BrainTube MCP Server

Connect BrainTube to Any AI

BrainTube ships a native Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, so any MCP-capable AI client can read your transcripts, summaries, and highlights as first-class context.

What is MCP?

Model Context Protocol is an open standard from Anthropic that gives AI clients one uniform way to read external context. Instead of every tool building a bespoke integration, a client speaks MCP and the server exposes its data and tools through that shared interface.

BrainTube's MCP server is remote and hosted — there is nothing to install. You point a compliant client at the endpoint, authenticate, and your saved library becomes queryable from inside that client.

Supported clients

• Any MCP client — Native Model Context Protocol. Tested with Claude and ChatGPT; any client that speaks MCP streamable-HTTP uses the same endpoint and config, with no integration from us.
• Claude Desktop — Read summaries, search transcripts, and ask Claude to reason over your library.
• Cursor — Pull engineering talks and tutorials into your coding workflow as live context.
• ChatGPT — Settings › Plugins › Add › Add custom MCP server. Paste the endpoint, choose OAuth, tick the risk box, Create, then Connect and sign in to BrainTube. No API key needed.
• Perplexity — Add BrainTube as a custom remote connector so answers can draw on your own saved material alongside the live web.
• VS Code · GitHub Copilot — Native MCP support in Copilot agent mode — pull saved talks and docs in as context beside the codebase.
• Gemini CLI — Add the endpoint to your settings.json and OAuth is discovered automatically. The Gemini chat app does not take custom connectors yet.
• Codex CLI — Remote streamable-HTTP is supported — add the URL, then sign in with codex mcp login.

Setup

No JSON and no API key to paste. In Claude, add BrainTube as a custom connector with one URL and sign in. ChatGPT, Cursor and other MCP clients use the same URL; an API key is only a fallback for clients that can't sign in yet.

Endpoint: https://mcp.brain-tube.com/mcp

Claude.ai and Claude Desktop (one-click, OAuth): go to Customize → Connectors → + Add → Add custom connector. First type a name for it (e.g. BrainTube), then paste https://mcp.brain-tube.com/mcp in the URL field and sign in when prompted. No API key needed — both connect via OAuth, and a connector added in one shows up in the other. Claude Desktop's config file (Settings → Developer → Edit Config) only starts local servers, so the JSON below won't connect there.

Cursor, CLI tools, and other MCP clients:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "braintube": {
      "type": "streamable-http",
      "url": "https://mcp.brain-tube.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "X-BrainTube-Token": "bt_your_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

1. Using Claude.ai or Claude Desktop? Connect with the one-click OAuth flow above and skip to step 4. For any MCP client that can't sign in yet, create an API key at Settings → API Keys (https://app.brain-tube.com/settings).
2. Paste the config above into your MCP client's config (or add the URL + X-BrainTube-Token header through the client's UI).
3. Replace bt_your_key_here with your real key and restart the client.
4. Try: "Summarize the last 5 videos I saved about pricing."

Available MCP tools

These are the tools every session gets by default: the everyday search, read and save tools, plus braintube_find_tools and braintube_run_tool, which reach the other read-only tools on demand. To load every tool directly, add ?tools=full to the endpoint (https://mcp.brain-tube.com/mcp?tools=full) or send the header X-BrainTube-Tools: full.

Tool	Description
search_knowledge	The main search over your saved BrainTube knowledge: YouTube, web, Instagram, LinkedIn, GitHub, X, notes, PDFs and more. Hybrid ranking (semantic + keyword, reciprocal-rank fusion) with snippets, tags and filters; non-Latin queries are also searched in English. Video results carry moments ({ t, url, quote }) whose url opens the video at the matching second. Returns taint warnings.
get_video	Get full details for a specific saved item including transcript, description, summary, key takeaways. Pass YouTube video ID or internal UUID.
search	Search your saved BrainTube library (videos, articles, posts, notes). Returns matching item ids, titles and source URLs; an id can be passed to fetch for the full text. Video results carry moments ({ t, url, quote }) whose url opens the video at the matching second.
fetch	Fetch the full text of one saved BrainTube item by the id that search returned: summary, key takeaways, description and transcript, plus its source URL.
list_recent	List your most recently saved items across all source types.
search_by_date_range	Search only the items saved between two dates (ISO 8601 after and before), for questions like "what did I save in March".
tag_item	Add or remove tags on a saved item.
add_note	Write a note or AI-generated synthesis back to a specific item in your corpus.
ingest_content	Ingest a single piece of content (note, article, document, etc.) into your BrainTube corpus.
deep_search	Multi-hop search: runs a normal search, then follows the knowledge graph from the top 3 results up to max_hops deep to surface connected items a flat search misses. Returns direct_results + graph_connected + total_nodes_explored. Spends credits and is slower than a single search.
braintube_find_tools	List the extra read-only BrainTube tools that are not in your default tool list (stats, knowledge graph, related items, bookmarks, Brains, expertise profile, analytics, exports and more), with each tool's input schema. Call it when none of the visible tools fits, then run the one you need with braintube_run_tool. Tools that change data outside the default set need the full tool profile (MCP URL with ?tools=full).
braintube_run_tool	Run one of the extra read-only tools that braintube_find_tools lists, by name, with its arguments in args. The arguments are checked against that tool's input schema; on a mismatch the error shows the schema. Do not use it for tools already in your list: call those directly.

Endpoint & authentication

Endpoint: https://mcp.brain-tube.com/mcp (MCP streamable-http)

Authentication accepts either an X-BrainTube-Token: bt_your_key_here header or an Authorization: Bearer bt_your_key_here header. Claude, ChatGPT and other clients that support sign-in use OAuth instead of an API key.

Create and rotate keys at https://app.brain-tube.com/settings.

Frequently asked

What is MCP and why does BrainTube use it?

Model Context Protocol is an open standard from Anthropic that lets AI clients read external context through a unified interface. BrainTube ships a native MCP server so any compliant client — Claude Desktop, Cursor, Zed — can query your library without bespoke integrations.

Which AI clients work with BrainTube today?

Any client that speaks MCP. That's the point of building on an open standard instead of one integration at a time — when a new assistant ships MCP support, it reaches your library without us shipping anything. Tested with Claude and ChatGPT; any client that speaks MCP streamable-HTTP uses the same endpoint and the same config. Claude Desktop, Cursor and ChatGPT are walked through step by step below.

Do I need to be on a paid plan to use the MCP server?

No. MCP access is included on every plan, including Free. What differs by tier is the credit allowance and the size of the free allowances. Saving items is free and earns +1 credit. On Free, MCP searches are free up to 1,000 a month and questions to your library up to 50 a day; past that they spend credits, as do other AI actions. Free starts with 30 credits a month.

Where is my API key stored and how do I rotate it?

Keys are created in the BrainTube app under Settings → API Keys. They are shown once at creation, hashed at rest, and can be rotated or revoked at any time. Each key has its own audit log.

Can BrainTube read my private notes or only public videos?

BrainTube reads only what you save into your own library — public YouTube videos, articles you ingest, PDFs you upload. It never crawls third-party accounts on your behalf.

What happens to my data if I disconnect a client?

Disconnecting an MCP client removes its access. Your library, summaries, and highlights remain in BrainTube untouched. You can reconnect or export everything at any time.