AI assistants

Connect your AI assistant

Works with Claude, ChatGPT and other AI assistants. Ask what's in a library, read and summarise documents, file a summary as a PDF and invite people, all from a chat. Sharedocs connects through MCP, on every plan, Free included.

Setup steps Get Started Free

New to this? Read what people use it for, and its limits.

What an assistant can do

With read access, an assistant can look but not change anything. With read and write access, owners and admin collaborators can also have it add and update documents. An assistant can't delete documents.

With read access

Ask what's in a library

List your libraries, show a library's details, and list its documents and folders.

Read and summarise documents

Read the text of PDF and Word (DOCX) documents up to 10 MB, so the assistant can answer questions about them or summarise them.

Open a document

Get a link to open any document you can see. The link works for 15 minutes.

Check collaborators and activity

List a library's collaborators and read its audit log. Owners and admins only.

With read and write access

File a summary as a PDF

Create a document from text the assistant writes. It is filed as a PDF with headings, lists, simple tables and the library's name in the footer.

Upload or import files

Upload a file, or import one from a public web link (PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and common images).

Replace a document

Upload a new version of a document. The old version moves to the Archived tab, or both are kept. Personal plan and above.

Invite someone

Invite a person to a library. They get the usual invitation email. An owner can also invite an admin (on Professional and Business).

Tidy up

Rename a document or change its category.

Set it up

Every assistant uses the same server address. Sign-in happens in your browser with your Sharedocs account, and there is no client ID or key to paste.

https://app.sharedocs.net/mcp

Claude.ai and Claude Desktop

  1. Open the Sharedocs listing in the Claude Connectors Directory, or in Claude.ai go to Settings, then Connectors, open the Discover tab and search for Sharedocs.
  2. Choose Connect.
  3. Sign in to Sharedocs and approve on the screen that says "Connect Claude to Sharedocs".

Prefer to add it by address? In Claude.ai, open Settings, then Connectors, choose Add, then Add custom connector, name it Sharedocs and paste the server address above.

Claude Desktop shows the same connector once it is added, with nothing more to set up. By default Claude asks before each time it uses a Sharedocs tool. You can change that for each tool in the connector's settings.

Claude Code

  1. Run this in your terminal: 
    claude mcp add --transport http sharedocs https://app.sharedocs.net/mcp
  2. In Claude Code, run /mcp, choose "sharedocs", and sign in in the browser window that opens.
  3. Approve on the Sharedocs consent screen.

ChatGPT

Adding your own connector to ChatGPT chats depends on your ChatGPT plan, and isn't available on ChatGPT Free. Where your plan offers it, you may need to turn on Developer Mode first, and on a Business or Enterprise workspace an admin may need to allow it.

  1. Create a custom connector, name it Sharedocs and paste the server address above.
  2. Choose OAuth, then sign in to Sharedocs and approve.

Cursor

  1. Add Sharedocs to your MCP settings (Cursor Settings, then MCP), or to ~/.cursor/mcp.json: 
    {
  "mcpServers": {
    "sharedocs": { "url": "https://app.sharedocs.net/mcp" }
  }
}
  2. When Cursor asks you to sign in, sign in to Sharedocs and approve.

Grok

Custom connectors in Grok depend on your Grok plan.

  1. Add a custom connector and paste the server address above.
  2. Sign in to Sharedocs and approve.

Uploading files from a chat

How a file reaches Sharedocs depends on whether the assistant can see files on your computer.

Chat assistants (Claude.ai, ChatGPT)

The assistant gives you a one-time upload link. Open it, sign in if you need to, and pick the file. The link works for 15 minutes. The assistant can then check the upload finished.

Assistants with file access (Claude Code, Cursor)

The assistant uploads the file directly. With read and write access, any assistant can also import a file from a public web link, or write a document and file it as a PDF.

Permissions and control

Read, or read and write

When you connect, the Sharedocs consent screen asks whether the assistant gets read access, or read and write access. Plan limits apply exactly as in the web app.

Disconnect at any time

Every connected assistant is listed in Security Settings under Connected apps. Revoking one takes effect on its next call.

Per-library AI assistants setting

In library management, under Access Controls, the AI assistants setting decides who can reach that library through an assistant: Everyone with access (the default), Only me, or No one.

Country restrictions

Business

Country restrictions can't be checked for assistants, because assistants connect from their provider's servers, not from the person's location. Use the AI assistants setting to control assistant access to a country-restricted library.

Security

  • Sign-in uses OAuth 2.1 with PKCE.
  • Access tokens last one hour. Refresh tokens change on every use, and a connection lasts at most 90 days before you sign in again.
  • Revoke a connection at any time from Connected apps in Security Settings. It stops working on the assistant's next call.
  • Nothing is shared beyond what you can already see in Sharedocs.
  • Every action an assistant takes is recorded in the library's audit log, labelled with the assistant's name.

Questions about AI assistants

What is MCP?

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard that lets AI assistants connect to other services. Sharedocs runs an MCP server at https://app.sharedocs.net/mcp. You add that address to your assistant once, sign in to Sharedocs, and the assistant can then work with your libraries.

Which plans include it?

Every Sharedocs plan, Free included. Plan limits apply exactly as they do in the web app, and replacing a document with a new version needs Personal or above. Your assistant's own plan must also let you add a custom connector, which ChatGPT Free doesn't.

Do I need to paste a client ID or API key?

No. Assistants register themselves with Sharedocs, and you sign in with your normal Sharedocs account. There is nothing to copy apart from the server address.

Can the assistant see documents I can't?

No. It sees exactly what you can see in Sharedocs, nothing more (apart from country restrictions, explained below). An assistant connected by a collaborator sees only that collaborator's libraries and documents.

Can an assistant delete my documents?

No. An assistant can't delete documents. With read and write access it can upload, import, create, rename and replace documents and invite people, and only in libraries where you are the owner or an admin.

Which documents can it read?

It can read the text of PDF and Word (DOCX) documents up to 10 MB. Scanned documents (images of pages) have no text to read, so the assistant says so and offers a link to open the document instead.

How long does a connection last?

Access tokens last one hour and are renewed automatically. A connection lasts at most 90 days, after which you sign in again.

How do I disconnect an assistant?

Go to Security Settings, then Connected apps, and revoke it. It takes effect on the assistant's next call.

Can I stop assistants reaching a particular library?

Yes. In library management, open Access Controls and change the AI assistants setting to Only me or No one. The default is Everyone with access.

Will I know what an assistant did?

Yes. Every action an assistant takes is recorded in the library's audit log, labelled with the assistant's name, for example "Sharedocs MCP (Claude)".

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