Connect AI Assistants to TidyCal with MCP

Connect Claude or ChatGPT to TidyCal with MCP to read your schedule and, with your permission, book and cancel meetings. Included on every plan, including Free.

Overview

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard that lets AI assistants connect securely to outside tools. Once TidyCal is connected, you can ask things like "What bookings do I have this week?" or "When am I free on Friday?" and get answers from your real TidyCal account. If you allow it, the assistant can also act for you: "Book Sam on Thursday at 2pm" or "Cancel my 3pm tomorrow".

  • Read and, with your permission, change: the assistant can view your scheduling data. It can create or cancel bookings, create booking types and add contacts only if you approve changes on the TidyCal sign-in screen.
  • Secure sign-in: you authorize access with OAuth — you never paste an API key into the assistant.
  • Plan: included on every plan, including the Free Plan.

Where to find it in TidyCal

Go to Integrations → Automations and find the AI assistants (MCP) card. Click Set up MCP to open the TidyCal MCP setup page in a new tab, or use the How it works link. Both are available on every plan.

You can also open the setup page from AI assistants (MCP) in the TidyCal logo dropdown, or in the More menu on mobile.

What the Assistant Can Read

Through the MCP connection, an assistant can look up:

  • Your account details
  • Your teams
  • Your booking types
  • Available times for a booking type
  • Your busy times, including time blocked by connected calendars and calendar feeds
  • Your bookings (optionally for a date range, or only cancelled ones)
  • The locations set on a booking type (address, phone, video meeting)
  • Your Store orders
  • Your date polls, with the votes on each proposed time

Booking details include the booker's name, email and phone number, their answers to your booking questions, and payment status.

The full, current list of tools, with what each one returns, is on the TidyCal MCP setup page.

What the Assistant Can Do With Your Permission

If you approve changes when you connect, the assistant can:

  • Book a meeting on one of your free booking types, for a person and a start time you give it. The person gets the usual confirmation email and the booking goes on your calendar.
  • Cancel a booking. TidyCal always emails both the booker and you, and a cancellation cannot be undone.
  • Create a booking type, free or paid. A paid one needs a payment account (such as Stripe) connected in TidyCal first. It uses your Default Availability and gets its own booking page link.
  • Add a contact. If someone with that email is already in your contacts, TidyCal returns the existing contact instead of making a duplicate. The contact is not emailed.

These are real changes. Bookings and cancellations send the same emails as if you had made them yourself, so check what the assistant is about to do before you confirm.

The assistant cannot book a booking type that has a price (book those on the public booking page), edit or delete existing booking types, reschedule a booking, issue refunds, or change your settings.

How to Connect

Pick your AI assistant below. Every app uses the same TidyCal address: https://tidycal.com/mcp (no www). These menus belong to each app, so their names can change.

Jump to: ChatGPT · Claude

ChatGPT

Works on Free and Plus ChatGPT plans, on chatgpt.com.

  1. Click Plugins in the left sidebar. It is no longer under Settings.
  2. Click Add (top right), then Add custom MCP server.
  3. Name: TidyCal. Server URL: https://tidycal.com/mcp. Authentication: OAuth.
  4. Tick I understand and want to continue, then click Create as a plugin.
  5. Click Connect TidyCal. Sign in to TidyCal if asked, read the approval screen (described below) and click Authorize.
  6. Start a new chat, type @, choose TidyCal and ask "What booking types do I offer?"

If you do not see Add custom MCP server, your ChatGPT plan or workspace does not offer it yet.

Claude

Works on claude.ai.

  1. Click Customize in the left sidebar, then Connectors. (If you open Settings and then Connectors, it tells you they have moved to Customize.)
  2. Click Add, then Add custom connector.
  3. Enter https://tidycal.com/mcp as the connector address, name it TidyCal and save.
  4. Click Connect next to TidyCal. Sign in to TidyCal if asked, read the approval screen (described below) and click Authorize.
  5. In a new chat, ask "What booking types do I offer?"

On a Claude Team plan, only an organization owner can add a custom connector. Once an owner adds TidyCal, everyone else just clicks Connect.

What the approval screen shows

The screen says the app is requesting permission to access your account, and lists what it asks for:

  • It will be able to see: your bookings, booking types, availability and teams.
  • It will be able to make changes: create and change bookings and booking types. This line appears only if the assistant asks for it.

If the assistant asks to make changes, you must tick the box "I understand Claude can create and change bookings and booking types, and that TidyCal emails the people involved" (your assistant's name appears in place of Claude) before Authorize works. If it does not ask, the screen says it will not be able to create or change anything.

You will also see an Unverified app badge. That is normal for AI connectors: TidyCal has not checked who made the app, and the name shown is the name the app calls itself. The screen also shows the address you will be sent to after you approve. Only continue if you started the connection yourself.

TidyCal approval screen for an AI assistant: Unverified app notice, what it can see and change, and the write tick box

Connections made earlier are read-only

If you connected TidyCal to an AI assistant before changes were supported, that connection stays read-only. To allow changes, disconnect TidyCal in your AI assistant, connect it again, and approve changes on the TidyCal screen.

Troubleshooting

"This connection is read-only"

The assistant tried to create or cancel something, but the connection was approved without changes. Disconnect TidyCal in your AI assistant and connect again, approving changes on the TidyCal screen.

"Verify your email address"

On the Free Plan, booking a meeting through an assistant needs a verified email address on your TidyCal account. Open the verification email in your inbox (or request a new one from your TidyCal account), then try again. Paid plans do not need this step, and cancelling a booking does not need it.

"This booking type has a price"

An assistant can book only free booking types. For a paid booking type, share its public booking page instead.

"Authentication succeeded, action discovery failed"

ChatGPT shows this when the address has www in it. Remove the TidyCal plugin, add it again with https://tidycal.com/mcp (no www), and connect.

The connection won’t authorize

  • Make sure you complete the sign-in and approval step in the browser window your AI assistant opens.
  • Check the address is exactly https://tidycal.com/mcp, with no www and nothing after it.
  • Connect from Claude or ChatGPT.
  • If you see "This account cannot use the MCP server", contact support. It appears only on accounts that cannot sign in to TidyCal.
  • If it still fails, contact support@tidycal.com (see How do I contact TidyCal support?).

Frequently Asked Questions

Which plans can use the MCP server?

Every plan, including the Free Plan. The only extra step on Free is verifying your email address before an assistant can book a meeting for you.

Do I need a paid ChatGPT or Claude plan?

No for ChatGPT: custom MCP servers work on Free and Plus ChatGPT plans on chatgpt.com. On a Claude Team plan, only an organization owner can add the TidyCal connector; after that, everyone else just clicks Connect.

Can the assistant change or create bookings?

Yes, with your permission. When you connect, the approval screen tells you whether the assistant is asking to make changes. If you approve, it can book a meeting on a free booking type, cancel a booking, create a booking type (free, or paid if a payment account is connected) and add a contact. It cannot edit or delete existing booking types, reschedule, or change your settings. Every change it makes is a real change, and bookings and cancellations email the people involved.

Is it secure?

Yes. You authorize access with OAuth and never share your password or an API key with the AI assistant. The approval screen shows exactly what the app can see and whether it can make changes, and changes need an explicit tick box. To revoke access, go to Integrations → Automations → Manage API keys → Authorized apps and click Revoke (see How to Connect TidyCal to Zapier, the API and AI Assistants).

Which AI assistants work?

Claude (claude.ai and claude.com) and ChatGPT, plus tools that run on your own computer, such as Claude Code. Other web-based AI assistants cannot sign in to TidyCal.

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