River MCP · Docs

Connect your AI assistant to River

River works with Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, and any AI assistant that can add an MCP server by its address. Connect it once, sign in with a code River emails you, and your assistant can use River for you.

How it works

River’s MCP server gives your assistant River’s tools. Once you sign in, it can see everything in your River workspace, ask River’s AI to do real work, make quick changes itself, and move files in and out. You never have to open River, and everything your assistant does is in your workspace when you do.

Chat apps like Claude and ChatGPT add River as a custom connector, by its address. Assistants that run on your computer, like Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor, add the same address as an MCP server.

The quickest way: paste these instructions into your assistant, and it does the rest.

Set up River for me. River is my AI workspace, and it has an MCP server.

1. Add River's MCP server, named "river". It's a remote (HTTP) MCP server at: https://api.meetriver.com/mcp
   If you can't add it yourself, tell me where it goes in your settings.
2. Connect to it. River opens a sign-in page where I enter my email and the code River emails me.
3. Call get_workspace and follow River's setup guide.

Instructions: https://meetriver.com/mcp/docs

Connect your assistant

Claude

In Claude on the web or in the desktop app, open Settings, then Connectors, and choose Add custom connector. Name it River and paste this address:

https://api.meetriver.com/mcp

A River window opens. Enter your email and the code River sends you, then allow access. On team plans, your admin may need to allow custom connectors first.

ChatGPT

In ChatGPT, adding your own connector uses Developer mode. Turn it on in Settings, add a connector with the same address, and sign in to River in the window that opens. Your plan or your workspace’s admin decides whether Developer mode is available.

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http river https://api.meetriver.com/mcp

Then type /mcp in Claude Code, choose river, and sign in.

Codex

codex mcp add river --url https://api.meetriver.com/mcp

Then run codex mcp login river to sign in.

Gemini CLI

gemini mcp add --transport http river https://api.meetriver.com/mcp

Then type /mcp auth river in Gemini CLI to sign in.

Cursor and Windsurf

Add this to ~/.cursor/mcp.json for Cursor, or ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json for Windsurf, then sign in to River from the assistant’s MCP settings.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "river": { "url": "https://api.meetriver.com/mcp" }
  }
}

VS Code

Add this to .vscode/mcp.json. VS Code asks you to sign in when River starts.

{
  "servers": {
    "river": { "type": "http", "url": "https://api.meetriver.com/mcp" }
  }
}

Zed

Add this to Zed’s settings.json. Zed asks you to sign in.

{
  "context_servers": {
    "river": { "url": "https://api.meetriver.com/mcp" }
  }
}

Any other assistant

Add River’s address as a remote MCP server, and sign in on the River page it opens. If River’s tools don’t show up after you add it, restart your assistant or start a new session.

When your assistant connects, a River sign-in page opens. Enter your email, then the 6-digit code River emails you. The code works for 10 minutes. If you’re new to River, this makes your account. Then allow access.

You sign in once for each assistant, and it stays signed in while you use it. The email names the assistant that asked and has a Remove access link.

What only you do

Your assistant does the rest, and hands each of these to you:

Signing in. You enter your email and the code on River’s own sign-in page.
Paying. If you choose a paid plan, your assistant gives you a payment link. Only a workspace’s owner or an admin can pay.
Connecting your accounts. For Gmail, Google Calendar, Slack, and others, your assistant gives you a link to approve on that service’s page.
Files only you have. Your assistant can give you a link to a River page where you add them from your device.
Questions only you can answer. When River asks something your assistant can’t know, it passes the question on.

What your assistant can do

Your assistant sees these tools. Each answer says what happened, gives links that open items in River, and suggests what to do next.

Tool	What it does
`get_workspace`	Your account, plan and AI allowance, what to set up next, your desktops and open windows, the chats River is working on, and what changed.
`switch_workspace`	Moves to another River workspace you belong to.
`read`	Reads any item, folder, setting, connected account, task, project, or guide, all in one tree.
`search`	Finds items, chats, and synced email and records by meaning.
`screenshot`	Shows a desktop, a window, or a page as a picture.
`send_message`	Asks River’s AI to do something, in a new chat or one already going.
`get_chat`	Follows a chat: River’s progress, its replies and questions, and what it made. Also lists your chats.
`answer`	Answers River’s questions and connection offers.
`decide`	Approves or declines what River is waiting to do, with a note if needed.
`stop_chat`	Stops River in a chat. The chat can pick up again later.
`use_tool`	Runs one of River’s tools directly, like adding a row or creating a calendar event.
`upload`	Brings files into River: small files directly, big files in parts, or through a link where you add them.
`export`	Gets an item as a file, like PDF, Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, or a folder as a zip.
`get_billing`	Shows your plan, what’s left of this month’s AI allowance, and every plan’s price.
`create_payment_link`	Makes a link for you to pay for a plan or an add-on.

use_tool reaches River’s apps: documents, sheets, slides, notes, tasks, calendar, Drive, memory, connections, and more. Your assistant can list them all with read({"path": "tools/"}).

Sending, sharing, and buying

Anything that reaches other people, like email, messages, invitations, sharing, publishing, or orders, goes through River’s AI, never a direct tool call. River’s guide tells your assistant to ask for these only when you asked, and to approve only what you asked for, exactly.

When River needs a decision before it goes ahead, your assistant sees an approval card and approves or declines it with decide.

Files

Your assistant can bring in files it has: small ones directly, and big ones in parts. CSV and Excel files can become Sheets, and documents can become Docs. For files only you have, it gives you a link to a page where you add up to 100 MB at a time. The link lasts 24 hours.

To take work out, it exports items as files: documents as PDF, Word, or Markdown; sheets as Excel, CSV, or PDF; presentations as PDF or PowerPoint; and folders as a zip. Download links last 24 hours.

Plans and billing

Working through your assistant uses your River plan and its monthly AI allowance, just like working in River. Your assistant can show your plan and what’s left, and give you a link to pay. River’s plans and prices

Teams and workspaces

Your assistant works in one River workspace at a time. It can do what you can do there, and nothing more. If you belong to more than one, it can see which one it’s in and switch to another.

Removing access

Open the Remove access link in the email River sent with the code, and confirm. That assistant can’t use your River anymore, and your work stays as it is.

If something goes wrong

What you see	What to do
River’s tools don’t show up	Restart your assistant or start a new session.
Your assistant says it needs to sign in	Reconnect River in your assistant’s connector or MCP settings.
The code doesn’t work	Codes work for 10 minutes. Choose Send a new code on River’s sign-in page.
River needs a plan	Your assistant can give you a payment link, or you can wait for next month’s allowance.
A service isn’t connected	Your assistant can give you a link to connect it.

For AI assistants

If you’re an AI assistant setting River up for your person:

Add River’s MCP server at https://api.meetriver.com/mcp as a remote (Streamable HTTP) server, as shown above, or tell your person where it goes in their app.
Have your person sign in. Connecting opens River’s OAuth sign-in page, where they enter their email and the code River emails them.
Call get_workspace. It lists what to set up next, with the call that does it.
Read River’s guides: read({"path": "guides/start-here"}), then guides/setting-up and guides/errors.
Use send_message for work that takes judgment or several steps, and for anything that reaches other people; follow it with get_chat until it’s done. Use use_tool for one precise action.
Pass each for_person link to your person with its sentence. Ask River to send, share, publish, or buy only what your person asked for.