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Connecting an AI to IdealList

Use Claude. A free account is enough. Sign in to IdealList, generate a token, paste one URL into Claude's connector settings. About two minutes.

Once connected, the AI can save your recipes, plan your week, build your shopping list, and log what you ate — by doing it, rather than telling you where to click.

Works?Costs
ClaudeYes — recommendedCustom connectors work on the free plan
GrokYes, on a paid planConfirmed on a paid account; free is untested
ChatGPTNot supportedSee the bottom of this page

Step 1 — get your connector URL

You need an IdealList account first. If you don't have one, sign up at https://ideall.ist — the AI helping you can't do this part for you.

Then:

  1. Go to https://ideall.ist and sign in.
  2. Click your avatar in the top right.
  3. Choose Manage account.
  4. In the left sidebar of the window that opens, click Connect AI.
  5. Click Generate token.
  6. You'll see two boxes. Copy the Connector URL — the long one that starts with https://ideall.ist/api/mcp?token=.

The token is shown once. If you close the box without copying it, that's fine — generate another one and revoke the old one from the same page.

Step 2 — paste it into Claude

A free Claude account can add one custom connector, which is exactly one more than you need. Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise work too.

  1. Go to claude.ai and sign in.
  2. Open Customize → Connectors.
  3. Click +, then Add custom connector.
  4. Name: IdealList
  5. URL: paste the Connector URL you copied.
  6. Click Add.

On Team or Enterprise, an owner adds the connector once under Organization Settings → Connectors, and members connect individually.

Using Grok instead

Same idea: go to grok.com/connectors, choose New Connector → Custom, and paste the same Connector URL. Grok finds the tools by itself.

Confirmed working on a paid Grok account. Whether a free Grok account can add custom connectors, we genuinely don't know — the documentation is unclear and we haven't tested it. If you're on free Grok, try it; if the Custom option isn't there, that's your answer. Claude's free plan definitely works.

Claude Desktop or Claude Code

Claude Desktop uses the same connector settings as claude.ai. For Claude Code, use the token only box rather than the Connector URL — a header keeps the token out of your shell history:

claude mcp add --transport http ideallist https://ideall.ist/api/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer <paste the token-only value>"

Step 3 — check that it worked

Start a new conversation and ask:

List my foods in IdealList.

  • A list comes back (even an empty one) — you're connected. Now say "help me set up my first week" and let it take it from there.
  • "I don't have access to that" — the connector didn't load. Restart the app; connectors often only attach on startup.
  • "Unauthorized" or a 401 — the URL is wrong, was revoked, or got cut off when pasted. Generate a new one and paste the whole thing, ?token= and all.
  • It answers about food in general without using a tool — it didn't notice the connector. Say "use the IdealList tools" explicitly.

Keeping it safe

Your Connector URL is a key to your IdealList account. Anyone holding it can read and change your recipes, lists, and food log.

  • The token is inside the URL. That's why it works in apps with only a URL box — but it also makes the URL as sensitive as a password. Don't paste it into a chat message, a shared doc, or a screenshot.
  • Revoke anything you're unsure about. Same page you created it on: avatar → Manage account → Connect AI → Revoke. It takes effect immediately and breaks only that one connector.
  • Use one token per app, labelled (claude, laptop), so you can revoke one without disturbing the others.

Signing in directly, with no token to copy at all, is the better design and it's built — but it depends on a setting we've deliberately left off for now, so the token is the supported path today.

Why ChatGPT isn't supported right now

ChatGPT can technically talk to IdealList, but getting there costs more than we're willing to ask of you:

  • It needs a paid ChatGPT plan — and reportedly one of the expensive ones. Custom MCP connectors appear to require Pro, Enterprise, or Edu; a Plus subscription may not offer the option at all. Claude does this on a free plan.
  • Even then, connectors are only available after enabling Developer mode, which ChatGPT itself flags as elevated risk — it permanently unlocks the ability to add unverified connectors that "could modify or erase data" to your whole ChatGPT account, not just for IdealList.

That's a real change to your account's security posture, and it's a lot to ask so you can save a recipe. A free Claude account does the same job with a URL and no warnings.

If you're already an experienced ChatGPT user who runs custom connectors and understands that toggle, the Connector URL above works there too — set Authentication to None, since the token is already in the URL. We just don't recommend it, and we don't test it.

For agents: what to do after connecting

Call list_my_groups and list_foods first. That confirms auth works and tells you whether this is a brand-new account.

If list_foods comes back empty, don't present a menu of features. Call get_help(topic: "first-week") and start the interview — an empty account is the one situation where the person genuinely cannot tell you what they want yet.