Schedule social posts with Claude or ChatGPT (MCP)

What MCP is, in one paragraph

MCP is a shared plug for AI assistants. The MCP project describes it as “like a USB-C port for AI applications”^[1]: an app publishes a list of tools (“list my accounts”, “schedule a post”), and any assistant that speaks MCP can call them when you ask. Octoque publishes its tools this way, so you don’t need a special plug-in per assistant.

What you need first

• An Octoque account with at least one platform connected. Using the API and AI assistants is part of every paid plan (see pricing).
• An API key: in the app, open You → Developers & AI → New API key. Name it after the assistant (“Claude”), keep the default permissions (read posts, create drafts, schedule and publish) and copy the key. It starts with oq_live_ and is shown only once.
• The start command for the MCP server, which the same page shows. It is a small Python program from Octoque.

Connect Claude Code (one command)

In a terminal, add the server with your key. Claude Code’s docs explain the two traps: options like --env go before the server’s name, with at least one other option between --env and the name, and the -- separates Claude’s options from the server’s own command.^[3]

claude mcp add --env OCTOQUE_API_KEY=oq_live_… --transport stdio octoque -- \
  <path to Octoque's python> -m scheduler.mcp_server

Replace the last line with the start command from Developers & AI. Add --scope user if you want Octoque in every project rather than only the current folder.^[3] Then start Claude Code and type /mcp to check that “octoque” is connected.

Connect Claude Desktop

1. Open Claude Desktop’s settings from the menu bar, go to Developer and choose Edit Config. This opens (or creates)claude_desktop_config.json: on a Mac it lives in ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/, on Windows in %APPDATA%\Claude\.^[4]
2. Add Octoque under mcpServers:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "octoque": {
         "command": "<path to Octoque's python>",
         "args": ["-m", "scheduler.mcp_server"],
         "env": { "OCTOQUE_API_KEY": "oq_live_…" }
       }
     }
   }

3. Quit Claude Desktop completely and open it again.^[4] Octoque now appears in the connectors list in a new chat.

ChatGPT and claude.ai custom connectors

Both of these connect from the provider’s cloud, so they need the MCP server at a public web address. ChatGPT’s developer docs: open ChatGPT’s plugins page, choose Add custom MCP server, and enter the URL “including the /mcp path”; it supports “SSE and streaming HTTP”.^[5] Claude’s custom connectors work the same way (Customize → Connectors → Add custom connector), and the server “must be reachable over the public internet”.^[6]

Octoque’s server can already speak Streamable HTTP, but only on your own computer for now, because anyone who reaches that address acts with your key. A hosted, signed-in address is planned. We will add the exact steps here the day it goes live. Until then, use Claude Code or Claude Desktop. Which ChatGPT plans can add custom MCP servers changes often; check OpenAI’s help centre for your plan.

The tools your assistant gets

These are the real tool names from Octoque’s server. The assistant picks them for you; you never have to type them.

Before uploading, schedule_post checks each caption against the platform’s length (for example 280 characters on X, 2,200 on Instagram and TikTok) and tells the assistant to shorten it rather than letting the platform refuse it later. Videos must be MP4 or MOV; images JPG, PNG or WebP. TikTok needs you to choose who can see each video, and the assistant can’t make that choice for you yet, so TikTok posts are refused with “Choose who can see this on TikTok”: finish those in the app.

Prompts that work

Keeping it safe

• The server tells the assistant to “never post without the user’s clear go-ahead” and to prefer a draft when unsure. ChatGPT also treats tools that change things as write actions that need your confirmation by default.^[7]
• Keys can’t reach account settings: an API key cannot delete your account, change billing or manage your team.
• The key acts as you, with your role. If your posts need a manager’s approval in the app, the assistant’s posts wait for approval too.
• Lost a laptop or shared a key by mistake? Revoke it in Developers & AI; anything using it stops at once.