ChatGPT connect flow is coming soon. For now, the five steps above are everything you need.

Troubleshooting

If something isn't working, walk this list top to bottom — common issues are listed first.

The host says HippoKit is unreachable or returns a 401.

Your PAT may have been revoked or rotated. Open https://hippokit.ai/settings/mcp, revoke any stale tokens, generate a fresh one, and update the host's saved credential.

The host refuses to call HippoKit tools mid-conversation.

Most hosts ask the user to approve each tool the first time it runs. Look for an inline approval prompt in the conversation transcript — sometimes it lives below the input box rather than inline with the assistant turn.

You hit a daily quota error.

MCP usage counts against the same daily generation quota as the web app. Free is 3 generations / day; Plus is 25; Premium is 100. See /pricing for the current numbers, or upgrade from /settings.

A specific format (e.g. audio) is rejected with an "unavailable" message.

Format gating mirrors the web app. Audio requires Plus or higher; the full 5-format kit requires Plus. Upgrade from /pricing or call `generate_kit` with a subset of formats your tier supports.

Connectors is not visible in ChatGPT Settings.

Connectors is rolling out across Plus / Team / Enterprise / Edu plans on the web app first. If you don't see it, your account may be in a slower rollout cohort, or you may be on a Free plan. Open chatgpt.com in a fresh browser window and check Settings → Connectors. If it's still missing, watch OpenAI's release notes — the rollout is gradual.

ChatGPT calls HippoKit on the first prompt but skips it on follow-ups.

ChatGPT decides tool calls per turn based on the prompt. If the follow-up looks like a clarification ("make it harder"), ChatGPT may answer from its own context rather than re-calling HippoKit. Be explicit: "Use HippoKit to regenerate that flashcard deck with harder questions."

FAQ

Is HippoKit's MCP server free to use?

Yes — MCP usage is included in every HippoKit plan, including Free. There is no separate "API" tier. MCP calls count against the same daily generation quota you see in the web app, so a flashcard set generated through Claude Desktop costs you the same as one generated on hippokit.ai.

What can HippoKit do once connected?

The MCP server exposes nine tools: generate_kit, list_my_kits, get_kit, search_public_kits, claim_preview_kit, get_due_cards, review_card, start_quiz, and answer_quiz_question. Hosts can use these to generate new study content, list your existing library, look up specific kits, browse the public gallery, and run review sessions over your flashcard decks and quizzes.

Can I revoke access?

Yes — revoke any time from https://hippokit.ai/settings/mcp. Revocation is immediate; the host's next request gets a 401 and you can re-issue a fresh token whenever you want.

Does HippoKit see my host conversations?

No. The host only sends HippoKit the structured arguments for the tool calls it makes (e.g. "topic: photosynthesis, formats: flashcards"). The rest of your conversation stays inside the host. We never receive transcripts of your prompts to Claude / ChatGPT / Gemini / Cursor.

Do I need ChatGPT Plus to use HippoKit?

You need a ChatGPT plan that includes Connectors — currently Plus, Team, Enterprise, and Edu. The HippoKit side does not require a paid plan: a Free HippoKit account can connect and use its 3-generations-per-day quota through ChatGPT.

Can I share a connector across my team's ChatGPT workspace?

ChatGPT Team and Enterprise admins can install Connectors at the workspace level. Each user still authenticates with their own HippoKit PAT, so their generations land in their own library and count against their own quota. The shared connector definition just saves every teammate from re-pasting the URL.

Does HippoKit support ChatGPT's connector tools?

Yes. HippoKit's ChatGPT endpoint exposes the `search` and `fetch` tools ChatGPT's connector and deep-research surfaces expect, plus its full kit-generation and study tools when you enable Developer Mode.

Connecting a different host?

HippoKit's MCP server works the same way across every host. Pick yours from the apex docs page.

All MCP hosts

Last reviewed . Found something out of date? Email hello@hippokit.ai and we'll fix it.