# Plain MCP connector

Connect Plain to Elaichi and Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, or the Elaichi Agent can search and reply to Plain support threads, assign and label them, look up customers and tenants, and manage help center articles as the signed-in person.

Source: https://elaichi.ai/connectors/plain/

## Facts

| | |
| --- | --- |
| Application | Plain |
| Category | Helpdesk |
| Authentication | Connects over OAuth |
| Bring your own OAuth app | No |
| Native MCP | Yes. Plain builds and runs this MCP server. Elaichi adds sign-in, access controls and an audit log on top |
| Support for its tools | help@plain.com |
| MCP endpoint | https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp |
| Works with | Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, any MCP client, and the Elaichi Agent |
| Tools advertised by name | No. Connected tools are never listed one by one, however few there are. The endpoint advertises `search_tools` and `execute_tool` instead |

## What you can ask once Plain is connected

- Summarize every unassigned Plain thread from overnight
- Show open threads for the Acme tenant this week
- Label all billing threads from today as refund request

## Connect Plain in Elaichi

This happens once for the organization, before any client is involved.

1. Open Connections, choose Add connection, and pick Plain.
2. Optionally set Share with, then press Connect.
3. Approve it in Plain. Plain's own window opens. Whoever approves it decides what this connection can reach.

Credentials are vaulted and nobody, including the AI, reads them back. The connection becomes a toolbox immediately, so you can curate which Plain tools are exposed, rename them, or freeze arguments before anyone points a client at it.

## Plain MCP connector for Claude

Endpoint: https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp

1. Open Customize, then Connectors.
2. Press Add.
3. Name it, paste the MCP server URL, then Continue.
4. Sign in and approve.

On Team and Enterprise, an Owner adds it once. Everyone else turns it on for themselves.

## Plain MCP connector for ChatGPT

Endpoint: https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp

1. Open Plugins, then press the + button.
2. Name it and paste the endpoint into Server URL.
3. Leave Authentication on OAuth, then tick the risk acknowledgement.
4. Press Create, then sign in and approve.

Works on the web today. The plugin directory lives at chatgpt.com/plugins.

## Plain MCP connector for Cursor

Endpoint: https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp

1. Open `~/.cursor/mcp.json`.
2. Add the endpoint under `mcpServers`.
3. Reload Cursor, then sign in and approve.

Set up per machine, so repeat it on each computer you work from.

## Connect Plain to any MCP client

Endpoint: https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp

1. Add the endpoint as a remote MCP server.
2. Sign in and approve.

The Elaichi Agent already has these tools, with nothing to set up.

## What the consent screen decides

Only Read is granted by default, which is not enough to call a Plain tool. Over MCP there is no trusted place to confirm a write in the moment, so the consent screen is the standing approval rather than a formality. Grant Read and Run tools. Think hard before granting Delete, which reaches into connected apps and cannot be undone.

## What teams do with Plain through Elaichi

### Clear the morning queue faster

Support. Ask for every unassigned Plain thread that came in overnight, get a one-line summary of each, and assign them to whoever is on shift.

### Reply with the customer in view

Support. Pull up the customer and their tenant before answering, then draft and send the reply in the thread without switching tabs.

### Walk into the renewal call prepared

Customer Success. See every open and recent thread for a tenant so you know what has been going wrong before the account review starts.

### Find every thread about one bug

Engineering. Search Plain for threads that match an incident, label them, and post an update to each one once the fix has shipped.

### Hear what customers keep asking for

Product. Search threads labeled as feature requests from the last quarter and group them by tenant and theme.

### Keep help center articles current

Documentation. Draft a new help center article from a question that keeps coming up, or update an existing one when the answer changes.

## Elaichi vs Zapier MCP vs Composio for Plain

All three can connect Plain to an AI assistant, and all three have admin controls. They differ in where access lives and how you pay.

| What to check | Elaichi | Zapier MCP | Composio |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Where the AI connects | One address for the whole organization. Endpoint: https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp | A server per member, created at sign-in. | An MCP endpoint per team, or an SDK. |
| Control over Plain tools | Allow or restrict single Plain tools, per role or user. | App and action restrictions on the account. | Role permissions, down to the action. |
| Record of calls | One audit entry per Plain call. | A History tab of tool calls. | A log of every tool call. |
| Single sign-on | SAML or OIDC, plus SCIM, on Gold. | SAML on Enterprise. | SAML and OIDC on Enterprise. |
| Price | $15 per user per month. | 2 tasks per successful call. | Billed per tool call. |

Sources: Zapier MCP [docs](https://docs.zapier.com/mcp/get-started/quickstart), [security](https://docs.zapier.com/mcp/manage/security), [usage](https://docs.zapier.com/mcp/features/usage); Composio [docs](https://docs.composio.dev/docs/composio-connect), [gateway](https://composio.dev/mcp-gateway), [enterprise](https://composio.dev/enterprise), [pricing](https://composio.dev/pricing). Checked September 2026.

Longer take: [Zapier MCP alternative](/blog/zapier-mcp-alternative/) and [when you don't need an MCP gateway](/blog/when-you-dont-need-an-mcp-gateway/).

## Frequently asked questions

### How do I connect Plain to Claude?

Connect Plain in Elaichi first: pick Plain from the catalog and sign in with your Plain account over OAuth, with no OAuth application to register and no client ID or secret to generate. Then in Claude go to Customize, then Connectors, then Add, and paste https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp. Claude signs you into Elaichi, and from then on it can work with your Plain threads, customers, tenants, and help center articles.

### Does Plain work with ChatGPT and Cursor as well as Claude?

Yes. Once Plain is connected in Elaichi, the same endpoint, https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp, works in Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, any other MCP client, and the Elaichi Agent. You connect Plain once and every client you use picks it up.

### What can an AI agent actually do with my Plain data?

It can search your Plain threads, draft and send replies, assign threads to teammates, and add or remove labels. It can look up a customer or tenant to see who is asking and what else is open for them, and it can create and update help center articles. Short, concrete asks work best, such as asking it to assign every unassigned billing thread to Priya rather than writing a long paragraph.

### Does connecting Plain give the AI access to every thread in my workspace?

No. The AI works inside the Plain access of the person who signed in, so it sees the threads, customers, tenants, and articles that person can already see in Plain. Elaichi can narrow that further with restrictions, and it never widens it beyond what Plain itself allows.

### Can my team share one Plain connection?

Yes. One person connects Plain in Elaichi and shares it with a team, and nobody else ever handles a credential. Each teammate still signs into Elaichi as themselves, so the audit log records who replied to a thread or changed an article, not just that the shared Plain connection did.

### Can I stop an agent from deleting or changing things in Plain?

Yes. Restrictions in Elaichi apply per action, so you can allow searching and reading Plain threads while blocking replies, assignments, or edits to help center articles. A restricted action is never shown to the AI client at all, so no prompt, however it is worded, can reach it.

### What happens to a Plain connection when someone leaves?

Offboarding the person in Elaichi ends their access to Plain through every client at once. If they had shared their Plain connection with a team, it keeps working for everyone else. If you want it gone entirely, disconnecting Plain once in Elaichi removes it from Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, and every other client together.

### Does the Plain MCP connector work with Gemini, Codex, Claude Code or other MCP clients?

Yes. Plain is reached over the same MCP endpoint every client uses, so anything that speaks MCP can call it — Gemini, Codex, Claude Code, Windsurf, Cline, Zed and OpenCode among them — alongside Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, and the Elaichi Agent. The tools on offer and the access behind them are identical whichever client asks. Only the setup screen differs.

### Is Elaichi an alternative to Zapier MCP for Plain?

Yes. Both let Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor use Plain. Zapier MCP fits a team that already automates in Zapier, since each person signs in and acts as themselves in that account. Elaichi fits when IT wants one address for the whole company, per-tool rules by role, and a record of every Plain call.

### How is Elaichi different from Composio for Plain?

Composio gives AI agents tools and sign-in handling across 1,000+ apps, for developers building agents or people using an assistant, billed per tool call. Elaichi gives a company's own people governed access to Plain: one address, restrictions per role or user, and $15 per user per month. Both have role permissions and a log of every call.