The &Open MCP lets you use &Open from inside an AI assistant like Claude or ChatGPT. Once connected, you can check your campaigns and budget, review the gifts you've sent, and send new gift invitations without opening &Open.
Before you start
You'll need three things:
An &Open account. You sign in with your usual &Open login during setup.
The &Open MCP enabled on your account. Ask your &Open Customer Success Manager to turn it on. Until they do, you can complete the steps below but your assistant can't reach your gifting data.
An AI assistant that supports MCP connections. Claude and ChatGPT both do, and so do a growing number of AI-powered business tools.
&Open isn't listed in any app directories yet, so you connect using a URL.
Choose your connection URL
Use the URL for the region where your &Open account is hosted:
US:
https://mcp.andopen.co/mcpEU:
https://mcp.eu.andopen.co/mcp
If you're not sure which region your account is in, ask your &Open account manager or contact our support team.
Connect the &Open MCP
The steps depend on which assistant you use.
In Claude
Open Settings → Connectors and add a new custom connector.
Paste your &Open connection URL.
Claude opens an &Open sign-in window. Enter your work email, then check the authorization screen: the verified application address and the sign-in return address should both read
claude.ai. Choose Allow access.Choose the &Open connector to see its six tools and set how often Claude checks with you. See "Choose your permission settings" below.
Try asking "How much gifting budget do I have left?" to confirm it's working.
In ChatGPT
Set ChatGPT up on the web rather than in the desktop app. Custom MCP servers behave more predictably there, and once it's installed the plugin works everywhere you're signed in.
Go to Plugins and choose the + button beside the search box.
Give it a Name, for example "&Open MCP". ChatGPT adds the server's domain to whatever you type, so that's what you'll see in the plugin list.
Leave Connection on Server URL and paste your &Open connection URL.
Leave Authentication on OAuth. The advanced OAuth settings are discovered from the URL, so there's nothing to fill in.
Tick I understand and want to continue, then choose Create. The Create button stays disabled until you tick it.
Choose Sign in with &Open MCP, enter your work email, and check the authorization screen: both addresses should read
chatgpt.com. Choose Allow access.Back on the plugin's page, scroll to Information and choose Refresh. The six &Open actions appear.
Choose Permissions to set how often ChatGPT checks with you. See "Choose your permission settings" below.
In a conversation, add &Open with the + icon in the message box, or by typing @ and its name. Try "How much gifting budget do I have left?"
If ChatGPT tells you it has no &Open tools available, you've most likely skipped the Refresh in step 7. Until you run it, the plugin is connected but has no actions loaded.
In other tools
Look for "connectors", "integrations", or "MCP servers" in the settings, add a custom connection with your &Open URL, and follow the sign-in prompts. Check your tool's documentation for where that lives.
Choose your permission settings
Your AI assistant asks for permission before it runs a tool. How often it asks is up to you, or up to whoever administers your assistant.
The &Open connection has two kinds of tools, and you can treat them differently:
Five that only read. They look up who you are and your budget, list your campaigns, and list the gift invitations you've sent. They change nothing.
One that writes. It adds a gift recipient to a campaign, which creates a real gift invitation, emails a real person, and uses your gifting budget.
Whichever settings you choose, &Open still asks your assistant to confirm the gift recipient and the campaign with you in the conversation before it adds anyone. Permission settings change how many extra approval dialogs you see, not whether your assistant checks in with you.
Where to change it:
In Claude, open Settings → Connectors → the &Open connector and set each tool to Always allow, Needs approval, or Blocked. A dropdown at the top of the list sets them all at once. You can also choose "Allow always" when a permission prompt appears. On Team and Enterprise plans, an owner may set these centrally in Organization settings instead. See Use connectors to extend Claude's capabilities and Get started with custom connectors using remote MCP.
In ChatGPT, open Settings → Plugins → the &Open plugin → Permissions and pick one of four settings for the whole plugin: Always ask, Allow read actions, Allow low-risk actions, or Allow all actions. Allow low-risk actions is the default. Allow all actions is flagged as elevated risk, because ChatGPT then never checks with you, including before a gift goes out. See Apps in ChatGPT.
If you're on a business, team, or enterprise plan with either assistant, your administrator may have already set these permissions for everyone, in which case you won't be able to change them yourself. Ask them if the prompts aren't working the way you'd like.
What responses look like
Answers come back as rich &Open cards rather than plain text: a budget card for your gifting allowance, a campaign card for each campaign, and a gift card for each gift invitation, including the one created when you send a gift. Assistants may also show the text version after the card.
One setting in the Claude desktop app affects this. When you start a new task, you choose whether it runs in the cloud or on the desktop, using the control in the top right of the window. Cloud is the default, and it's a Claude beta that doesn't support these cards yet, so answers come back as text. Choose to run the task on the desktop when you'd like the cards.
The &Open connection works the same way wherever the task runs, including the confirmation before any gift goes out. The only difference is how the answers look.
What it looks like
Adding the &Open connector in ChatGPT
The &Open sign-in and approval screen
Gift cards
Campaign cards
Budget card
Questions and answers
Which AI tools can I use?
Any tool that connects to a remote MCP server by URL. Claude and ChatGPT are the most common, and many CRM and sales tools now support MCP connections too. Check your tool's documentation for where to add a custom connector.
Do I need special permissions in &Open?
Your account needs the &Open MCP enabled, which your Account Manager can do for you. Beyond that, no. You connect as yourself, so your assistant sees the same campaigns and budget you see when you log in to &Open.
I've connected, but my assistant can't see any of my gifting data
Two things to check. The &Open MCP may not be enabled on your account yet, so start with your Account Manager. If you're in ChatGPT, you may also have skipped the Refresh step, which loads the &Open actions.
Is this safe to connect?
Yes. The connection can read your own gifting data and do one thing: send a gift invitation, and only after you confirm it. It can't edit or delete anything in your account, and it can never see another person's or another company's data.
Why does my assistant keep asking me for permission?
That prompt comes from your AI assistant, not from &Open, and it appears before the assistant runs any tool. You or your administrator can change how often it appears in your assistant's settings. See "Choose your permission settings" above.
I'm seeing plain text instead of &Open cards
If you're in the Claude desktop app, your task is probably running in the cloud, which is the default and doesn't support these cards yet. Start a new task, choose to run it on the desktop using the control in the top right, and the cards appear. Some assistants don't render cards at all, in which case you see the text version and nothing is lost.
How do I disconnect?
Remove the &Open connector in your AI assistant's settings. Nothing changes in your &Open account, and you can reconnect at any time.