Connect an AI assistant

Connect an AI assistant

ShortZen speaks the Model Context Protocol (MCP), so an AI assistant can find, create and measure your links when you ask in your own words. Every tool works on every plan, including Free, within your plan’s limits.

Most assistants log in: you add ShortZen's address, a ShortZen screen opens, and you choose the workspace and tick what it may do. The address is https://shortzen.io/api/mcp. Use it exactly as written: it does not redirect, and an assistant that is redirected can drop its credentials.

Settings, AI assistants walks you through it for the assistant you pick, and shows whether each connected assistant is working.

Pick your assistant

Claude Code

Works on every ShortZen plan.

1. Run this in a terminal. --scope user makes ShortZen available in every project.
2. In Claude Code, type /mcp, choose shortzen, then Authenticate.
3. On the ShortZen screen, pick the workspace and tick what it may do. Deleting stays off unless you tick it.

claude mcp add --scope user --transport http shortzen https://shortzen.io/api/mcp

To check it: /mcp lists shortzen as connected, with its 11 tools. Then ask it "Use ShortZen to describe my workspace."

Logged out or expired: type /mcp, choose shortzen, then Re-authenticate. To remove it, run claude mcp remove shortzen.

Claude

Claude on the web, desktop or mobile, on any plan; Free allows one custom connector. On Team and Enterprise an Owner adds ShortZen once, then each member presses Connect.

1. Copy the address.
2. In Claude, open Customize, then Connectors, then Add custom connector. Name it ShortZen and paste the address.
3. Press Connect and log in to ShortZen.

https://shortzen.io/api/mcp

To check it: ShortZen shows as connected under Connectors. Then ask it "Use ShortZen to describe my workspace."

If logging in fails, remove the connector and add it again: Claude cannot edit a connector's sign-in. To remove it, open Customize, then Connectors, then ShortZen, then Remove.

ChatGPT

ChatGPT Business, Enterprise or Edu, on the web. Pro can read only, and Plus cannot add one. On Business an admin or owner adds it.

1. Copy the address.
2. In ChatGPT, open Plugins, press +, then Add custom MCP server. Name it ShortZen, paste the address and choose OAuth.
3. Log in to ShortZen when ChatGPT asks.

https://shortzen.io/api/mcp

To check it: ShortZen appears in your plugins. Start a new chat for it. Then ask it "Use ShortZen to describe my workspace."

If its tools look out of date, an admin presses Refresh on the ShortZen plugin. To remove it, open Plugins, then ShortZen, then Delete.

Codex

The Codex CLI, the IDE extension and the Codex app share one setting, so adding it once covers all three.

1. Add the server.
2. Log in.
3. On the ShortZen screen, pick the workspace and tick what it may do. Deleting stays off unless you tick it.

codex mcp add shortzen --url https://shortzen.io/api/mcp

codex mcp login shortzen

To check it: codex mcp list shows shortzen. Then ask it "Use ShortZen to describe my workspace."

Logged out or expired: run codex mcp login shortzen again. To remove it, run codex mcp remove shortzen.

Cursor

Cursor cannot log in to ShortZen yet, so it uses an API key. The key stays in your environment, not in the link or a file.

1. Create a key for Cursor. Reading and changing links are ticked; leave deleting off unless you need it. In Settings, AI assistants, "Create a key for Cursor" opens the key form ready for it.
2. Set it in the shell that starts Cursor, then restart Cursor.
3. Add ShortZen to Cursor, or put this in ~/.cursor/mcp.json.

export SHORTZEN_API_KEY=sz_live_…

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "shortzen": {
      "url": "https://shortzen.io/api/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer ${env:SHORTZEN_API_KEY}"
      }
    }
  }
}

To check it: Cursor's MCP settings show shortzen turned on. The key's Last used changes after its first request. Then ask it "Use ShortZen to describe my workspace."

If Cursor lists it as failed, the variable was not set when Cursor started. Set it, then restart Cursor. To remove it, delete shortzen in Cursor's MCP settings, then revoke the key here.

VS Code

Visual Studio Code with GitHub Copilot in agent mode.

1. Install ShortZen in VS Code, or put this in your mcp.json.
2. VS Code asks you to log in to ShortZen the first time it uses it.

{
  "servers": {
    "shortzen": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://shortzen.io/api/mcp"
    }
  }
}

To check it: The MCP view shows shortzen running. Then ask it "Use ShortZen to describe my workspace."

Logged out: in the MCP view, restart shortzen and log in again. To remove it, uninstall shortzen in the MCP view.

Grok

Grok lets you add a custom connector; ShortZen has not tested its log in yet. The Grok Build CLI uses an API key.

1. On grok.com, open Connectors, then New Connector, then Custom, and paste the address.
2. For the Grok Build CLI instead, create a key, set it as SHORTZEN_API_KEY, then run: In Settings, AI assistants, "Create a key for Grok" opens the key form ready for it.

https://shortzen.io/api/mcp

grok mcp add --transport http shortzen https://shortzen.io/api/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer ${SHORTZEN_API_KEY}"

To check it: In the CLI, grok mcp list shows shortzen. Then ask it "Use ShortZen to describe my workspace."

In the CLI, grok mcp doctor names what failed. To remove it, run grok mcp remove shortzen, or delete the connector on grok.com.

Another app

Any app that adds an MCP server by its address. It logs in to ShortZen; an app that can only send a header uses an API key.

1. Give the app this address.
2. If it asks for a header instead, create a key and send it as: In Settings, AI assistants, "Create a key for Another app" opens the key form ready for it.

https://shortzen.io/api/mcp

Authorization: Bearer sz_live_…

To check it: The app lists ShortZen's tools. Then ask it "Use ShortZen to describe my workspace."

Use the address exactly as written: ShortZen does not redirect it, and a redirected app can drop its key. To remove it, remove it in the app, then disconnect it or revoke its key here.

Check it works

Being added is not the same as working. Ask your assistant "Use ShortZen to describe my workspace." It only reads: it names your plan, your domains, folders and tags. In Settings, AI assistants, an assistant that has logged in reads Connected until its first request and Working after it. One that has not been used for a long time reads Expired: log in again from the assistant to reconnect.

Teach it your rules

ShortZen already tells your assistant how its tools work, so add only your own preferences: your usual domain, tags, folders and campaign values, and that it should ask before changing anything. Copy this and edit the parts in brackets.

## ShortZen

- Use the ShortZen tools for short links, link analytics and our domains.
- New links go on [go.example.com] unless I say otherwise.
- Tag links you create with [ai]. Put campaign links in the [Campaigns] folder.
- Add utm_source=[newsletter] to links for the newsletter.
- Show me the destination and wait for my yes before creating, changing or deleting a link.

• Claude Code: paste it into CLAUDE.md.
• Claude: paste it into a Project's instructions.
• ChatGPT: paste it into a Project's instructions.
• Codex: paste it into AGENTS.md.
• Cursor: paste it into .cursor/rules/shortzen.mdc, with alwaysApply: true.
• VS Code: paste it into .github/copilot-instructions.md.
• Grok: paste it into AGENTS.md.
• Another app: paste it into the app's instructions.

What an assistant can do

ShortZen does not visit a destination you create through an assistant. It checks the address against its safety screening but does not fetch the page, so a link's title stays empty until you or the assistant set one.

Limits and workspace access

Each assistant you connect can use up to 50% of your workspace's hourly API requests, so no single assistant can use the whole hour. When it reaches that, it is told how long to wait. You can connect up to 20 assistants across your workspaces; one that has expired or been disconnected does not count.

Workspace owners and admins can turn AI assistants off for the whole workspace, or disconnect every assistant in it at once, in Settings, AI assistants, Workspace access. While assistants are off, each one says so when asked to do something, and no one can connect a new one there. API keys keep working.

Permissions and plans

Everything an assistant does is checked the way a dashboard action is: your role, the permissions you ticked, your plan's limits and the audit log all apply. Every tool works on every plan, including Free, within your plan’s limits. A link an assistant creates counts toward your monthly links like any other. A viewer can connect an assistant to read only.

When something goes wrong