Connector guide3-minute read13 MCP tools7 languages

How to Connect Help Scout to ChatGPT — via MCP

Drive Help Scout (shared inbox + helpdesk) from any AI agent: conversations, customers, mailboxes, tags, threads. 13 tools, OAuth2 Bearer auth.

HCBy HelpCode teamUpdated 3 min read Open-source on GitHub

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Help Scout

Help Scout

Drive Help Scout (shared inbox + helpdesk) from any AI agent: conversations, customers, mailboxes, tags, threads. 13 tools, OAuth2 client_credentials auth (auto-refreshed).

tools

13

Region

INTL

Category

Customer Support

Authentication

OAuth 2.0

Required env vars

HELPSCOUT_CLIENT_IDHELPSCOUT_CLIENT_SECRET
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  • 7-day free trial
    No credit card required
  • GDPR & SOC 2 ready
    EU data residency, audit logs
  • Open-source on GitHub
    Open source · AGPL-3.0
  • Works with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini
    Any MCP-compatible client

Skip the install. Get this working in under 2 minutes.

Start a free trial on cloud.anythingmcp.com, add the Help Scout in one click, then point your AI client (Claude, ChatGPT, Copilot or Cursor) at the generated MCP endpoint. No Docker, no git clone, zero engineering experience required.

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Summary

Drive Help Scout (shared inbox + helpdesk) from any AI agent: conversations, customers, mailboxes, tags, threads. 13 tools, OAuth2 Bearer auth.

Try asking

Example prompts for Help Scout

Click any prompt to copy it. Paste into Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Gemini, Copilot or OpenClaw to run it against this connector.

Help Scout · live via MCP
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Opus 4.7

Claude is AI and can make mistakes. Please double-check responses.

💡 No install? Use cloud.anythingmcp.com directly. Sign in, click Connectors → Help Scout, paste your credentials, mint an MCP API key — done. No Docker, no git clone, no local server.

Help Scout + ChatGPT

Drive Help Scout (shared inbox + helpdesk) from any AI agent: conversations, customers, mailboxes, tags, threads. 13 tools, OAuth2 Bearer auth.

Prerequisites

See the full setup instructions baked into the connector (visible in the in-app store when you select the connector). The required environment variables for this connector are:

HELPSCOUT_CLIENT_ID, HELPSCOUT_CLIENT_SECRET

Step 1 — Get credentials

The Mailbox API is OAuth2-only — there are no Personal Access Tokens (those belong to the separate Docs API).

Setup (one-off):

  1. Sign in to Help Scout. Click your avatar (top-right) → Your Profile → My Apps → Create App.
  2. Pick any App Name (e.g. "AnythingMCP") and a Redirection URL (placeholder is fine for client_credentials — e.g. https://anythingmcp.com/oauth/callback). Copy the generated App ID and App Secret.
  3. Set the two env vars below to those values.

…(continued in the in-app connector instructions)

Step 2 — Install the adapter

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/HelpCode-ai/anythingmcp/main/docker-compose.quickstart.yml -o docker-compose.yml
printf 'JWT_SECRET=%s\nENCRYPTION_KEY=%s\n' "$(openssl rand -hex 32)" "$(openssl rand -hex 32)" > .env
docker compose up -d

Step 3 — Add the connector in ChatGPT

Your server URL: in AnythingMCP, open MCP Servers → the server this connector is on, and copy its URL (https://cloud.anythingmcp.com/mcp/…). Use it wherever this guide shows YOUR_SERVER_ID.

ChatGPT connects to MCP servers as custom apps in developer mode, available on paid plans (not on Free). On Business and Enterprise workspaces an admin may have to allow it first.

  1. In ChatGPT, open Settings → Security and login and turn on Developer mode.
  2. Go to chatgpt.com/plugins and click +.
  3. Enter a name and a short description, e.g. Name: Help Scout.
  4. Under Connection, enter the MCP server URL https://cloud.anythingmcp.com/mcp/YOUR_SERVER_ID and create the connection.
  5. When ChatGPT asks, sign in to AnythingMCP (OAuth) and allow access.

Available tools

ToolWhat it does
help_scout_list_mailboxesList mailboxes (shared inboxes)
help_scout_list_conversationsList conversations with filters
help_scout_get_conversationFetch a single conversation with full details
help_scout_create_conversationCreate a new conversation (ticket)
help_scout_update_conversation_statusChange conversation status (close, reopen, snooze)
help_scout_add_replyAdd a public reply (emails the customer) to a conversation
help_scout_add_noteAdd an internal note (not visible to customer)
help_scout_list_conversation_threadsList all threads (replies, notes, status changes) in a conversation
help_scout_list_customersList customers (people the business interacts with)
help_scout_get_customerFetch a customer's full profile including emails[], phones[], chats[], social_profiles[], address
help_scout_create_customerCreate a customer
help_scout_list_tagsList tags on the account
help_scout_list_usersList Help Scout agents

FAQ

Does the free ChatGPT plan work with custom MCP connectors? No. Custom MCP connections need developer mode, which is only on paid plans.

Next steps

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