---
title: ChatGPT 🤝 FastMCP
sidebarTitle: ChatGPT
description: Connect FastMCP servers to ChatGPT Deep Research
icon: message-smile

---

ChatGPT supports MCP servers through remote HTTP connections, allowing you to extend ChatGPT's capabilities with custom tools and knowledge from your FastMCP servers.

<Note>
MCP integration with ChatGPT is currently limited to **Deep Research** functionality and is not available for general chat. This feature is available for ChatGPT Pro, Team, Enterprise, and Edu users.
</Note>

<Tip>
OpenAI's official MCP documentation and examples are built with **FastMCP v2**! Check out their [simple Deep Research-style MCP server example](https://github.com/openai/sample-deep-research-mcp) for a quick reference similar to the one in this document, or their [more complete Deep Research example](https://github.com/openai/openai-cookbook/tree/main/examples/deep_research_api/how_to_build_a_deep_research_mcp_server) from the OpenAI Cookbook, which includes vector search and more.
</Tip>

## Deep Research

ChatGPT's Deep Research feature requires MCP servers to be internet-accessible HTTP endpoints with **exactly two specific tools**:

- **`search`**: For searching through your resources and returning matching IDs
- **`fetch`**: For retrieving the full content of specific resources by ID

<Warning>
If your server doesn't implement both `search` and `fetch` tools with the correct signatures, ChatGPT will show the error: "This MCP server doesn't implement our specification". Both tools are required.
</Warning>

### Tool Descriptions Matter

Since ChatGPT needs to understand how to use your tools effectively, **write detailed tool descriptions**. The description teaches ChatGPT how to form queries, what parameters to use, and what to expect from your data. Poor descriptions lead to poor search results.

### Create a Server

A Deep Research-compatible server must implement these two required tools:

- **`search(query: str)`** - Takes a query of any kind and returns matching record IDs
- **`fetch(id: str)`** - Takes an ID and returns the record

**Critical**: Write detailed docstrings for both tools. These descriptions teach ChatGPT how to use your tools effectively. Poor descriptions lead to poor search results.

The `search` tool should take a query (of any kind!) and return IDs. The `fetch` tool should take an ID and return the record.

Here's a reference server implementation you can adapt (see also [OpenAI's sample server](https://github.com/openai/sample-deep-research-mcp) for comparison):

```python server.py [expandable]
import json
from pathlib import Path
from dataclasses import dataclass
from fastmcp import FastMCP

@dataclass
class Record:
    id: str
    title: str
    text: str
    metadata: dict

def create_server(
    records_path: Path | str,
    name: str | None = None,
    instructions: str | None = None,
) -> FastMCP:
    """Create a FastMCP server that can search and fetch records from a JSON file."""
    records = json.loads(Path(records_path).read_text())

    RECORDS = [Record(**r) for r in records]
    LOOKUP = {r.id: r for r in RECORDS}

    mcp = FastMCP(name=name or "Deep Research MCP", instructions=instructions)

    @mcp.tool()
    async def search(query: str):
        """
        Simple unranked keyword search across title, text, and metadata.
        Searches for any of the query terms in the record content.
        Returns a list of matching record IDs for ChatGPT to fetch.
        """
        toks = query.lower().split()
        ids = []
        for r in RECORDS:
            record_txt = " ".join(
                [r.title, r.text, " ".join(r.metadata.values())]
            ).lower()
            if any(t in record_txt for t in toks):
                ids.append(r.id)

        return {"ids": ids}

    @mcp.tool()
    async def fetch(id: str):
        """
        Fetch a record by ID.
        Returns the complete record data for ChatGPT to analyze and cite.
        """
        if id not in LOOKUP:
            raise ValueError(f"Unknown record ID: {id}")
        return LOOKUP[id]

    return mcp

if __name__ == "__main__":
    mcp = create_server("path/to/records.json")
    mcp.run(transport="http", port=8000)
```

### Deploy the Server

Your server must be deployed to a public URL in order for ChatGPT to access it.

For development, you can use tools like `ngrok` to temporarily expose a locally-running server to the internet. We'll do that for this example (you may need to install `ngrok` and create a free account), but you can use any other method to deploy your server.

Assuming you saved the above code as `server.py`, you can run the following two commands in two separate terminals to deploy your server and expose it to the internet:

<CodeGroup>
```bash FastMCP server
python server.py
```

```bash ngrok
ngrok http 8000
```
</CodeGroup>

<Warning>
This exposes your unauthenticated server to the internet. Only run this command in a safe environment if you understand the risks.
</Warning>

### Connect to ChatGPT

Replace `https://your-server-url.com` with the actual URL of your server (such as your ngrok URL).

1. Open ChatGPT and go to **Settings** → **Connectors**
2. Click **Add custom connector**
3. Enter your server details:
   - **Name**: Library Catalog
   - **URL**: Your server URL, including the path.
        - **Note**: Ensure your URL includes the correct path for the transport you’re using. The defaults are /sse/ for SSE (e.g., https://abc123.ngrok.io/sse/) and /mcp/ for HTTP (e.g., https://abc123.ngrok.io/mcp/).
   - **Description**: A library catalog for searching and retrieving books

#### Test the Connection

1. Start a new chat in ChatGPT
2. Click **Tools** → **Run deep research** 
3. Select your **Library Catalog** connector as a source
4. Ask questions like:
   - "Search for Python programming books"
   - "Find books about AI and machine learning"
   - "Show me books by the Python Software Foundation"

ChatGPT will use your server's search and fetch tools to find relevant information and cite the sources in its response.

### Troubleshooting

#### "This MCP server doesn't implement our specification"


If you get this error, it most likely means that your server doesn't implement the required tools (`search` and `fetch`). To correct it, ensure that your server meets the service requirements.