Connect your AI assistant

Claude
Codex
Cursor
ChatGPT
VS Code

Claude connects with your fileAI account, so you don’t need an API key. You need a Claude plan with custom connectors. Sign-in also works from Claude Code.

Add the connector

In Claude, open Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector:

Field	Value
Name	`fileAI`
Remote MCP server URL	`https://mcp.file.ai/mcp`

Click Connect, sign in to fileAI, choose the workspaces Claude may use, and click Allow. Then switch on fileAI in a chat’s tools menu.

Test the connection

Ask Claude:

What fileAI tools do you have access to?

To upload files from Claude or switch projects, see Claude: projects and uploads.

Get your API key

Create a project API key on the Developer Portal, then store it as an environment variable:

export FILEAI_API_KEY="your-api-key"

API keys are created on the Developer PortalOpen the Developer Portal ↗

Add the MCP server

Add fileAI to ~/.codex/config.toml:

~/.codex/config.toml

[mcp_servers.fileai]
url = "https://mcp.file.ai/mcp"
env_http_headers = { "x-api-key" = "FILEAI_API_KEY" }

The key is read from the environment, so it never sits in the file.

Test the connection

Start a new session, run /mcp, then ask:

What fileAI tools do you have access to?

Get your API key

Create a project API key on the Developer Portal.

API keys are created on the Developer PortalOpen the Developer Portal ↗

Add the MCP server

Open Cursor Settings → Tools & Integrations → MCP Tools → New MCP Server and add:

mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "fileAI": {
      "url": "https://mcp.file.ai/mcp",
      "headers": { "x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE" }
    }
  }
}

Replace YOUR_API_KEY_HERE with your key, and don’t commit this file.

Test the connection

Ask in Cursor’s chat:

What fileAI tools do you have access to?

Get your API key

Create a project API key on the Developer Portal. You also need a ChatGPT plan with Developer mode.ChatGPT can’t use Sign in with fileAI: by default, sign-in is set up only for Claude apps and Claude Code, so ChatGPT connects with the x-api-key header.

API keys are created on the Developer PortalOpen the Developer Portal ↗

Add the connector

In Settings → Connectors → Advanced settings, turn on Developer mode. Then click Create:

Field	Value
Name	`fileAI`
MCP Server URL	`https://mcp.file.ai/mcp`
Authentication	Custom headers: `x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY_HERE`

Test the connection

In a new chat, turn on Developer mode and fileAI from the tools menu, then ask:

What fileAI tools do you have access to?

Get your API key

Create a project API key on the Developer Portal.

API keys are created on the Developer PortalOpen the Developer Portal ↗

Add the MCP server

Add fileAI to your user-level mcp.json, or to .vscode/mcp.json in a workspace:

mcp.json

{
  "servers": {
    "fileAI": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.file.ai/mcp",
      "headers": { "x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE" }
    }
  }
}

Replace YOUR_API_KEY_HERE with your key. A workspace file is plain text, so don’t commit it.

Test the connection

Open Copilot Chat in agent mode and ask:

What fileAI tools do you have access to?

The Developer Portal works with Developer Portal workspaces. If your workspace was set up in the fileAI app, create keys in the app instead: Settings → API Keys at orion.file.ai.

Uploading files? Your assistant calls upload_file with a public link or the file’s bytes, then wait_for_upload. See Uploading a file. Regional workspace? Replace mcp.file.ai with mcp.au.file.ai, mcp.sg.file.ai or mcp.jp.file.ai. A key only works on the instance that issued it. Something not working? See Troubleshooting.

MCP server

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