Connected assistants (MCP)

Connect your assistant

Copy the server URL, then open your assistant's connector setup. You will paste the URL there and sign in to Venue Menus.

In ChatGPT, turn on Developer mode in Settings → Security and login, then use the plus button in Plugins to add a server. In Claude, choose Add custom connector. Team and Enterprise workspaces may require an owner to add it first.

1. In an assistant that supports remote MCP servers with OAuth, add https://venue-menus.com/mcp as the server URL. MCP means Model Context Protocol.
2. Follow its connection link and sign in to Venue Menus.
3. Choose the organization and review the requested permissions, then choose Connect. Each connection belongs to one organization.
4. Return to your assistant and ask it to list your locations and menus.

No local server or API key is needed. Existing Developer API keys remain read-only and cannot sign in to MCP.

Ask for changes

Use your assistant for menu items and prices, presentation, screens and schedules, venue websites, imports, translations, artwork, inventory and analytics. Your current role and granted permissions determine which tools are available.

• “Add a seasonal section to the draft at our downtown location.”
• “Publish this menu list, then assign it to the bar screen.”
• “Show which screens have stopped reporting.”
• “Prepare a quote for a flavor map.”

Draft edits do not publish. Menu lists, flavor maps, websites and guest translations each have their own publication action. PDF and photo extraction opens the Studio importer in your browser.

Approve sensitive operations

Routine edits and explicit publication run directly within the connection’s permissions. AI starts, credit unlocks, invitations, credential changes, external writes and domain changes return an approval link. The owner who connected the assistant opens that link, sees the operation and any quoted cost, and approves or declines.

AI starts require approval even when the quote is zero credits. Saved results stay usable at zero balance. Credit purchases and Square connections continue in their existing browser workflows. New API keys appear once in the browser, not in the assistant conversation.

Approval links expire after 30 minutes. If the saved draft changes, ask the assistant for a fresh request. Long operations return a receipt the assistant can check for progress.

Manage access

Open Developers → Manage connections or Connected assistants (MCP) to see granted permissions and last use. Owners can disconnect connections in their organizations; staff can disconnect their own. Disconnecting revokes access immediately.

Connections expire after at most 90 days. Changes to your membership or role take effect on subsequent requests.

Connection problems

• Cannot connect: use the exact HTTPS server URL above and a client supporting remote MCP with OAuth. A REST API key will not work.
• Missing tools: check the selected organization, current role and granted permissions. Reconnect to request different permissions.
• Approval expired or declined: ask for a new request. Repeating the old request does not approve it.
• Operation uncertain: inspect the target or provider status before requesting the change again; the service does not automatically replay an interrupted external write.
• Request limit reached: wait for the retry time returned to the assistant. MCP and REST share the organization’s request budget.

The server supports MCP versions 2026-07-28 and 2025-11-25 over HTTPS. It does not provide a local stdio server or a legacy SSE endpoint.

Limits and boundaries

MCP access is Free; optional AI work keeps its quoted credit price. MCP and REST share 60 requests per minute and 10,000 per day per organization.

If something goes wrong

Use Connected assistants (MCP) to disconnect access. Reconnect after a connection expires or is revoked.

Still stuck? Email Venue Menus support with the location, menu or screen name and the action you were taking.