Colabio for Claude & ChatGPT · MCP connector

Ask questions about your team's work

Connect Colabio to Claude or ChatGPT and get answers in plain language — no dashboards, no exports. Your assistant reads your Colabio data through a secure connection you control, and only ever sees what your role already allows.

27 read-only toolsOAuth 2.1 sign-inRevoke anytime

What this is

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard that lets an AI assistant call an application's tools directly. Colabio publishes an MCP server, so Claude and ChatGPT can look up your organizations, timesheets, reports and invoices on demand and answer questions about them in chat. The same connection works in both — only the setup screen differs.

Two kinds of data are available, and they answer different questions. Tracked time, activity and invoices are measured automatically. Daily updates are what people write themselves each working day — what they finished, what is blocking them, what they need. Asking about both at once is where it gets useful: “Priya logged 40 hours last week — what did she say she was working on?”

It is read-only. Your assistant can look at your Colabio data; it cannot edit time entries, change roles, issue invoices or delete anything.

Connect in three minutes

Add the connector

Paste the URL below into Claude or ChatGPT — the exact screen for each is spelled out underneath.

A Colabio page opens in your browser — your normal email and password, or Google.

Start asking

That's it. No tokens to copy, no config files to edit — just ask in plain language.

Your connector URL — paste it wherever your AI assistant asks for a custom connector or MCP server:

https://api.colabio.org/mcp

Claude

Desktop app or claude.ai

4 steps · about a minute

1
Open your connector settings
In Claude, go to Settings → Connectors. The same screen exists in the desktop app and on claude.ai — either is fine, and a connector added in one shows up in the other.
2
Add a custom connector
Choose Add custom connector, paste the connector URL above as the remote MCP server URL, and confirm. There is nothing else to fill in — no authentication type to pick, no keys to generate.
3
Sign in to Colabio
Claude opens a Colabio page in your browser. Sign in with your usual email and password, or Continue with Google, and you land back in Claude connected.
4
Ask a question
Try “how many hours did I track last week?”. If Claude answers without using Colabio, open the tools menu under the message box and check that Colabio is switched on for that conversation.

A connector you add here follows your Claude account, so it is already there on your other devices.

Claude Code

Terminal

2 commands · under a minute

1
Add the server
Run this in any project. Add --scope user to make Colabio available in every project instead of just this one.
claude mcp add --transport http colabio https://api.colabio.org/mcp
2
Authenticate
Run /mcp inside Claude Code, pick colabio and choose to authenticate. Your browser opens the same Colabio sign-in page. This step is easy to skip, and without it every call comes back unauthorized.
3
Confirm it is connected
claude mcp list shows Colabio as connected, and /mcp lists the 27 tools. Then just ask in the session.

Same account and the same permissions as the desktop app — the sign-in is per machine, not per project.

ChatGPT

Custom connector

6 steps · about two minutes

1
Open the custom connector form
In ChatGPT, go to Settings → Apps & Connectors and choose to add a custom connector. If you can't see that option, turn on Developer mode on the same screen — custom MCP connectors sit behind it.
2
Name it and paste the URL
Call it Colabio. Leave Connection set to Server URL — not Tunnel — and paste the connector URL above, exactly, with no trailing slash.
3
Set Authentication to OAuth
This is the step people miss. Pick OAuth from the Authentication dropdown; leaving it on None means ChatGPT never asks you to sign in and every question comes back empty.
4
Leave the advanced OAuth settings alone
ChatGPT discovers the sign-in, token and registration URLs from Colabio and fills them in for you, with the mcp scope already ticked. There is no client ID or secret to create. A note saying CIMD is unavailable is expected and harmless — registration happens automatically instead.
5
Acknowledge the warning and create
ChatGPT shows a caution about custom connectors and won't let you continue until you tick I understand and want to continue. Uploading an icon is optional — ChatGPT uses whatever you upload there. Then press Create.
6
Sign in to Colabio
A Colabio page opens. Sign in as you normally would, and you land back in ChatGPT connected. Ask “tell me about my activity this month” to confirm it works.

Needs a plan that allows custom connectors. Whether you can add one at all depends on your ChatGPT plan and whether your workspace admin permits it — that is set on OpenAI's side, not Colabio's.

Using something else? Any MCP-compatible client can connect with the same URL. Clients that cannot open a browser for sign-in can bridge through mcp-remote — see the developer notes at the bottom of this page.

What you can ask

Your assistant has 27 read-only tools covering these areas. Ask in your own words — it picks the right one. What it can actually answer depends on your role.

Anyone, including employees

Your own work, and the projects you are part of. Nothing here needs a manager role.

“How many hours did I track last week?”
“Show my timesheet for July”
“Am I on track against my expected hours this month?”
“How much of my time went to core work?”
“Preview my invoice for this month”
“What happened on the Bloom project yesterday?”
“What did I report working on last week?”
“How many days did I miss my update this month?”

Team leaders

Lead a project? You also get your team — the members of the projects you lead — even though your organization role is still employee. Daily updates, coverage, screenshots and timesheets, scoped to your projects.

“Who is on my team?”
“What is my team working on this week?”
“Who on my team hasn't posted an update in five days?”
“What did Himanshu report yesterday?”
“Show my team's daily-update coverage for this month”
“What is my team blocked on?”

Managers only

Anything about the organization as a whole. Needs organization manager or product manager in that organization.

“Give me last month's report for the whole team”
“Who tracked the most hours in July?”
“Show Priya's timesheet for last week”
“Who is under 60% utilization this month?”
“Any unusual activity this month?”
“Which apps is the team spending the most time in?”
“What is the team blocked on this week?”
“Who hasn't posted a daily update in five days?”

Roles are set per organization, so you can manage one and be a member of another. Your assistant checks your role in whichever organization the question is about, on every request — and if you ask for something your role doesn't cover, it says which role is needed instead of failing silently.

Organization overview

Managers

Your organizations and roles, the full member list with rates, departments and timezones, and org-wide tracked time.

“Who is in my organization?”
“How much did the team track last week?”

Team reports & leaderboard

Managers

Per-member duration, activity, earnings and timesheets in one report, plus a leaderboard ranked by tracked, active and focus time.

“Give me last month's report for everyone”
“Who tracked the most hours in July?”

Individual analytics

You, or managers

Daily worked time, detailed timesheets, utilization against expected hours, focus sessions and meeting load — your own, or anyone's if you manage the organization.

“Show my timesheet for last week”
“Is anyone under 60% utilization this month?”

Daily updates

You, or managers

What people wrote they did each working day — their top priority and whether they hit it, what they finished, what is blocking them and what they need from leadership. Yours are always yours to read; your team's if you lead their project; everyone's with a manager role.

“What is Priya blocked on this week?”
“Who hasn't posted an update in the last five days?”

Work classification & unusual activity

Managers

How time splits across core, non-core and unproductive work, and which apps were used. Your own breakdown is yours to see; ranking the team and reviewing flagged activity is for managers.

“Who spent the least time on core work?”
“Any unusual activity this month?”

Invoices

Own; managers see all

List and inspect invoices with their line items, and preview a month before it is issued. You always see your own; managers see everyone's.

“Summarize pending invoices”
“Preview my invoice for this month”

Projects & tasks

Everyone

Projects with status and members, their tasks with priorities and deadlines, and recent activity per project.

“Which projects are behind?”
“What happened on the Bloom project?”

Dates can be written naturally (“last week”, “in July”). Durations come back as hours and minutes, and money in your organization's currency.

Every tool, in detail

The complete list of the 27 tools your assistant can call, what each returns, and who can use it. You never call these yourself — the assistant picks the right one from your question.

Organization overview

6 tools

`list_my_organizations`	Your organizations, your role in each, and ownership	Everyone
`list_organization_members`	All members with rates, departments and timezones	Managers
`list_my_team_members`	The members you may report on — the whole organization for a manager, the projects you lead for a team leader. No pay data	Managers & team leads
`get_organization_activity`	Org-wide tracked time, project and task counts for a range	Managers
`get_all_members_report`	One row per member — time, activity, earnings, tasks — plus org totals; full timesheets on request	ManagersPaid plan
`get_members_worked_time`	Every member's worked time and activity for a single day	ManagersPaid plan

Individual analytics

7 tools

`get_member_activity_summary`	A member's total time, activity %, earnings and task count	You, or managers
`get_member_daily_worked`	Day-by-day worked time for a member	You, or managers
`get_member_timesheets`	Per-day detail: projects, tasks, start/end times, amounts	You, or managers
`get_member_utilization`	Actual tracked time vs the member's expected hours	You, or managers
`get_member_focus_metrics`	Focus sessions: count, total time and per-day trend	You, or managers
`get_member_meetings`	Meeting count, time and cost (calendar must be connected)	You, or managers
`get_leaderboard`	Members ranked by tracked, active and focus time	Managers

Daily updates

3 tools

`get_member_daily_updates`	One member's updates day by day, with priority, done, doing next, blockers and leadership asks pulled out of each. Team leaders can read the members of the projects they lead	You, or managers
`get_team_daily_updates`	Everyone's updates over a range, grouped by member — people who wrote nothing are still listed, so silence is visible. For a team leader, "everyone" means the projects they lead	Managers & team leadsPaid plan
`get_daily_update_coverage`	Who is reporting and who isn't: days submitted, days on leave, weekdays missed, streak and days since the last update — org-wide for managers, their projects for team leaders	Managers & team leadsPaid plan

Work classification

3 tools

`get_member_work_classification`	How a member's time splits across core, non-core and unproductive work, by app and URL	You, or managersPaid plan
`get_core_work_ranking`	Members ranked by share of core work, top or bottom first	ManagersPaid plan
`get_observed_apps`	Apps seen across the org with usage time and classification status	ManagersPaid plan

Unusual activity

2 tools

`get_unusual_activity_summary`	Org-level flags by severity with a per-member breakdown	ManagersPaid plan
`get_member_unusual_activity`	Each flagged activity with input stats, apps and the reason	ManagersPaid plan

Invoices

3 tools

`list_invoices`	Invoices with status, base pay, bonus and totals	Own; managers see all
`get_invoice`	One invoice with its full line items	Own; managers see all
`preview_invoice`	Your not-yet-issued invoice for a month	Everyone

Projects & tasks

3 tools

`list_projects`	Projects with status, dates and members (paginated)	Everyone
`get_project`	One project with its full task list and members	Everyone
`get_project_activity`	Recent time tracked on a project: who, what and when	Everyone

Paid planmeans the organization's Colabio plan must include that feature — the same gating as the web app. If a tool isn't available, the assistant's reply names the missing role or plan.

Who can see what

The same permissions as the Colabio web app — a role change applies immediately, with nothing to reconnect.

Organization manager

Everything for that organization — all members, reports and invoices.

Product manager

Team monitoring and reports for the organization.

Employee

Only their own time, timesheets and invoices.

Features that need a paid plan stay unavailable through the assistant too.

Managing your connections

Every assistant you connect is listed in your account settings. Disconnecting revokes access instantly — the assistant stops working on its very next request, without you touching the device it was set up on. Reconnecting the same assistant replaces its previous connection rather than adding a second one.

Manage connected assistants

Disconnecting here

Access stops on the assistant's next request. It may still show the connector until then, and will ask you to sign in again when you use it — that is expected, not a failure.

Removing it in the assistant

Removing a connector on the assistant's side does not always reach Colabio, so the entry can linger here. If you want the access gone for certain, disconnect it above too.

Staying signed in

A connection refreshes itself while you keep using it. After 30 days unused it expires and the assistant asks you to sign in again.

How it stays secure

No password ever leaves Colabio

Signing in happens on Colabio's own page. The assistant only receives a revocable access key.

Live permission checks

Every request is checked against your current role and plan, not a snapshot from when you connected.

Strictly read-only

No tool can create, change or delete anything in Colabio.

Revoke in one click

Disconnect from account settings at any time — access stops on the very next request.

If something goes wrong

“This account signs in with Google”

Your account has no password set. Use Continue with Google on the sign-in page, or set a password from Forgot password.

“No Colabio account exists for this email”

You signed in with a Google address that isn't in Colabio. Ask your organization manager to invite that address, or sign in with the email you normally use.

“No connection request”

You opened the sign-in page directly. Start the connection from Claude or ChatGPT instead — the page opens on its own when it's needed.

Your assistant says permission was denied

The question covered someone else, or the organization as a whole, and your role there is employee. Ask the same thing about your own work, or ask an organization manager to change your role. Roles apply per organization — managing one doesn't carry over to another.

Your assistant says the plan needs upgrading

Advanced reports — team classification rankings, observed apps, unusual activity — are part of a paid Colabio plan. Only an organization manager can change that, under Billing in the web app.

Claude is connected but answers without using Colabio

Connectors can be switched off per conversation. Open the tools menu under the message box and make sure Colabio is enabled, or name it in the question — “using Colabio, how many hours did I track last week?”

Claude Code says the request is unauthorized

Adding the server and signing in are two separate steps. Run /mcp in Claude Code, pick colabio, and authenticate in the browser window it opens.

ChatGPT connects, but every answer comes back empty

Authentication was almost certainly left on None when the connector was created, so ChatGPT never asked you to sign in. Edit the connector, set Authentication to OAuth, save, and reconnect.

ChatGPT says it couldn't create the connector

Check the URL first — it must be the connector URL above with nothing after /mcp. If the message mentions a redirect URL or registration being refused, that is Colabio declining to register an unrecognised platform; send us the exact message and we can allow it.

ChatGPT shows old tool names, or no tools at all

ChatGPT caches the tool list from when you connected. Turn the connector off and on again in Settings and it re-reads it.

I removed the connector in Claude or ChatGPT, but Colabio still lists it

Assistants don't always tell Colabio when a connector is removed on their side, so the entry can sit here until it expires. Disconnect it from your connected assistants to be certain — that is the action that actually revokes access.

For developers

The server speaks MCP over Streamable HTTP at https://api.colabio.org/mcp and authenticates with OAuth 2.1 (PKCE, dynamic client registration). Any MCP-compatible client can connect — discovery starts at /.well-known/oauth-protected-resource. Dates are calendar dates (YYYY-MM-DD) resolved in each member's own timezone; durations are seconds. Team-wide reports return a compact summary by default — pass detail: full to get_all_members_report for day-by-day timesheets, or to get_team_daily_updates for the complete original text of every update. Daily updates are filed against a calendar day rather than an instant, so they are returned exactly as written with no timezone conversion.