Connect Claude or Another AI Assistant to PlanItNine

Last updated: September 2026 · 8 min read

Your AI assistant can read and write your PlanItNine lists. Ask it to plan your day, add a task, or tell you where the week went. It uses the same tasks you see in the app.

Step 1: Get an API key

An API key is a password made for programs. It lets the assistant act as you. Make one key for each assistant. Then you can switch one off without touching the others.

Log in at app.planitnine.com/account.
Scroll to API Keys.
Click + New API Key.
Name it after the assistant, for example Claude or Grok.
Pick the permissions. Read lets it see tasks. Write lets it add and change tasks. Add Delete only if you want it to delete tasks.
Click Create Key. Copy the key. It starts with pin_.

The key shows one time. Paste it into the assistant now, or into your password manager. If you lose it, make a new key and revoke the old one.

Step 2: Connect Claude on the web and your phone

This works on claude.ai and in the Claude phone apps. You need a Claude plan that allows custom connectors.

Open Settings. Under Customize, click Connectors.
Click Add in the top right.
Type a name and the server URL. Click Continue.
Under Authentication, pick No sign-in.
Click Add header. Fill in the header name and value.
Click Add.

Connectors page in claude.ai with the Add button in the top right

Add custom connector dialog with the name PlanItNine and the server URL filled in

Remote MCP server URL https://planitnine.web.app/mcp
Authentication No sign-in
Header name authorization
Header value Bearer pin_your_key_here

Pick No sign-in, even though Claude tags "Sign in now" as Detected. Claude guesses wrong here. PlanItNine has no OAuth login. The header does the work. If you leave "Sign in now" picked, the connection fails with no error message. The orange warning under No sign-in is expected. Ignore it.

Authentication radio buttons with No sign-in selected and the orange warning below it

Three details matter in the header value:

The word Bearer, with a capital B.
One space after it.
Then your whole key, starting with pin_.

The header name must be authorization. Pick it from the list. A header named x-api-key is ignored. Leave Required checked.

Request headers row with authorization as the name and the value hidden

Set what Claude may do without asking

After the connector is added, open it from the Connectors list. Claude shows every tool with three buttons: allow, ask, and block.

Tools that only read, such as listing tasks and reports: click the check mark (Allow).
Tools that write, such as create, update, complete and delete: click the hand (Ask) until you trust it.

Tool permissions list for the PlanItNine connector with allow, ask and block buttons per tool

Step 3: Connect Claude Desktop and Claude Code

Claude Desktop

Claude Desktop shares connectors with your claude.ai account. Add the connector once in Step 2. Then quit and reopen Claude Desktop. PlanItNine shows in the tools menu.

Claude Code

Claude Code is the terminal version of Claude. Run this one command. Put your key in place of pin_your_key_here.

claude mcp add --transport http planitnine https://planitnine.web.app/mcp \
  --header "authorization: Bearer pin_your_key_here"

Then start Claude Code and type /mcp. PlanItNine should show as connected.

Step 4: Connect Grok, Gemini and other assistants

Any assistant that can add a remote MCP server with a custom header works. Grok and Gemini both can. Use the same four facts as Step 2.

MCP server URL https://planitnine.web.app/mcp
Authentication API key or none. Not OAuth.
Header name authorization
Header value Bearer pin_your_key_here

Two checks before you start:

The assistant must let you add a request header. If it only offers OAuth, it can not connect this way. See Step 5.
The header value must start with Bearer and one space. Some assistants add this for you when you pick "Bearer token". Do not add it twice.

Step 5: ChatGPT

ChatGPT is not supported yet. ChatGPT connectors only accept OAuth sign in. They do not take an API key. PlanItNine uses an API key, so ChatGPT can not connect on its own.

We are testing a small bridge that does the OAuth sign in and passes your key through. When it passes testing, we will share the code so you can run your own. Check back here.

What your assistant can do

Once connected, your assistant has the same powers as you, within the permissions on the key.

Area	What it can do
Lists	See your lists and what is in each one.
Tasks	Add, change, complete, schedule and delete tasks. Set a size (Big, Medium, Small).
Today	Read today's plan across every list.
Outliner	Add nested tasks, indent and outdent, move and reorder.
Goals	Create goals, link tasks to them, and check progress.
Time	Weekly work log, where time went, what got done, and budget balance per list.
Daily notes	Read and update the notes for a day.

Sample prompts

Say these in your own words. The assistant works out which tools to call.

Plan the day

What is on my plan for today in PlanItNine?
Pick one Big, three Medium and five Small tasks from my Work list for tomorrow and schedule them.
Move everything I did not finish today to Monday.

Capture fast

Add "Call the dentist" to my Home list, Small, due Friday.
Here are my meeting notes. Pull out every action item and add each one to my Work list as a task.
Break "Launch the newsletter" into five sub-tasks in the outliner.

Review the week

Give me my work log for this week as a summary I can paste into an email to my manager.
Where did my time go last week? Group it by list.
Which lists am I over budget on this month?

Goals

Show my quarterly goals and how far along each one is.
Create a monthly goal "Ship version 2" in my Product list and link my open release tasks to it.

Tip: name your lists clearly. The assistant matches your words to list names. "Work", "Home" and "Side project" work better than "List 1".

Troubleshooting

What you see	What it means	Fix
Claude says the connection failed, no details	Authentication was left on "Sign in now".	Remove the connector. Add it again with Authentication set to No sign-in and the header filled in.
`401` or "Unauthorized"	The header is missing or wrong.	Check the name is `authorization`, the value starts with `Bearer` and the key is complete.
It worked, now it does not	The key was revoked or expired.	Make a new key on the account page and update the header.
The assistant cannot see a list	That list was excluded when the key was made.	Make a new key without the exclusion.
It reads but will not write	The key only has Read permission.	Make a new key with Write. Permissions on a key cannot be changed later.

Remove access

Go to app.planitnine.com/account, find the key under Active Keys, and click Revoke. The assistant loses access right away. Your tasks are not changed.

Related Guides

Plan by chat

Make a free account, create a key, and let your assistant do the typing.

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