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From an MCP client

Your Reboot app exposes an MCP endpoint at /mcp. Any MCP-compatible AI client can connect to it.

Interactive setup wizard

For an interactive setup experience, visit http://localhost:9991 while rbt dev run is running: your app's root page is a setup wizard that walks you through connecting the MCP client of your choice. It tailors every step to the client you pick, detects your tunnel automatically, and confirms once your client's first request arrives. A deployed app serves the same wizard at its public URL.

The sections below cover the same steps as the wizard.

Pick an MCP client​

The wizard has first-class flows for three clients:

  • Claude (claude.ai) and ChatGPT (chatgpt.com) run in the cloud, so during development they need a secure tunnel to reach your machine before you can install your app.
  • MCPJam (mcpjam.com) is a browser-based MCP inspector that runs locally alongside your app — no tunnel and no install step needed. It's only useful during development.

MCPJam (development)​

MCPJam is ideal for testing during development. Run it in a new terminal in your project:

npx @mcpjam/[email protected] --url http://localhost:9991/mcp --oauth

This opens MCPJam in your browser (if no tab opens, visit http://localhost:6274), pointed straight at your app's MCP endpoint with OAuth enabled. From there you can browse your app's tools, call them, and see UI method React apps rendered inline.

Set up a secure tunnel​

Claude and ChatGPT need to reach your machine over the public internet, so during development you put a tunnel in front of rbt dev run. If your app is deployed — for example on Reboot Cloud — it already has a public URL and you can skip this section.

The wizard supports three tunnel options, and shows a live reachability check for whichever tunnel it finds.

cloudflared​

cloudflared provides free "quick tunnels" with no account required. Start one in a new terminal:

cloudflared tunnel --metrics localhost:4040 --url http://localhost:9991

The wizard detects the tunnel through cloudflared's metrics endpoint (the --metrics flag above) and fills in its *.trycloudflare.com URL for you. It may take a minute after startup for the tunnel's DNS to propagate and the reachability check to turn green.

ngrok​

ngrok requires an account. After installing ngrok, sign in at dashboard.ngrok.com to grab your authtoken, then run:

ngrok config add-authtoken <YOUR_TOKEN>

Then start a tunnel in a new terminal:

ngrok http 9991

The wizard detects the tunnel through ngrok's local API and fills in its URL for you.

Free ngrok tunnels don't work with Claude

Claude renders UI methods as HTML with <script> tags, and free ngrok tunnels (*.ngrok-free.dev) serve an HTML interstitial on first request that breaks those scripts. When testing with Claude, use cloudflared (or a paid ngrok plan) instead.

Other tunnels​

Anything that gives your app a public HTTPS URL works — for example Tailscale Funnel, a named cloudflared tunnel, or an SSH reverse tunnel. Pick Other in the wizard and paste your tunnel's URL so it can run the reachability check and fill in your MCP URL.

Install in Claude or ChatGPT​

Adding your app to an MCP client takes two values, which the wizard fills in for you:

  • Name — any name you like; the wizard suggests a slug of your app's title.
  • MCP URL — during development, your tunnel's URL with /mcp appended (e.g., https://<your-tunnel>/mcp); in production, your app's public URL with /mcp appended (e.g., https://your-app.prod1.rbt.cloud:9991/mcp).

Claude​

Claude supports custom connectors backed by remote MCP servers on Free, Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise plans (Free is limited to one custom connector; on Team and Enterprise only workspace owners can add them). See Claude's help article for details.

  1. Open Claude's connector settings (Customize → Connectors → + → Add custom connector).
  2. Enter the name and MCP URL, then click Add. Claude automatically detects whether your app requires auth and discovers your tools.
  3. To use the connector in a chat, click the + button in the message composer, choose Connectors, and toggle your connector on for that conversation.

ChatGPT​

ChatGPT supports MCP apps through its Developer Mode, a beta feature available on Pro, Plus, Business, Enterprise, and Edu plans; see OpenAI's help article for how to enable it.

  1. Open ChatGPT's app settings (User Profile → Settings → Apps → Advanced Settings), then click Create App.
  2. Enter the name, a description, and the MCP URL. If your app uses auth (Development or otherwise), select OAuth from the Authentication dropdown — ChatGPT will run the OAuth handshake as soon as you add the server. Otherwise, select No auth.
  3. Check I understand and want to continue, then create the app. ChatGPT will discover your tools and make them available in the conversation.

Try an example prompt​

Once your client is connected, just ask it what your app can do — or give visitors a head start by registering example prompts. Pass example_prompts=[...] to Application(...) (typically loaded from a sibling example_prompts.py) and the wizard renders them as copyable cards. Multi-step examples are meant to be sent one turn at a time.