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Connect another AI tool when you want to work on your cfo.ai workspace from the tool you already use. For example, ask Claude to update this month’s forecast, or have Codex build a table. The tool connects to the cfo.ai MCP server at https://api.cfo.ai/mcp, and you approve it once in your browser. After that it can read your Model and make the changes you ask for, as you.

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Is there a cfo.ai API or API key?

No. cfo.ai does not issue API keys or access tokens to paste into a project, a script, or an environment variable. Outside software, including an agent you build yourself, works with a workspace through the cfo.ai MCP server. It connects as a remote MCP client, and a person signs in and approves it in a browser. The connection then acts as that person, in the workspaces their account can open. If you are building your own agent, MCP tools and call shapes lists the server’s sign-in details and every tool it offers.

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What you need

  • A cfo.ai account that can open the workspace. If you don’t have one, sign up at app.cfo.ai.
  • A workspace that has started its free trial or a plan. Until then, the AI tool’s requests fail with Start the free trial in cfo.ai before using its MCP tools. See Start a trial or choose a plan.
  • An AI tool that can add a remote MCP server. Some tools call this a custom connector.
  • The server address, https://api.cfo.ai/mcp. You can also copy it in cfo.ai: open the account menu at the bottom of the sidebar, choose Settings, then Connections. The address is under Connect via MCP, beside its copy button, Copy cfo.ai MCP URL.

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Connect Claude Code

1

Add the server

In a terminal, run:
2

Start Claude Code

3

Sign in

Type /mcp, select cfoai, and choose Authenticate. A browser window opens. Approve the connection.

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Connect Codex

1

Add the server

2

Sign in

A browser window opens. Approve the connection.
3

Check the connection

Start Codex with codex, then type /mcp and check that cfoai is listed.

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Connect Claude’s desktop or web app

Claude’s desktop app and claude.ai add outside servers as custom connectors. On a Claude Free, Pro, or Max plan, you add the connector yourself:
1

Add a custom connector

In Claude, go to Customize > Connectors, select + Add, then Add custom connector.
2

Enter cfo.ai's address

Name the connector cfo.ai, enter https://api.cfo.ai/mcp as the server URL, and select Continue. Review the sign-in settings Claude detected, and select Continue again.
3

Sign in

Under Authentication, choose Sign in now, then select Add. Approve the connection in the browser.
4

Turn it on in a chat

In a chat, select the + button, then Connectors, and turn on cfo.ai.
On a Claude Team or Enterprise plan, an owner adds the connector for the organization under Organization settings > Connectors. Each member then finds it under Customize > Connectors, selects Connect, and approves the connection with their own cfo.ai account. Claude’s menus change from time to time; Anthropic’s custom connector instructions have the current steps.

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Connect ChatGPT

ChatGPT can add a custom remote MCP server on the plans and workspaces that allow it, and a workspace admin may need to turn on developer mode first. ChatGPT calls these servers apps, connectors, or plugins, depending on your version. Add a custom MCP server named cfo.ai, with the server URL https://api.cfo.ai/mcp and OAuth as the authentication. ChatGPT then sends you to cfo.ai to approve the connection. Where this setting lives depends on your ChatGPT plan, so follow OpenAI’s steps for adding a custom MCP server.

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Connect Cursor

1

Add the server to Cursor's MCP file

Add cfo.ai to ~/.cursor/mcp.json to use it in every project, or to .cursor/mcp.json in one project:
2

Sign in

Restart Cursor if it does not pick up the change. When Cursor asks you to sign in to cfo.ai, a browser window opens. Approve the connection.
Cursor’s MCP documentation shows where its MCP settings are.

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Connect another AI tool

Any AI tool or agent framework that supports remote MCP servers over HTTP with browser sign-in can connect. Follow your tool’s steps for adding a remote MCP server: add https://api.cfo.ai/mcp, then sign in when the browser opens. A tool that only accepts an API key or a fixed token cannot connect, because cfo.ai has no API keys.

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Approve the connection in your browser

Every AI tool signs in the same way:
  1. Your browser opens cfo.ai. If you are not signed in, sign in first. cfo.ai then shows the approval page.
  2. The page is headed Connect CFO.ai and says an external MCP client is asking to use your account. Continue only if you started this connection from your AI tool, and check that you are signed in to the cfo.ai account you want the tool to use.
  3. Select Connect CFO.ai. cfo.ai finishes the sign-in and returns you to your AI tool. Select Cancel instead to stop.
The approval page stays valid for 60 minutes. It still works if it loads twice or you have several open.

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Choose the workspace

If your account belongs to one workspace, the AI tool uses it automatically. If you belong to several, tell the tool which workspace to use. It can list your workspaces by name and then works in the one you chose. Changes apply right away. Unless you name a Scenario, the tool works in Main, the Scenario that holds your current plan. To try something without changing your plan, ask the tool to create a new Scenario and work there. See Test a decision in a Scenario.

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Check that it works

Ask the AI tool to list the Pages in your workspace. If it shows your Pages, the connection works. If the tool does not list cfo.ai at all, restart it or start a new session, and check its list of MCP servers again.

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Let your AI tool set itself up

To have your AI tool do the setup, paste this prompt into it. It walks you through every step, from creating an account to a working connection, and tells you when it needs you:
If you are an AI agent reading this page, fetch https://docs.cfo.ai/agent-instructions.md and follow it.

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What a connected AI tool can do

  • It uses Ari’s public workspace tools, under your account. It can read your Model and, when you ask, change Pages, tables, formulas, Scenarios, and connections.
  • You, Ari, and the AI tool work on one Model. What the tool builds appears in your workspace right away, where you can check it, edit it, or keep going with Ari.
  • Every change it makes to the Model is recorded in version history, so you can take it back. See Undo a change or restore an earlier version.
  • Many AI tools ask you before they run something that changes your workspace. cfo.ai marks its read-only tools, so the tool can tell a lookup from a change.
  • It can also hand a question to Ari: start a chat with Ari, read Ari’s answer, and continue the conversation. The chat appears in your Chats list with an MCP chat mark, and you can open it in cfo.ai. Approvals, email Send buttons, confirmations, and sign-ins still happen in cfo.ai.
  • A few things only work inside cfo.ai: Ari asking you questions in the chat, playing a Guide, showing you a Scenario or table rows on screen, and downloading a Page as a spreadsheet.

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If sign-in fails

If the approval page shows one of these messages, nothing was approved. Start the sign-in again from your AI tool. Other problems:
  • If the AI tool says to start the free trial, start the workspace’s free trial or a plan, then try again. See Start a trial or choose a plan.
  • If the tool says you do not have access to the workspace, it is signed in with a cfo.ai account that is not a member of that workspace. Sign in again from the tool with the right account, or ask someone in the workspace to invite you.
  • If it worked before and now fails to authorize, repeat your AI tool’s sign-in step, such as Authenticate in Claude Code or codex mcp login cfoai in Codex.

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Ask Ari what happened

In cfo.ai, ask Ari why your AI tool cannot connect. Ari can list your own sign-in attempts to the cfo.ai MCP server from the last 30 days, ten newest first. Each one shows as approved, refused with its reason, approved but not completed, or an AI tool that connected under its own name. Nobody else sees your attempts, not even a workspace administrator. A sign-in that never reached the approval page leaves no record.