Connecting your AI assistant
Writespect speaks the Model Context Protocol (MCP), so it works with any assistant on your machine that supports MCP: Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cowork, ChatGPT Work, ChatGPT Codex, and others.
Writespect registers itself with the assistants it finds when it first runs, so in most cases there is nothing to do. This page is for when an assistant was installed later, or its configuration was changed and the entry went missing.
The one-click path
Right-click the tray icon → Connect, and pick the assistant. Writespect writes the entry into that assistant’s own configuration file and leaves every other entry alone; so if you also run Vizspect, the two coexist.
Restart the assistant afterwards. Most read their configuration only at startup.
Checking it worked
Right-click the tray icon → Check connection…. The status window lists each assistant it knows about and whether Writespect is registered with it.
From the assistant’s side, just ask it something only Writespect could answer, such as “which Word documents do I have open?” If it can tell you, the connection is live.
Which assistants work
| Assistant | Works | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Code | Yes | Connects over a local URL |
| Claude Desktop | Yes | Registered in its own config file |
| Cowork | Yes | Part of the Claude app family |
| ChatGPT Work | Yes | One of ChatGPT’s agentic apps |
| ChatGPT Codex | Yes | CLI and desktop forms both work |
Writespect runs on your computer and serves tools on a local address. Any other assistant must be able to reach a local MCP server on the same Windows machine. A general chat window or Office sidebar without that connection cannot use Writespect.
Adding another MCP client by hand
Any MCP client that can talk to a local server can use Writespect. Two shapes are common:
- URL clients point at Writespect’s local address directly (the tray’s Check connection… window shows it).
- Stdio clients launch the bundled bridge executable, which relays to the
same local server. The Connect menu writes this for you; if you are
configuring by hand, point the client at
writespect-bridge.exein the install folder.
If a connection keeps disappearing
Some assistants rewrite their configuration when they update, dropping entries they didn’t add. Writespect notices at launch and re-registers itself. If it keeps happening, see Troubleshooting.