How to Connect Claude or ChatGPT to Your Notes

Linko wrote this page. We make Linko and aren't affiliated with Anthropic, OpenAI or the notes apps named here; product names belong to their owners.

You ask Claude for help with a talk on how new hires learn. The outline it gives you is fine, but nothing in it comes from what you've written down. And you have written things down. Over the past two months your notes app collected a line from a YouTube talk about learning by doing, a passage from a psychology book about how adults learn, and a note you typed on the train last month, remembering your own first week at a new job. Claude can't see any of them, so it starts from zero.

If your notes app has a connector, Claude or ChatGPT can search those notes before it answers.

Last updated: November 9, 2026. Menus and listings change often; each step links to the official help page.

The short answer

Yes, you can connect Claude or ChatGPT to your notes app if the app offers a connector. There are two ways:

1. The app is in the directory. In Claude, open Customize > Connectors, click +, search for the app and click Connect. In ChatGPT, add the app's plugin. Then sign in to your notes app once.
2. It isn't listed. If the app gives you a server address, add it as a custom connector in Claude, or in other tools that support MCP (the open standard these connectors use; see the FAQ). If it has no official connector, community-built ones exist for some apps, such as Obsidian, but you set them up and run them yourself.

Once connected, the AI can search your notes when a question calls for it, and most connectors also let it save a new note when you ask.

What "connecting your notes" lets the AI do

A connector is a short list of actions your notes app lets the AI take in your account, such as search, read and save. It does not upload your whole notes app into the chat. When you ask a question, the AI decides to run a search, reads the notes that match, and answers from them. Good connectors also tell you which notes they used.

What it can do depends on the app. Some connectors only read. Others can also create notes, edit them, move them, or delete them. Check that list before you connect.

What it can't do: see notes the connector doesn't reach, or read content the notes app never stored. If your app only keeps the title and link of an article you saved, that is all the AI gets.

Which notes apps connect to Claude and ChatGPT today

As of November 9, 2026, from each app's own page or the official Claude and ChatGPT listings:

Sources: Claude's connector pages for Apple Notes, Notion, Readwise, Evernote and Mem; OpenAI help on plugins, managing plugins, Notion and Work with Apps on macOS; Readwise MCP docs; Capacities' pages for Claude and ChatGPT; Evernote's blog; Mem docs; Linko for AI tools.

How to connect Linko to Claude, step by step

Linko is in Claude's connector directory.

1. In Claude, open Customize > Connectors and click +.
2. Search for "Linko", open it, then click Connect.
3. Sign in to Linko once.
4. Ask in your own words: "What have I written about onboarding?"

If you don't see Linko in the directory, add it as a custom connector. In Customize > Connectors, choose Add, then Custom, then Web. Name it Linko, paste https://mcp.linko.study/mcp and follow Claude's steps to add it. Then click Connect, and sign in to Linko when asked.

If you use Claude through a Team or Enterprise account, an owner has to turn connectors on first. Anthropic's connectors help page has the current details.

How to connect Linko to ChatGPT and Codex

ChatGPT. On the Linko for AI tools page, click Open in ChatGPT. Add the Linko plugin, and sign in to Linko. You can review or disconnect it later under Settings > Plugins (OpenAI help). Whether plugins are available to you depends on your ChatGPT plan, workspace, role and region (OpenAI help).

Codex. Run these two commands in your terminal. The second one asks you to sign in to Linko, once. The Codex app finds Linko in a new session.

codex mcp add linko --url https://mcp.linko.study/mcp
codex mcp login linko --scopes user

Other tools that support MCP, such as Cursor: add the server https://mcp.linko.study/mcp, choose OAuth, and leave the client ID and secret blank. The tool registers itself and asks you to sign in to Linko.

What to ask once it's connected

Start with questions only your own notes can answer:

• "What have I written about learning by doing? Tell me which notes you used."
• "I'm drafting a talk on how new hires learn. Find what I've written on onboarding, plus anything from my psychology reading about how adults learn, and show me where they disagree."
• "Which of my notes mention remote work, and what did I think about it in the spring compared with now?"
• "Save this as a note in Linko: the best onboarding is a real task in week one, with someone to ask."
• "Add this article to Linko: [link]."

The note you save from the chat lands in Linko like any other note. Linko files it under a topic. A week later you write a note after a video on mentoring. The onboarding line you saved from Claude can show up beside it in related notes.

Privacy: what the AI can see and save

With Linko connected, your AI tool can:

• search and read your notes
• read your saved resources as Linko describes them, with a link to the original
• see your tags and topics
• save new notes, links and books
• edit your notes, and change who can see a note only when you ask

It can't delete a note or resource, read anyone else's notes, see billing, notifications or friends, or export your account. Every note an AI tool creates starts private to you.

If you want to see each note first, say so in the chat: "Show me the note before you save it." Some tools can show a Linko draft in the chat instead, and nothing is saved until you click Save note.

Each tool connects to your own account only, and you can disconnect it whenever you like, in Claude's connector settings or in ChatGPT under Settings > Plugins. The full list is on Linko for AI tools and in Help.

When another setup is better

• Your notes are Markdown files and you want them to stay local. Use Obsidian with a community MCP server. Setup takes some time, and your files stay on your computer; only what the AI reads goes to Claude. (Linko vs Obsidian)
• You want your highlights, not your own notes. If most of your reading already lives in Readwise, its connector searches your highlights and Reader documents well. (A Readwise alternative for your own notes)
• Your notes are team docs and meeting notes. Notion or Mem fit better. (Linko vs Mem)
• You only want quick notes on a Mac. The Apple Notes extension in the Claude desktop app is enough.
• You rarely write notes. A connector reads what's there. If your notes app is mostly saved links, the AI will have little to work with.

For more side-by-side pages, see Linko comparisons.

Linko is built for people who read and watch a lot and jot a line in their own words as they go, without sorting anything first. Keep those lines in Linko, connect it, and the outline for that talk can start from the line from the YouTube talk, the book passage and the note from the train. Connect Linko to your AI tool.

FAQ

Can Claude read my notes?

Yes, if your notes app has a connector and you connect it. Claude then searches your notes when a question calls for it and answers from what it finds. Good connectors, Linko's included, let Claude tell you which notes it used. It only reaches the account you logged in with.

Can I connect Claude to Apple Notes?

On a Mac, yes. Anthropic's "Read and Write Apple Notes" extension works in the Claude desktop app and can list, read, add and update notes. It doesn't work on iPhone, iPad or Windows, because it runs on your Mac.

Can ChatGPT read my notes app?

Yes, for apps that have a ChatGPT plugin, such as Linko, Notion, Readwise, Capacities and Evernote. You add the plugin and sign in once. On a Mac, ChatGPT can also read the Apple Notes note you have open.

Do connectors work on every Claude account and device?

Directory connectors work in Claude on the web, desktop and mobile (installing on mobile is in beta). Custom connectors are set up on the web or in the desktop app, and Free accounts can add only one. Team and Enterprise owners must turn connectors on first. See Anthropic's help page for current limits.

Is it safe to give an AI access to my notes?

Connect only apps you trust, and read what the connector can do before you click Connect. Custom connectors aren't verified by Anthropic, so prefer the directory, and add a custom connector only with an address from the app's own docs. Linko's connection can't delete notes or resources, and every note it creates starts private.

Can the AI delete my notes?

It depends on the app. Linko's connection can't delete notes or resources, though it can edit a note's text. Some other connectors, such as Mem's, include a delete action, so check the tool list.

What is MCP, in plain words?

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard that lets an AI assistant use another app's tools: search it, read from it, save to it. Most of the connectors in Claude and plugins in ChatGPT on this page use MCP to talk to each app.