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INTEGRATIONS - ChatGPT: connect to Qargo over MCP - Walkthrough

Connect your Qargo account to ChatGPT, then ask ChatGPT questions about live data. On Business, Enterprise and Education plans a workspace owner publishes the Qargo app first. On Plus and Pro you add it yourself.

Written by Alvaro Avelar

Prerequisites

  • Qargo Intelligence on your tenant. MCP is part of the Qargo Intelligence add-on. Without it, contact your Account Manager.

  • MCP access set for your user. A Super admin in your organisation sets it in Configuration > Organisation settings > Users. No request to Qargo is needed. See INTEGRATIONS - Connect an AI assistant to Qargo over MCP for the steps.

  • Your usual Qargo sign-in details. There is no separate key or token.

  • ChatGPT on the web. Custom MCP apps do not work in the ChatGPT mobile apps.

Your plan

Who adds the Qargo app

What you can do

Business, Enterprise or Education

An admin or owner, once for the workspace

Read and change data, subject to your Qargo MCP access level

Plus or Pro

You, for yourself

Read data only. OpenAI limits custom connectors on individual plans to reading and fetching

Free

Nobody. Custom connectors need a paid plan.

Nothing

📚 Use https://mcp.qargo.com/mcp. The Qargo API documentation site offers Connect to Cursor and Connect to VS Code buttons pointing at a different server. That one reads the API reference only and cannot see your data.

📚 Changing data needs a workspace plan. Full MCP support, which is what allows an assistant to create, update or delete, is currently limited to Business, Enterprise and Education. On Plus and Pro you can read your Qargo data but not change it, however wide your Qargo MCP access is. OpenAI changes this often, so check their developer mode article for the current position.

Business, Enterprise and Education: publish the app

An admin or owner adds the Qargo app once. Members then authenticate individually.

Requirements

  • Admin or owner rights. Only admins and owners can enable developer mode and publish an app. An admin cannot enable developer mode on a member's behalf.

  • MCP access set in Qargo for the users who need it. A Super admin sets it per user in Configuration > Organisation settings > Users. Do this before publishing, so members can authenticate immediately.

📚 OpenAI labels custom connectors as unverified and intended for developer use. The Qargo server is a first-party Qargo service, but OpenAI does not review it. Expect to see that notice while publishing.

Enable developer mode

Custom MCP apps sit behind developer mode, and each admin enables it for themselves.

  • Business. Open Settings > Apps > Advanced settings and turn on developer mode. You can also enable it while creating the app.

  • Enterprise and Education. An admin first grants access in Workspace settings > Permissions & Roles > Connected data. Each authorised person then turns it on in Settings > Apps > Advanced settings.

Add and publish the Qargo app

  1. NAVIGATE to Workspace settings > Apps, then click Create.

  2. ENTER Qargo as the name and https://mcp.qargo.com/mcp as the endpoint.

  3. SELECT OAuth as the authentication method. Leave client ID and secret empty, Qargo issues neither.

  4. CLICK Scan Tools and complete the sign-in prompt when it appears, then wait for the scan to finish.

  5. CLICK Create. The app appears under Workspace settings > Apps > Drafts.

  6. TEST the draft in a new chat before publishing.

  7. PUBLISH it from Drafts, then set who can access it.

📚 OpenAI moves these settings. The developer mode toggle has appeared under several menus. If a path above does not match your workspace, search the settings for developer mode.

Control who can use it

Publishing makes the app available. It grants nobody access to Qargo data.

  • Set user access so only intended people can use the app. On Enterprise and Education you can also choose which actions the app is allowed before publishing.

  • Set action confirmation to decide when ChatGPT asks before calling a tool.

  • Leave Qargo permissions to Qargo. Each member authenticates separately and receives only their own Qargo permissions.

📚 Workspace settings cannot widen Qargo access. A member on Read-only cannot change data through ChatGPT, whatever the app allows. Levels are set per user in Qargo, under Configuration > Organisation settings > Users.

📚 ChatGPT freezes the tool list when you publish. Changes Qargo makes later are not picked up until an admin refreshes the app's actions in Workspace settings > Apps. If tool calls start failing after a Qargo update, refresh there first. On Business plans an app cannot be edited after publishing, so a change means recreating and republishing it.

Tell your members to follow the next section.

Connect your Qargo account

The Qargo app should already appear in your app list. If it does not, ask your workspace admin. Members cannot add it themselves.

  1. OPEN the Qargo app in ChatGPT.

  2. SIGN IN with your normal Qargo credentials when the browser opens.

  3. APPROVE the access request. The browser returns to ChatGPT.

  4. SELECT the Qargo app for your message, then ask ChatGPT to list your Qargo tenants. A reply naming your tenant confirms it works.

📚You get your own permissions, not the workspace's. ChatGPT sees exactly what you can see in Qargo. A colleague with wider access sees more through the same app.

📚 App selection is per message. Choose the Qargo app on the message where you need it. You do not have to reselect it to discuss results already in the chat, but a follow-up that needs fresh data does need it again.

Plus and Pro: add the connector yourself

On an individual paid plan there is no admin to wait for, but you can only read Qargo data, not change it. Custom connectors sit behind developer mode, on the web app.

  1. OPEN ChatGPT settings, then Apps > Advanced settings, and turn on developer mode.

  2. CLICK Create to add a custom connector.

  3. ENTER Qargo as the name and https://mcp.qargo.com/mcp as the endpoint.

  4. SELECT OAuth as the authentication method. Leave client ID and secret empty.

  5. SCAN the tools, then sign in with your normal Qargo credentials and approve the access request.

  6. SELECT the connector for your message, then ask ChatGPT to list your Qargo tenants.

📚 OpenAI moves these settings. The developer mode toggle has appeared under several menus. If you cannot find it, search the settings for developer mode.

Free accounts cannot add custom connectors. Developer mode needs a paid plan.

Changing data

This applies to Business, Enterprise and Education workspaces. On Plus and Pro, ChatGPT can read your Qargo data but not change it.

Your first change to production data in a session is stopped, and ChatGPT returns an approval link. Open it, approve, and ask ChatGPT to retry. Full steps are in INTEGRATIONS - Connect an AI assistant to Qargo over MCP.

‼️ Check what you approve. Approving a session authorises every further change in it, not only the one requested. Review anything affecting more than one record.

Troubleshooting

Issue

Resolution

The Qargo app is not in your app list

It has not been published in your workspace. Ask your workspace admin. On Plus or Pro, add it yourself using the steps above.

The developer mode toggle is missing

Either your plan does not include it, or it has not been granted at workspace level. On Enterprise and Education an admin grants access first, under Permissions & Roles > Connected data. This is policy, not a fault.

You cannot find custom connectors on your phone

Custom MCP apps are web only. Use ChatGPT in a browser.

Scanning the tools returns nothing

Check the endpoint is exactly https://mcp.qargo.com/mcp. A trailing slash or a missing path breaks discovery.

The app is published but members see no Qargo tools

Members have not authenticated yet, or their MCP access is still Disabled in Configuration > Organisation settings > Users. Check both.

Tool calls started failing after a Qargo update

ChatGPT uses the tool list it captured when the app was published. Ask your admin to refresh the app's actions in Workspace settings > Apps. On Business plans the app has to be recreated and republished.

ChatGPT says MCP access is not enabled for you

Your access is still set to Disabled. Ask a Super admin to set it in Configuration > Organisation settings > Users.

You are asked to sign in to Qargo again and again

Sessions expire, in practice around once a day, so occasional re-authentication is normal. If it happens far more often than that, contact Qargo support.

The browser shows an unknown client error while signing in

Ask your workspace admin to remove and republish the app. This can happen after a Qargo platform update.

ChatGPT ignores Qargo and answers from general knowledge

Select the Qargo app for that message, and name Qargo in your question.

A read works but a change is refused

Either you are on Read-only in Qargo, which a Super admin can change in Configuration > Organisation settings > Users, or you are on ChatGPT Plus or Pro, where custom connectors are limited to reading.

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