Configure the Cortex MCP server
Connect ChatGPT, Claude, or another MCP client to Cortex. Use this guide when you set up the connection yourself.
The integration uses the hosted Cortex MCP server. You do not need to install a server on your computer.
An MCP integration provides Cortex tools but does not install the guidance included with a Cortex agent plugin. If you use a supported coding agent, follow Agent plugins instead.
Open guided MCP setup (new tab) to follow these instructions one step at a time. For the preferred ChatGPT store installation, use Connect ChatGPT. Grok uses a different, secret-free PKCE flow: follow Connect Grok.
Before you start
For Claude, first check Customize → Connectors. If Cortex is already connected to the correct Socra Account, keep it and continue to tool choices. Free Claude allows one custom connector; if Add is unavailable, check your plan and organization permissions before creating new Socra resources or replacing a working connection.
You need an Account and a Cloud Project that you can manage. If you do not have one, create a Cloud Project in the Cloud Console at platform.socra.com.
Your client must support remote HTTP MCP and follow the resource_metadata URL in Cortex's 401 OAuth challenge. Test the connection in your host. Use the CLI if the host cannot connect.
Before authorizing, review the access you are granting. Cortex tools can read and modify data that your selected Account permits. The read-only verification does not restrict the connection’s overall authority. The hosted MCP surface includes tools that can write and delete. Read the Cortex security model and your client’s approval policy before you connect.
Set up the integration
Enable Cortex and configure OAuth on your Cloud Project. Then connect your MCP client.
Enable Cortex
In the Cloud Console, open Enabled services. Select Enable service, then enable Cortex for the Cloud Project.
Configure OAuth
Configure the information that Socra shows when a user authorizes the integration.
In the Cloud Console, open OAuth overview. Select Set up OAuth. Use Cortex as the application name. Add any policy information that users should see during authorization.
Configure your MCP client
Select the client that you want to connect to the Cortex MCP server.
Register an OAuth client
In the Cloud Console, open OAuth clients. Register a Web client named Cortex for Claude.
Add this redirect URL:
https://claude.ai/api/mcp/auth_callback
Leave JavaScript origins empty. Create the OAuth client. Then create a client secret. Copy the secret immediately. Socra shows it one time.
Connect Claude
Custom connectors are available on Free, Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise plans. Free allows one custom connector.
For a personal plan, open Customize → Connectors and select + Add → Add custom connector. For Team, an Owner or Primary Owner must first open Organization settings → Connectors and select Add → Custom → Web. On Enterprise, a custom role with Manage access to Libraries can also add the connector.
Then configure the connection:
- Enter Cortex as the name and
https://cortex.socra.cloud/mcpas the remote MCP server URL. - Select Continue.
- Review the detected OAuth authentication settings and select Continue.
- Under Authentication, select Sign in now.
- Under OAuth client, select Use your own OAuth client. Enter the client ID and client secret from Socra.
- Select Add to finish configuring the connector.
- Complete Socra sign-in, select your Account, and approve access when prompted. If Claude still shows Connect, select it to start authorization.
After a Team or Enterprise administrator adds Cortex, each member opens Customize → Connectors and selects Connect for Cortex to authorize their own Account.
These controls follow Claude's current custom-connector guide. Keep the registered Socra client for this path; selecting another OAuth client mode does not use the client you just created.
Enable all Cortex tools
We recommend enabling all Cortex tools and choosing the client's Cortex-scoped always-allow setting. Prefer a server-wide setting that includes newly added tools. This lets your agent retrieve and maintain knowledge and coordinate work without repeated confirmation clicks.
In ChatGPT, open Settings → Plugins and select the Cortex custom MCP plugin you created. Under its Permission or Permissions control, choose Allow all tools or Allow all actions, if available. Some accounts show Apps instead of Plugins. Use the controls for that Cortex app or connected account, keeping unrelated apps unchanged. Availability depends on your account and workspace policy. If Connected accounts appears, open the intended Account’s ••• menu and choose Settings, then set its Permissions. Select Save if shown. In a conversation, type @ and select the installed Cortex plugin.
In Claude, open Customize → Connectors → Cortex → Tool permissions (your connector may be named Socra Cortex). Set both Read-only tools and Write/delete tools to Always allow using each group's menu. In a new chat, turn Cortex on under + → Connectors. Organization restrictions still apply.
In another client, enable all Cortex tools and use its Cortex-scoped always-allow control when available. Prefer a server-wide rule over a fixed list of tools. If the host only offers individual tool controls, enable every Cortex tool and apply its available always-allow option to each. Follow the host's documentation for its exact controls.
Allow-all settings can permit read, write and delete actions without repeated tool confirmations. Account permissions and organization restrictions still govern access. The agent can maintain useful knowledge and tell you what changed and why; the suggested instructions guide this behavior without enforcing it. If you prefer confirmations, use the host's Ask, Needs approval or equivalent setting for Cortex.
For Grok's different controls and PKCE connection, follow Connect Grok.
Pause or disconnect Cortex in Claude
To pause Cortex for one conversation, turn it off under + → Connectors. To disconnect, open Customize → Connectors and use the existing Cortex connection’s disconnect control.
Removing a custom connector is a separate action. Keep a working connection when you continue setup. If you intentionally want to remove it, use its Remove action or three-dot menu under Customize → Connectors and follow the prompts. Team and Enterprise administrators can also manage organization connectors.
Pause Cortex in another client
If Cortex is already connected to the intended Socra Account, preserve that connection. To pause tools, use your host’s Cortex server disable control if available. Keep unrelated servers, tools and permissions unchanged. Local pause does not establish server-side authorization revocation. Consult your host’s documentation before disconnecting or removing credentials; those effects vary by host.
Add persistent instructions
Add the suggested Cortex instructions to teach your agent to Flash the right knowledge before acting and create or update Modules when you share useful knowledge or preferences. A direct MCP connection needs these saved separately. You can edit or skip them. In Claude, use Settings → Account → Instructions for Claude. In other clients, use their persistent or project instructions. Keep existing instructions.
You can choose automatic maintenance or recommendations that wait for approval. The agent prepares the knowledge in either case. A working connection can start with an empty graph; you do not need to write Modules before your agent can begin learning from normal work.
Verify the connection
Start a new conversation with Cortex enabled. Use this prompt:
Use Cortex to list the Modules I can access. Make a real Cortex tool call; an empty list is valid. Separately, report whether this new conversation received persistent Cortex guidance and what it requires. Do not change anything.
Verify that the agent makes a real Cortex call and returns a Module list. An empty list confirms access for a new Account. An error or an answer without a tool call does not confirm the connection.
Check the guidance report separately. If you saved instructions but the new conversation did not receive them, check their saved location and scope in the host. Start the conversation inside the project if you used project instructions. If you skipped instructions, the connection can still work; report the guidance as skipped.
Stop after verification. When you are ready to use Cortex, follow the Cortex Quickstart.
Sources and verification
These are Claude’s documented connector controls. They were not executed in this verification; no server-side revocation effect is claimed.
ChatGPT steps follow OpenAI’s custom MCP server guide, authentication reference and plugin controls. The Advanced OAuth fields were independently inspected in an unsubmitted production Cortex form; its discovered Socra issuer advertises client_secret_post. No credentials, custom-server creation, OAuth authorization, tool setting or real host read was executed in that inspection. The displayed callback is copied for the actual form rather than assumed from an earlier observation.