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Use inkpad with your AI chat

Hook inkpad into Claude Desktop, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible AI client. Then anywhere you chat, say "publish this" and get back a shareable URL.

What it does

MCP is a standard that lets AI chat apps talk to small online services. inkpad runs an MCP server at one URL — paste it into your AI client, and from then on the AI can publish notes for you.

After setup, your AI gains one new tool called publish_to_inkpad. Nothing in the UI changes — it just becomes one more thing the AI can do. Ask in plain language.

"Take everything we just discussed and publish it to inkpad — give me the read URL."

Step 1 — Pick your URL

Two URLs, one decision. Setup steps are identical — only the URL differs.

Anonymous

Zero setup. Instant. Recommended for one-off use.

https://inkpad.cc/api/mcp
Sign-up needed
No
Rate limit
3 notes/hour, 20/day per network
Owner
None — only the edit URL can change a note
Edit later
Only via the private edit URL (don't lose it)
Password / expiry / one-view
Yes

Personal MCP URL

Free inkpad account. Notes land in your dashboard.

https://inkpad.cc/api/mcp/u/inkpad_pat_<your-token>
Sign-up needed
Yes (free)
Rate limit
30/hour, 200/day per account
Owner
Tied to your account
Edit later
From your dashboard, anytime
Password / expiry / one-view
Yes

Step 2 — Install in your AI app

Pick the client you use — each takes 1–3 minutes.

All snippets below use the anonymous URL. To publish to your account, replace it with your Personal MCP URL — same syntax everywhere.

01

Claude Desktop (Mac & Windows)

If you don't know what MCP is, this is probably you.

  1. Try the easy path first: Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector. Name: Inkpad. Remote MCP server URL: paste the URL from Step 1. Click Add. Done.
    If you don't see Connectors, your version is older — use the config-file path below.
  2. Config-file path: Settings → Developer → Edit Config. If the file looks empty, paste the snippet below as the entire content. If it has stuff already, add the inkpad entry inside the existing mcpServers object.
  3. Save (Cmd+S / Ctrl+S), then fully quit (Cmd+Q on Mac) and reopen Claude.
JSON
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "inkpad": {
      "url": "https://inkpad.cc/api/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Try saying: "Publish this conversation to inkpad and give me the link."

02

Cursor

  1. Settings (Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + J) → MCP & Integrations → + Add new MCP server.
  2. Name: inkpad. Type: HTTP. URL: paste the URL from Step 1. Save.
  3. Open a chat — Cursor will ask once to approve the tool.

Try saying: "Publish this conversation to inkpad and return the URL."

03

Claude Code (CLI for developers)

If you're comfortable in a terminal.

  1. Run the command below anywhere.
  2. Done. The next /mcp prompt in Claude Code will list inkpad.
shell
claude mcp add --transport http inkpad https://inkpad.cc/api/mcp

Try saying: "Use inkpad to publish the file I'm looking at."

04

Any other MCP-compatible client

  1. Add a new "remote MCP server" with Streamable HTTP transport, using the URL from Step 1. No headers, no extra fields.

Try saying: "Publish this to inkpad."

Alternative: Authorization header

Some clients (Cursor, Claude Code, plain curl) accept a custom Authorization header. You can paste your bare token there instead of using the Personal MCP URL — same effect, same revoke flow. Use whichever your client supports best.

Cursor

In the MCP server form, expand Headers and add: Authorization · Bearer inkpad_pat_<your-token>. Save.

Claude Code CLI

shell
claude mcp add --transport http inkpad https://inkpad.cc/api/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer inkpad_pat_REPLACE_WITH_YOUR_TOKEN"

Plain curl (REST endpoint)

shell
curl -X POST https://inkpad.cc/api/v1/notes \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer inkpad_pat_REPLACE_WITH_YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"content_md": "# hello from curl"}'
Get your token →

Advanced: OAuth (multi-user apps)

If you're building or installing a third-party MCP client that wants browser-mediated consent (Claude Desktop's "Add Custom Connector" with OAuth, multi-tenant integrations, etc.), inkpad supports the standard OAuth 2.1 + PKCE flow. Most users don't need this — the Personal MCP URL above is simpler and covers the same case.

Set up an OAuth client →

Troubleshooting

The AI says it doesn't know how to publish to inkpad.
Restart your chat app fully — closing the window is not the same as quitting on Mac. If still nothing, double-check the JSON for typos (a missing brace will silently disable everything).
I get a "rate limited" error.
3 notes/hour and 20/day per network when anonymous; 30/hour and 200/day per account when authenticated. Wait, or switch to your Personal MCP URL.
I lost the edit URL of an anonymous note.
Anonymous notes can only be changed via the private edit URL — losing it makes the note read-only forever. Re-publish (or use your Personal MCP URL next time so the note is editable from your dashboard).
Anonymous worked but my Personal MCP URL gives 401.
Token was revoked or mistyped. Mint a new one at /dashboard/settings/tokens and re-paste the URL into your client.

Rate limits

Anonymous: 3 notes/hour, 20/day per network. Authenticated: 30/hour, 200/day per account. Identical content from the same caller within an hour returns the existing note instead of duplicating.

Privacy

Anonymous publishes are anonymous — the MCP server stores nothing about who you are. Authenticated publishes are tied to your account so you can manage them. Either way you can add a password, expiry, or one-view limit per note.