Connect Penlog to Claude

Claude connects to Penlog through its custom connector feature. You paste one URL, Claude registers itself with our server automatically, and you approve the connection by signing in with Apple. The whole thing takes under a minute.

Penlog MCP server URL

https://mcp.penlog.app

That is the whole credential. There is no token, client ID, or secret to paste — Penlog registers your client automatically and then asks you to sign in.

Before you start

  • Penlog Pro is required. An unentitled account connects fine but every tool call returns a 402.
  • Custom connectors work on Claude Free, Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise. Free accounts are limited to one custom connector in total.
  • You do not need Penlog to appear in Claude's connector directory. A directory listing changes how people find Penlog, not whether it works.

Claude Free, Pro, and Max

  1. Open Customize → Connectors in Claude's settings.
  2. Click +, then Add custom connector.
  3. Paste https://mcp.penlog.app as the remote MCP server URL.
  4. Leave Advanced settings alone. The OAuth client ID and secret fields are optional, and Penlog does not use them — our server supports dynamic client registration, so Claude creates its own credentials.
  5. Click Add.
  6. Claude sends you to mcp.penlog.app to Sign in with Apple. Approve the requested scopes and you land back in Claude, connected.

Claude Team and Enterprise

Organization plans add one step, because an owner has to allow the connector before anyone can use it.

  1. An owner adds Penlog once, under Organization settings → Connectors, using the same URL.
  2. Each member then connects individually under Customize → Connectors and signs in with their own Apple ID.

Each member's connection is bound to their own Penlog account, so members only ever see their own handwriting.

Claude Code

Claude Code takes the same URL from the command line:

claude mcp add --transport http penlog https://mcp.penlog.app

It will open a browser for the same Apple sign-in the first time you use it.

Check that it worked

Ask Claude something that has to touch your journal to answer:

What did I write in my Penlog journal this week, and what tasks are still open?

Behind the scenes that calls list_pages and list_tasks. If you get a real answer about pages you actually wrote, you are connected. If Claude invents a page you never wrote, you are not — it is answering from thin air rather than from the connector.

If it doesn't connect

What you seeWhat it means
Claude never shows a sign-in card The URL is wrong or has a path on the end. It is exactly https://mcp.penlog.app, with no trailing path.
Every request returns 402 The Penlog account you signed in as is not Pro. Check Settings → Penlog Pro in the iPad app.
Some tools work, one returns 403 The connection's scope is too narrow for that tool. Reconnect and approve the wider scope — see scope presets.
Tools return empty results You signed in as a different Apple ID than the one your journal lives under, so the account really is empty.

More cases are in Troubleshooting.

Disconnecting

Remove the connector in Claude, or revoke it from Penlog under Settings → Connected Apps. Revocation takes effect immediately on the next request.