Connect Claude, ChatGPT and other AI assistants to DeployHQ
The hosted DeployHQ MCP server lets an AI assistant look at your projects, servers and deployments and answer questions about them. There is nothing to install: you add one address to your assistant, sign in to DeployHQ, and approve the connection.
The server address is:
https://mcp.deployhq.com/mcp
The hosted server is read-only. An assistant can look things up, but it cannot start, retry or roll back a deployment, and it cannot change any setting. If you want an assistant that can also create deployments, see the DeployHQ MCP Server article, which describes the package you run on your own computer.
What an assistant can do
An assistant acts as the DeployHQ user who connected it, and can only see what that user can already see in DeployHQ. It can:
- List the DeployHQ accounts you can use.
- List your projects.
- Show one project: whether automatic deployments are on, and its repository's type, address and branch.
- List the servers a project deploys to, with each server's protocol, environment, branch, server group and whether it deploys automatically.
- List the deployments of a project, newest first, optionally only those with a given status or to a given server.
- Show the details of one deployment: its status, branch and revisions, when it started and finished, the servers it went to, and its build settings.
Lists are limited: an assistant sees up to 200 projects (ordered by name), up to 200 servers in a project, and the 500 most recent deployments of a project, 25 at a time. It is told when a list has been cut short. If you have more than that, name the project you mean, and do not rely on answers that need every project or every deployment.
It cannot read server passwords, keys, host names or paths, environment variables, the contents of configuration files, or your account and billing details. Repository addresses are shown without any user name or password they contain. It cannot read deployment logs yet.
Before you connect
- Your account must allow it. An account administrator can turn AI assistant access on or off for the whole account (see Turning it off below). It is on by default.
- AI features must be on for the account. If an administrator has chosen Disable all AI features for this account under Settings, then Account & Access, assistants cannot connect, and the AI Assistants (MCP) option is hidden until AI features are turned back on.
- Your plan must include API access.
- Single sign-on: if your account enforces single sign-on (SAML), assistants that sign in through the browser, such as Claude.ai and ChatGPT, cannot connect to it yet. You can still use an API key with an assistant that runs on your own computer, such as Claude Code.
- Two-factor authentication: if your account requires it, turn it on for your own DeployHQ sign-in before you connect an assistant that signs in through the browser, such as Claude.ai or ChatGPT. It does not apply to an API key.
- IP restrictions: if your account only allows specific IP addresses, assistants that connect from their provider's cloud (Claude.ai and ChatGPT) are blocked, because their requests come from the provider's servers and not from your network. Assistants that run on your own computer connect from your own address.
Connect Claude
In Claude.ai
- In Claude, open Settings, then Connectors, and choose Add custom connector.
- Enter DeployHQ as the name and
https://mcp.deployhq.com/mcpas the server address, then add it. - Choose Connect. Sign in to DeployHQ when asked, and approve the connection. The approval screen lists what the assistant will be able to do: read your projects and deployments. See About the approval screen for what it says.
On Claude Team and Enterprise plans, an organization owner adds the connector first, and each member then connects individually.
In Claude Code
claude mcp add --transport http --scope user deployhq https://mcp.deployhq.com/mcp
--scope user makes the server available in all your projects. Leave it out to add it to the current project only, and run the command again in any other project where you want it.
Start Claude Code, run /mcp, choose deployhq and follow the sign-in. To use an API key instead of signing in, pass it as a header:
read -rs -p "DeployHQ API key: " DEPLOYHQ_API_KEY && echo
claude mcp add --transport http --scope user deployhq https://mcp.deployhq.com/mcp \
--header "Authorization: Bearer $DEPLOYHQ_API_KEY"
unset DEPLOYHQ_API_KEY
The prompt keeps the key out of your shell history. Claude Code stores the header in its configuration file, so treat that file as a secret and do not commit it.
Connect ChatGPT
- In ChatGPT, open Plugins, choose the plus button, then Add custom MCP server.
- Enter DeployHQ as the name and
https://mcp.deployhq.com/mcpas the endpoint. - Choose OAuth for authentication, review the risk notice and continue.
- Sign in to DeployHQ when asked, and approve the connection.
Which ChatGPT plans can add custom MCP servers, and the exact menu labels, are set by OpenAI and change from time to time. If a label differs from the steps above, see OpenAI's help article on developer mode and MCP apps in ChatGPT.
About the approval screen
When you connect an assistant, DeployHQ asks you to approve it before it can read anything.
- Claude is recognised by DeployHQ. The screen asks Do you wish to allow Claude to access your DeployHQ account? and says it will read your projects and deployments.
- Other assistants register themselves with DeployHQ automatically the first time you connect, and DeployHQ cannot confirm who is behind a registration. For those, the screen asks Do you wish to allow an application to access your DeployHQ account? and says the name the application gave itself and that DeployHQ cannot verify it. This is expected.
Before you choose Allow Access, check three things on the screen:
- That you started it. Approve only a connection you just started yourself. If you did not, choose Deny.
- The address. For an assistant that runs in a web browser, such as Claude.ai or ChatGPT, the screen says which website you will be sent back to. It should be your assistant's own website; if it is not one you recognize, choose Deny. An assistant that runs on your own computer, such as Claude Code, sends you back to an address on your own computer (
localhost), and the screen may not show it. - The access. It is read-only: your projects, their repository addresses and servers, and your deployments. An assistant cannot change anything in your account through this connection.
DeployHQ also sends you an e-mail when an application is allowed access, so you can spot one you did not approve. You can disconnect an assistant at any time, from its connector settings, and an account administrator can switch assistant access off for the whole account (see Turning it off).
Check that it works
Once connected, ask your assistant these questions, one at a time. Whether the assistant asks your permission before it runs a DeployHQ tool depends on the assistant and its settings, and some features, such as Claude's research mode, can use a connected tool without asking each time. Check your assistant's permission controls if you want to decide per tool. The tools only read information, so allowing them cannot change anything in your account.
| Ask | What you should see |
|---|---|
| "Which DeployHQ accounts can you access?" | The name of your account, or the list of your accounts if you belong to several. |
| "List my DeployHQ projects." | Your projects by name, with when each was last deployed. |
| "Show the repository and branch of the project called PROJECT." | The repository's type, address and branch, and whether automatic deployments are on. |
| "Which servers does PROJECT deploy to?" | Each server's name, protocol, environment and branch, grouped as in DeployHQ. |
| "Show the five most recent deployments of the project called PROJECT." | Each deployment's status, branch, revisions, start time and the servers it went to, newest first. |
| "Have any deployments of PROJECT failed recently? Show me the failed ones." | Only the deployments whose status is failed, or a note that there are none. |
| "What was the last thing deployed to the server SERVER in PROJECT?" | The most recent deployment to that server. |
| "Show the details of the latest deployment of PROJECT: how long it took, and which servers it went to." | One deployment in full, including its duration and servers. |
| "Which of my projects has gone the longest without a deployment?" | Your projects compared by their last deployment date. With more than 200 projects, only the first 200 by name are compared. |
| "Show the deployments of a project called does-not-exist." | A reply that the project was not found. |
Replace PROJECT and SERVER with names from your own account. If you have more than one account, the assistant will ask which one to use, or you can name it: "Use the account called ACCOUNT."
To confirm it is read-only, ask "Deploy the latest commit of PROJECT to production". The assistant should tell you it cannot do that with DeployHQ.
The tools your assistant shows while it works have these names: list_accounts, list_projects, get_project, list_servers, list_deployments and get_deployment.
Turning it off
Account administrators can switch AI assistant access off for the whole account:
- Open Settings, then Account & Access.
- In the AI Assistants (MCP) section, clear the checkbox and choose Update Account.
The section only appears while AI features are turned on for the account. If you have disabled all AI features, assistants are refused as well, and you do not need to change anything here.
It takes effect immediately. Every assistant connected to the account, including ones using an API key, is refused until you turn it back on. Your other API access is not affected. Changes are recorded in the account's audit log, on plans that include one.
Individual users can disconnect DeployHQ at any time from their assistant's connector settings.
If something goes wrong
| What you see | What it means |
|---|---|
| "The DeployHQ MCP server is not enabled here" | The hosted server is not available yet, or has been switched off for a while. Try again later or contact support. |
| "MCP access is disabled for this account" | An account administrator has turned it off. See Turning it off. |
| "AI features are turned off for this account" | An account administrator has disabled all AI features for the account. They can turn AI features back on under Settings, then Account & Access. |
| "This account requires single sign-on" | Single sign-on is enforced for the account. Use an API key with an assistant on your own computer. |
| "This account requires two-factor authentication" | Turn on two-factor authentication for your DeployHQ sign-in, then reconnect. |
| "This account restricts access to approved IP addresses" | The assistant's requests come from an address that is not on the account's allowed list. |
| "This account's plan does not include API access" | Upgrade the plan, or ask an account administrator. |
| "This connection can access several accounts" | Tell the assistant which account to use. |
| "Project not found" | Check the project name. You may not have access to it in DeployHQ. |
| The assistant says its access has expired, or keeps asking you to sign in | Disconnect DeployHQ in the assistant and connect it again. |
| "The sign-in service is unavailable" | A temporary problem. Try again in a minute. |
Keeping it safe
- Whatever an assistant asks DeployHQ for is sent to the company that provides the assistant, so connect assistants you trust with that information. The assistant sees project names, repository addresses, deployment details and server names and settings, but never passwords, keys or other credentials.
- Branch names are written by whoever pushes to your repositories, and project, server and server group names, environments and repository addresses by whoever can change your project settings. An assistant sees them when it reads a project, its servers or a deployment, and may treat text it reads there as instructions, so be careful when an assistant that has other tools connected acts on what it reads.
- You can disconnect an assistant, or switch access off for the whole account, at any time.