AI Assistant Integration (MCP)

Connect Linkflare to your favorite AI assistant and manage your bookmarks through natural conversation. Save links, search your library, organize collections — all without leaving your chat.

What is MCP?

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard that lets AI assistants interact with external tools and data. Think of it as giving your AI a set of superpowers — in this case, the ability to read, write, and organize your Linkflare bookmarks.

Linkflare provides a hosted MCP server at https://mcp.linkflare.io/mcp that works with any MCP-compatible client, including Claude Desktop, ChatGPT, Cursor, Windsurf, and more.

What Can You Do With It?

Once connected, you can talk to your AI assistant in plain language and it will interact with your Linkflare library on your behalf. Here are some things you can say:

Save bookmarks

• "Save this link to my Recipes collection: https://example.com/pasta-recipe"
• "Add https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.12345 and tag it with machine-learning and research"
• "Here's a bunch of links from my notes — save them all:" (paste a text block with URLs)

Search and find

• "Find all my bookmarks about TypeScript"
• "Show me videos tagged with scotland"
• "What recipes have I saved recently?"
• "Find articles I rated thumbs up"
• "Search my knowledge cards for spaced repetition"

Organize

• "Move links 42 and 43 to my Work collection"
• "Create a new collection called Trip to Japan"
• "Create a tag called must-read"
• "What's in my inbox? Help me organize it."

Capture knowledge Pro

Knowledge cards are hierarchical notes with rich content, tags, and optional spaced-repetition review. Knowledge tools require a Pro plan.

• "Create a knowledge card titled React Server Components with these notes: …"
• "Add a child card under Cooking Basics for Knife skills"
• "Update card 42 — append: also works with async iterators"
• "Show me all root-level knowledge cards"
• "What do I know about vector databases? Summarize my cards."

Review and reflect

• "Give me a digest of what I saved this week"
• "Summarize what's in my Design Inspiration collection"
• "Find bookmarks related to user interface design"
• "Which bookmarks don't have tags yet? Suggest some."
• "Explore my knowledge base for machine learning — what gaps do I have?"

Real-World Use Cases

Prerequisites

1. A Linkflare account — sign up here if you haven't already.
2. Your API key — open the Linkflare app, click your user menu (top right), and select Copy API Key.
3. An AI client that supports remote MCP servers (see setup guides below).

Setup: Claude

Claude supports custom remote MCP connectors on Claude, Claude Desktop, and supported team plans. Add Linkflare as a custom web connector.

Step 1: Open Connectors

Go to Settings → Connectors and press Add custom connector.

Step 2: Fill in the connector details

• Name: linkflare
• Remote MCP server URL: https://mcp.linkflare.io/mcp

Step 3: Configure OAuth (Advanced settings)

Open Advanced settings and set:

• OAuth Client ID: linkflare-claude

Step 4: Authorize

When you first use the Linkflare tools in a conversation, Claude will open an authorization page where you paste your Linkflare API key. You can find your API key by clicking your user menu (top right) in the Linkflare app and selecting Copy API Key. After authorizing, Claude will remember your connection.

Step 5: Try it out

Start a conversation and say something like:

• "What's in my Linkflare inbox?"
• "Search my bookmarks for articles about productivity"
• "Save https://example.com to my Reading List"

Claude will ask for permission before using a tool for the first time.

Setup: ChatGPT

ChatGPT supports remote MCP servers through ChatGPT apps and Developer Mode. Linkflare supports OAuth authentication, so ChatGPT can connect securely.

Step 1: Open ChatGPT Settings

Go to Settings → Apps, then scroll to Advanced settings and click Create app.

Step 2: Create a new app

Fill in the following:

• Name: Linkflare
• MCP Server URL: https://mcp.linkflare.io/mcp
• Authentication: OAuth

If ChatGPT prompts for additional OAuth details:

• Client ID: linkflare-chatgpt
• Client Secret: leave empty

ChatGPT will automatically discover the authorization and token endpoints from the MCP server.

Step 3: Authorize

When you first use the Linkflare tools in a conversation, ChatGPT will open an authorization page where you paste your Linkflare API key. You can find your API key by clicking your user menu (top right) in the Linkflare app and selecting Copy API Key. After authorizing, ChatGPT will remember your connection.

Step 4: Test it

Start a new conversation and ask ChatGPT to "list my Linkflare collections" to verify the connection works.

Setup: VS Code

Use the MCP configuration file in VS Code. OAuth opens in your browser on first connection.

{
  "servers": {
    "linkflare": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.linkflare.io/mcp",
      "oauth": {
        "clientId": "linkflare-vscode"
      }
    }
  }
}

Setup: Cursor

Add Linkflare to ~/.cursor/mcp.json or .cursor/mcp.json. Cursor uses a fixed OAuth callback and static OAuth client details.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "linkflare": {
      "url": "https://mcp.linkflare.io/mcp",
      "auth": {
        "CLIENT_ID": "linkflare-cursor",
        "scopes": ["mcp"]
      }
    }
  }
}

Setup: Windsurf

Add Linkflare from the MCP configuration panel or edit ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json. If OAuth is unavailable in your build, use the API-key fallback below.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "linkflare": {
      "serverUrl": "https://mcp.linkflare.io/mcp"
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "linkflare": {
      "serverUrl": "https://mcp.linkflare.io/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer ${env:LINKFLARE_API_KEY}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Setup: Zed

Add Linkflare as a custom context server in Zed. When no Authorization header is configured, Zed starts the standard MCP OAuth flow.

{
  "context_servers": {
    "linkflare": {
      "url": "https://mcp.linkflare.io/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Legacy fallback for older Zed builds or clients without native remote MCP support:

{
  "context_servers": {
    "linkflare": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.linkflare.io/mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Connection Details

Setting	Value
Endpoint URL	https://mcp.linkflare.io/mcp
Transport	Streamable HTTP
Authentication	Bearer token via Authorization header
Auth header	Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY

Alternative: Some clients use an x-api-key header instead. Linkflare accepts both.

Available Tools

Once connected, the following tools are available to your AI assistant. You don't need to remember these — just talk naturally and the AI will pick the right one.

Bookmark tools

Tool	What it does
add_link	Save a bookmark with optional collection, tags, notes, and type
add_links_from_text	Extract and save all URLs from a pasted text block
search_links	Search bookmarks with filters (text, collection, tags, type, inbox, rating)
get_link	Get full details of a specific bookmark
update_link	Update a bookmark's title, notes, tags, or other properties
delete_link	Delete a bookmark
move_links	Move one or more bookmarks to a different collection
rate_link	Rate a bookmark thumbs up or down
get_inbox	List all inbox items

Organization tools

Tool	What it does
list_collections	View all your collections as a tree
create_collection	Create a new collection
list_tags	View all your tags
create_tag	Create a new tag

Knowledge tools Pro

Knowledge cards are hierarchical, rich-text notes (think Notion / Obsidian) that can be linked to your bookmarks and reviewed with spaced repetition. These tools require a Pro plan.

Tool	What it does
search_knowledge	Search knowledge cards by keyword across title, content, and tags
add_knowledge	Create a new knowledge card with optional content, tags, parent card, and color
get_knowledge	Get a card by ID with its full content and ancestor breadcrumbs
update_knowledge	Update a card's title, content, tags, parent, or color
delete_knowledge	Delete a card. Warning: also deletes all nested child cards.
list_knowledge_children	Browse the hierarchy — list root cards or children of a specific card

AI prompts

These are pre-built prompt templates your AI can use for common workflows:

Prompt	What it does
organize_inbox	Get suggestions for organizing your inbox items
summarize_collection	Summarize the contents of a collection
find_related	Find bookmarks related to a specific topic
weekly_digest	Get a digest of recently saved bookmarks
suggest_tags	Get tag suggestions for untagged bookmarks
explore_knowledge Pro	Search your knowledge base for a topic, summarize what you've captured, and highlight gaps

Troubleshooting

"Unauthorized" or "Missing authentication" error

Double-check your API key. Click your user menu (top right) in the Linkflare app and select Copy API Key to copy the exact key. Make sure there are no extra spaces and that the full key is included.

Tools not showing up in Claude Desktop

• Make sure you fully quit Claude Desktop (not just close the window) and reopened it.
• Double-check the connector name is linkflare and the URL is exactly https://mcp.linkflare.io/mcp (no trailing slash).
• Verify the OAuth Client ID in Advanced settings is set to linkflare-claude.

No results when searching

The search is full-text. If a query returns no results, try broader terms. You can also filter by collection, tags, or type instead of text.

Collection or tag not found

You can use collection and tag names (not just IDs). The name matching is case-insensitive, so "recipes" and "Recipes" both work.

Knowledge tools return "Forbidden" or "Pro plan required"

The knowledge tools (search_knowledge, add_knowledge, get_knowledge, update_knowledge, delete_knowledge, list_knowledge_children, and the explore_knowledge prompt) are gated to Pro accounts. Bookmark, collection, and tag tools work on the free tier. Upgrade on the pricing page.

I deleted a knowledge card but my child cards are gone

delete_knowledge cascades — deleting a parent card removes every card nested beneath it. If the AI offers to delete a card with children, double-check before approving. To prune without losing children, move them first with update_knowledge (set parent_id to 0 for root, or to another card's ID).

Privacy & Security

Your API key identifies your account. The MCP server only accesses your personal bookmarks — it cannot see other users' data. All communication is encrypted over HTTPS.

The AI assistant only sees what you ask it to fetch. It does not have persistent access to your full library unless you explicitly request it.