Connect ChatGPT

Add Flow9 to ChatGPT as a custom plugin.

Flow9 connects to ChatGPT as a custom plugin, on every plan including the free one.

Flow9 is not yet published in ChatGPT’s plugin directory, so you add it yourself. That is a normal, supported flow — not a workaround.

Before you start

• An admin must have enabled AI access for your workspace — see Enabling AI connections
• Your normal Flow9 login

Turn on Developer mode first. Without it the + button for adding your own plugin does not appear, and you will only be able to install from the public catalogue.

Turn on Developer mode

1. Open Plugins in Settings

   Click your name at the bottom left, then Settings, then Plugins.

   
2. Switch on Developer mode

   Open Developer mode and enable it. Then go back and choose Browse plugins.

   

Add Flow9

1. Start a new plugin

   On the Plugins page, click the + button at the top right, next to the search box. If it is not there, Developer mode is still off.

   
2. Fill in the details

   Name — Flow9

   Connection — leave it on Server URL and paste:

   https://mcp.flow9.online
   

   Authentication — choose OAuth. Leave Advanced OAuth settings alone; ChatGPT discovers those from Flow9 once the URL is in.

   Icon and description are optional.

   
3. Acknowledge the warning

   ChatGPT warns that it has not reviewed this server, because Flow9 is not in its directory yet. Tick I understand and want to continue.

   This warning appears for every custom server. What Flow9 can actually do is decided by you on the next screen and by your workspace admin — see Security.

4. Sign in to Flow9

   Click Sign in with Flow9 and sign in with your normal account.

   
5. Choose what to allow

   The Flow9 consent screen lists what ChatGPT is asking for, grouped by area. Tick a whole group, or open one and tick individual tools.

   

Set the plugin’s permissions

Do this straight after connecting, or writes will be refused. ChatGPT defaults every plugin to Allow low-risk actions, which silently blocks anything it judges sensitive — including creating and updating records.

Go to Settings → Plugins → Flow9 → Permissions and choose the level you want:

Setting	What happens
Always ask	ChatGPT asks before reading anything or making any change
Allow read actions	Reads freely, asks before changing anything
Allow low-risk actions (default)	May refuse writes without asking you
Allow all actions	Never asks — reads and writes go straight through

Allow all actions is the setting that makes Flow9 behave the way the examples in these guides describe. ChatGPT marks it elevated risk because it stops asking for confirmation.

Worth knowing what that does and does not change: it governs whether ChatGPT pauses to ask you. It cannot widen what Flow9 permits. The tools you ticked on the consent screen, your own Flow9 permissions, and your workspace’s settings still apply, and the assistant still cannot contact your customers or delete anything outright.

If you would rather be asked before changes, Allow read actions is the cautious choice — reporting and lookups work freely, and every write waits for your approval.

If ChatGPT says the action was blocked

You may see a reply like “I couldn’t do that because the connector blocked the action.”

First check the permission setting above. Allow low-risk actions is the usual cause, and it is the default.

If permissions are already set to allow the action, this is usually not Flow9. ChatGPT runs its own safety check before it sends anything to a plugin. When that check stops a request, the request never reaches us — nothing appears in our logs — but the wording can make it sound as though we refused.

It affects reads as well as writes and is not specific to Flow9. What usually helps:

• Try again. The behaviour is intermittent.
• Switch to a thinking model and repeat the request.
• Re-check the plugin’s permission level.

Removing the connection

• In ChatGPT — Settings → Plugins → Flow9, then remove it
• In Flow9 — Settings → Connected Apps, then revoke

Revoking in Flow9 takes effect immediately, even if the plugin is still listed in ChatGPT.