How do I connect Claude or ChatGPT to Ascen?

Last updated: October 12, 2026

Summary: Add Ascen as a custom connector in Claude or a custom MCP server in ChatGPT using our MCP server URL, then sign in with your Ascen account. The AI assistant can then work with your Ascen data, such as adding assignments, checking onboarding, and entering timesheets and expenses, limited to what your Ascen account is allowed to see and do.

Applies to: Partners and clients who use Claude or ChatGPT and want to work with their Ascen data from inside the assistant.

Ascen has an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server. Connecting it lets an AI assistant like Claude or ChatGPT look up and act on your Ascen data directly, for example checking assignments, timesheets, or invoices, without you copying information between windows.

You'll need these two values for either assistant:

  • Name: Ascen

  • MCP server URL: https://api.ascen.com/mcp

You don't need an API key. When you connect, you'll be sent to a normal Ascen sign-in page and asked to approve access.

Connect Claude

If you use a personal Claude account (Pro or Max)

  1. In Claude, click your name in the bottom-left corner and choose Settings.

  2. Open Connectors.

  3. Click Add custom connector.

  4. For Name, enter Ascen. For MCP server URL, enter https://api.ascen.com/mcp.

  5. Click Continue, then sign in with your Ascen account when asked.

If you use a Claude Team or Enterprise account

Only an organization Owner can do steps 1 to 5.

  1. In Claude, click your name in the bottom-left corner and choose Organization settings.

  2. In the left sidebar, under Plugins, click Connectors.

  3. Click + Add and choose Custom connector.

  4. For Name, enter Ascen. For MCP server URL, enter https://api.ascen.com/mcp.

  5. Click Continue to add Ascen for the whole organization.

  6. Each person then goes to Settings > Connectors, finds Ascen, clicks Connect, and signs in with their own Ascen account.

Use it in Claude

In a chat, open the tools menu (the + or sliders icon next to the message box) and check that Ascen is turned on. Then ask something like "Who am I connected as in Ascen?" to confirm it works.

Connect ChatGPT

You'll need to use ChatGPT on the web at chatgpt.com. Custom MCP servers don't work in the mobile app, and Free accounts can't add them. ChatGPT lists them under Plugins (some screens may still say Apps or Connectors).

If you use a personal ChatGPT account (Plus or Pro)

  1. Click your profile icon and open Settings, then Plugins, then Advanced settings. Turn on Developer mode.

  2. Go back to Plugins, click Add, and choose Add custom MCP server.

  3. Fill in the form:

    • Name: Ascen

    • Description (optional): leave blank, or enter something like "Work with my Ascen data"

    • Connection: choose Server URL and enter https://api.ascen.com/mcp

    • Authentication: OAuth (leave Advanced OAuth settings as they are)

  4. Click Create, then sign in with your Ascen account when asked.

If you use a ChatGPT Business, Enterprise or Edu workspace

Only a workspace owner or admin can do steps 1 to 5.

  1. Turn on developer mode:

    • Business: go to Workspace settings > Permissions & roles > Connected data and turn on Developer mode / Create custom MCP connectors.

    • Enterprise or Edu: go to Settings > Plugins > Advanced settings and turn on Developer mode.

  2. Go to Workspace settings > Plugins and click Create. The New custom plugin form opens.

  3. Fill in the form:

    • Custom name: Ascen

    • Description (optional): leave blank, or enter something like "Work with Ascen data"

    • Connection: choose Server URL and enter https://api.ascen.com/mcp

    • Authentication: OAuth (leave Advanced authentication settings as they are)

  4. Complete the Ascen sign-in when asked, then click Create. This saves the plugin as a draft.

  5. Go to Workspace settings > Plugins > Drafts and click Publish. On Enterprise or Edu, choose which actions to allow and which groups can use the plugin.

  6. Each member then finds Ascen under Plugins (on your workspace's tab) and connects it with their own Ascen login.

Use it in ChatGPT

Start a new chat, open the tools menu (the + next to the message box), and select Ascen. Then ask something like "Who am I connected as in Ascen?" to confirm it works.

What you can ask it to do

Ask in plain language, the way you'd ask a coworker. Use real names and dates: the assistant looks up the matching contractor, client, job and assignment for you, and turns "yesterday" or "last week" into exact dates (it tells you which dates it used, so you can catch a wrong reading). Before it changes anything, it tells you what it's about to do.

Add an assignment

  • "Place Jane Smith as a Registered Nurse at Acme Health starting next Monday, $45/hour pay and $62/hour bill, at their Dallas location."

  • "Set up a remote assignment for Carlos Diaz as a Data Analyst at Northwind, salaried at $95,000, starting November 1."

  • "Submit Jane's assignment."

An assignment needs a contractor, a job (the role at that client), a start date, either a pay rate and bill rate or a salary, and a work location unless the work is remote. The assistant reuses the contractor, job and location you already have, and only creates what's missing. A new assignment starts as a draft: nobody is placed until it's submitted, so ask the assistant to submit it when you're ready. If we can't cover that role in the worker's state, the assistant tells you which states it would work in.

Check onboarding

  • "Where is Jane Smith in onboarding? What is she still missing?"

  • "Which of my contractors haven't finished onboarding?"

  • "Which tax and onboarding forms is Carlos still missing?"

The assistant can tell you which onboarding steps and forms (such as the W-4, W-9 or I-9) are done and which are outstanding. It does not show what was entered on those forms, since they hold SSNs, tax IDs and addresses. View those in the Ascen app.

Read timesheets

  • "Show me last week's timesheets for Acme Health."

  • "Which timesheets are still awaiting approval?"

  • "How many hours did Jane log in September?"

Enter timesheets

  • "Log 6 hours for Jane yesterday, 7:00 to 1:30 with a 30-minute break."

  • "Log 8 hours a day for Jane last week, starting at 9:00."

  • "Here's a spreadsheet of this week's hours. Enter a timesheet for each row." (attach the file to your message)

For a run of identical days, the assistant fills consecutive days from the start date at up to 8 hours a day until the total is used, and tells you how many entries it created. If you had days off in the middle, say so and it splits the entries around them. It also warns you and asks you to confirm before entering time against an assignment that isn't active yet, or for a worker whose onboarding isn't finished. Any rules your team has set for a client (for example, how time is rounded) are followed.

Add and approve expenses

  • "Add a $50 work-from-home reimbursement for Jane dated October 1."

  • "Add a $500 discretionary bonus for Carlos for October."

  • "Show me expenses awaiting approval at Acme Health, and approve Jane's."

Other things to try

  • "Which assignments at Acme Health end this month?"

  • "End Carlos's assignment as of Friday."

  • "Show me my unpaid invoices."

What the assistant can see and do

The assistant acts as you. It can only see and do what your own Ascen account is allowed to, and each person signs in with their own account. If someone shouldn't have access to certain data in Ascen, connecting an assistant won't give it to them.

AI assistants can make mistakes. Read what the assistant says it's about to do before you confirm, especially for changes to assignments, pay rates and time.

Menu names in Claude and ChatGPT change from time to time, so a label may look slightly different from the steps above. If you get stuck or the sign-in doesn't complete, email support@ascen.com.