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Connect Textmagic to your AI assistant: MCP guide

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Who this is for: anyone who wants to use Textmagic (send and track SMS, manage contacts) directly from an AI assistant like Claude or ChatGPT, or from a coding tool like VS Code, Cursor or Windsurf.

What you’ll need: a Textmagic account and 2 minutes. No API keys, no tokens to copy. You just paste one address and sign in through your browser.

Note: Textmagic isn’t in the assistants’ public app catalogs yet, so you add it manually with the address below (via “Custom connector”, “Developer mode” or a config file, depending on the tool).

What is this?

Textmagic now speaks a shared standard called MCP (Model Context Protocol). Think of it as a universal plug that lets an AI assistant securely work with your Textmagic account. Once connected, you can ask the assistant in plain language to send a text, check replies, or tidy up your contacts, and it does it in your Textmagic account.

Your Textmagic MCP address:https://mcp.textmagic.com

What you can do

Once connected, you can ask your assistant to:

📤 Send and schedule SMS

  • Send a text to one person, a group, or a whole contact list.
  • Preview first: the assistant always shows you the recipients, the message, and the exact cost before anything is sent. You confirm, then it sends.
  • Schedule messages for later, or set up recurring sends (e.g. every Monday).

📥 Track delivery and read replies

  • Check whether messages were delivered.
  • Read incoming replies from your customers.
  • Review past send sessions and their cost.

👥 Manage contacts, lists and tags

  • Search, view, create and update contacts.
  • Organize contacts into lists and tag them.

💳 Account

  • Check your balance, currency, timezone and local time.

Real-life examples (just type these)

  • “How many SMS credits do I have left?”
  • “Text John Smith: ‘Your appointment is tomorrow at 3 PM.'”
  • “Send a reminder to everyone in my ‘Clients’ list about our sale this weekend.”
  • “Show me the replies I got today and summarize them.”
  • “Did my last batch of messages get delivered?”
  • “Every Monday at 9 AM, text my ‘VIP’ list this week’s offer.”
  • “Add all contacts from France to the ‘EU’ list and tag them ‘newsletter’.”
  • “Find the contact with phone +14155550132 and update their email.”

Permissions (what you’re granting)

When you connect, you approve exactly what the assistant may do. These are the permissions Textmagic shows on the consent screen:

PermissionNotesWhat it means
View account informationAccess your account balance, time zone, and current local time.
View SMS messagesRead sent and received SMS messages, including replies and delivery status.
Send SMS messageswrite · uses creditSend SMS messages and schedule them for later delivery using your account balance.
View contactsAccess your contacts and their details.
Manage contactswriteCreate, update, and maintain contacts in your account.
View contact listsAccess your contact lists and see which contacts belong to them.
Manage contact listswriteCreate and edit contact lists, and add or remove contacts from them.
View tagsAccess the tags used to organize your contacts.
Manage tagswriteCreate and edit tags, and assign or remove tags from contacts.

Safe by design: only “Send SMS messages” spends money, and the assistant always previews the cost and asks you to confirm before sending. Nothing is sent without your OK. Textmagic never gives the assistant access to your login password.

How signing in works (same for every tool)

Whatever tool you use, the sign-in is the same and takes seconds:

  1. You paste the Textmagic address into the tool.
  2. Your browser opens a Textmagic consent screen showing which assistant is asking and what it wants to do.
  3. You click Authorize access.
  4. Done. The tool is connected. You never copy or paste any token.

The consent screen shows the requesting app and its logo, a “Switch account” link (to authorize under a different Textmagic account), the full list of permissions (each expandable), and Authorize access / Cancel buttons.

Setup by tool

Jump to your tool:

ToolHow you add itBest for
Claude – WebPaste URL in SettingsEveryday chat use
Claude – DesktopPaste URL in SettingsEveryday chat use (Mac/Windows)
Claude Code (CLI)One commandDevelopers in the terminal
ChatGPTDeveloper mode → paste URLEveryday chat use
VS Code (Copilot)Config file / commandDevelopers
CursorConfig file / SettingsDevelopers
WindsurfConfig fileDevelopers
ClineUI / config fileDevelopers
Other toolsConfig fileZed, JetBrains, Cherry Studio, Goose

⚠️ A note on labels: these features are new and the assistants update their menus often. The steps (paste the URL, approve in the browser) are stable, but a button might be renamed by the time you read this. When in doubt, look for the word “Connector”, “MCP”, or “Developer mode”.

Claude – Web

You’ll need: a claude.ai account (works on Free, Pro, Max, Team, Enterprise). Free plans allow one custom connector; paid plans allow several.

Steps

  1. Sign in at claude.ai.
  2. Open Settings → Connectors.
  3. Click Add custom connector (the “+” button at the bottom of the connector list).
  4. Paste the URL: https://mcp.textmagic.com and leave “Advanced settings” empty.
  5. Click Add, then Connect.
  6. Approve on the Textmagic consent screen. The connector shows Connected.

Use it in a chat: click the “+” (or type “/”) in the message box → Connectors → make sure Textmagic is on for the conversation. Then just ask.

Team/Enterprise: an Owner must first enable connectors for the organization (Organization settings → Connectors), then each member connects and signs in individually.

Claude – Desktop

You’ll need: the Claude Desktop app (macOS or Windows) and to be signed in. Remote connections work exactly like the web. No config file needed.

Steps

  1. Open Claude Desktop and sign in.
  2. Open Settings → Connectors.
  3. Click Add custom connector (or “+”).
  4. Paste https://mcp.textmagic.comAdd.
  5. A browser window opens for sign-in → approve → connector shows connected.

Use the “Connectors” section, not “Developer / Edit Config” or “Extensions”. Those are for tools that run on your own computer; Textmagic is a remote service.

Claude Code (CLI)

For developers using the terminal.

Add the server:

claude mcp add --transport http textmagic https://mcp.textmagic.com

Sign in:

  1. Run claude to start a session, then type /mcp.
  2. Select textmagicAuthenticate → your browser opens → approve → status becomes ✓ Connected.
    (Or, non-interactively: claude mcp login textmagic.)

Handy commands: claude mcp list (see status) · claude mcp get textmagic · claude mcp remove textmagic.

Scope (where it’s saved): add --scope user to make it available across all your projects, or --scope project to share it with your team via a .mcp.json file in the repo. Default is this project only.

ChatGPT

You’ll need: ChatGPT on the web (not mobile), on a plan that offers Developer mode (Plus/Pro/Business/Enterprise/Edu). This is a beta feature.

Naming note: OpenAI has called this area “Connectors”, then “Apps”, now “Apps & Connectors”. They’re the same place.

Step A: turn on Developer mode

  1. Sign in at chatgpt.com.
  2. Settings → Security and login → Developer mode.
  3. Turn on Developer mode.

Step B: add Textmagic

  1. Back in Apps & Connectors, click Create.
  2. Fill in: Name = Textmagic; MCP Server URL = https://mcp.textmagic.com; Authentication = OAuth; tick the trust checkbox.
  3. Click Create → sign in on the Textmagic page → approve → connected.

Use it in a chat: new chat → “+” in the composer → MoreDeveloper mode → select Textmagic, then ask. Write actions (like sending) show a Confirm dialog first.

Can’t see Developer mode? On Business/Enterprise/Edu an admin must allow it (Workspace settings → Permissions & roles → Connected data). This is the most common reason the toggle is missing.

VS Code (GitHub Copilot)

You’ll need: VS Code 1.102+, GitHub Copilot + Copilot Chat, and Copilot Agent mode (pick “Agent” in the Chat mode dropdown). MCP tools only run in Agent mode.

Add it (easiest way)

  1. ⇧⌘P / Ctrl+Shift+P → MCP: Add Server.
  2. Choose HTTP.
  3. URL: https://mcp.textmagic.com · Server ID: textmagic.
  4. Choose Workspace (this project) or Global (all projects).

Or edit the config file directly (.vscode/mcp.json for a project, or the user mcp.json):

{
  "servers": {
    "textmagic": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.textmagic.com"
    }
  }
}

Sign in: on first connect VS Code asks you to trust the server, then opens a browser consent page → approve. No token needed.

Verify: run MCP: List Servers to see status, or click Configure Tools in the Chat view to see Textmagic’s tools.

Cursor

You’ll need: Cursor v1.0+.

Add via config — global file ~/.cursor/mcp.json (or project file .cursor/mcp.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "textmagic": {
      "url": "https://mcp.textmagic.com"
    }
  }
}

(Or: Cursor Settings → Tools & MCP → New MCP Server, which opens this same file.)

Sign in: the Textmagic row shows “Needs authentication” with a Connect button → click it → browser opens → approve.

Verify: the row shows a green dot and an expandable tool list.

Tip: Cursor limits the assistant to ~40 tools total across all servers. If you run several MCP servers, disable the ones you’re not using.

Windsurf

You’ll need: the latest Windsurf build (OAuth support). Cascade is the assistant that uses it.

Add via config — file ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json (Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.codeium\windsurf\mcp_config.json). Note the field is serverUrl:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "textmagic": {
      "serverUrl": "https://mcp.textmagic.com"
    }
  }
}

(Or open it via the Cascade panel → MCP/Plugins (hammer) icon → “Open MCP Config file”.)

Then: fully restart Windsurf (or click Refresh in the MCP panel). It doesn’t reload servers otherwise. A browser window opens for consent → approve.

Verify: the MCP/Plugins panel shows textmagic with a green/active status and its tools.

Cline

You’ll need: the Cline extension (latest version) in VS Code.

Add via UI

  1. Open Cline → click the MCP Servers icon.
  2. Go to the Remote Servers tab.
  3. Name: textmagic · URL: https://mcp.textmagic.com · Transport: Streamable HTTP.
  4. Click Add Server → a browser opens for consent → approve.

Or edit the config (Configure MCP Servers button opens it):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "textmagic": {
      "type": "streamableHttp",
      "url": "https://mcp.textmagic.com",
      "disabled": false,
      "autoApprove": []
    }
  }
}

Make sure "type": "streamableHttp" is set. Leaving it out defaults to a legacy mode and won’t connect.

Verify: the server shows a green indicator and an expandable tool list.

Other tools

All of these support the modern MCP + OAuth flow, so a bare URL is enough. Field names differ slightly:

  • Zed — in settings.json, add under context_servers: "textmagic": { "url": "https://mcp.textmagic.com", "headers": {} }. Leave headers empty to trigger the browser sign-in.
  • JetBrains AI Assistant / Junie — Settings → Tools → AI Assistant → Model Context Protocol (MCP), add a server with the url field; when it says “Authorization required”, click Authorize → browser sign-in.
  • Cherry Studio — Settings → MCP Servers → Add, set Type = streamableHttp and put the URL in the baseUrl field.
  • Goosegoose configure → Add Extension → Remote Extension (Streamable HTTP) → paste the URL.

These clients update quickly. If a field name differs, look for “remote / HTTP server URL” and leave any token/header fields blank so the browser sign-in kicks in.

Managing and disconnecting

You can see and revoke every connected assistant in Textmagic:

  1. Go to Settings → My account → Connected apps (/settings/account/connected-apps).
  2. You’ll see each connected app with when it was last used and who owns it.
  3. Click an app to open its details: connection info and the full list of granted permissions.
  4. To revoke access, click Delete connection. This disconnects the app and invalidates its access immediately.

Good to know / troubleshooting

  • Sending costs credit. Only “Send SMS messages” spends your balance, and you always see the cost and confirm first. Check your balance anytime by asking “What’s my SMS balance?”
  • Nothing sends by accident. The assistant previews recipients + message + cost and waits for your confirmation.
  • “Switch account” on the consent screen lets you authorize under a different Textmagic account (e.g. a client’s).
  • It must reach the internet. Claude and ChatGPT connect from their own cloud, so the Textmagic URL just needs to be public (it is). A tool running only on your laptop can’t be used this way.
  • Tool limits in coding tools. Cursor (~40), VS Code (128) and Windsurf (100) cap how many tools the assistant can use at once across all servers. If Textmagic’s tools don’t all appear, disable other MCP servers you’re not using.
  • Connected but no tools? Toggle the server off and on (or restart the tool) to re-fetch the tool list.


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