Setup guide
Connect FitCoach
One connector URL, whichever chat you use. Add it once, sign in with your email, and your coach is in the conversation — about two minutes, start to first logged set.
The connector URL — you’ll paste this in every setup below:
https://usefitcoach.com/mcpWhere do you use FitCoach?
Pick one and you’ll get just that app’s steps. You can switch at any time.
Claude (web)
Copies the connector URL and opens Claude’s add-connector dialog in a new tab, so the value is one paste away. Neither app lets us fill the field in for you. If it lands somewhere unexpected, the written steps below are the reliable route and always will be.
On claude.ai in any browser. Verified against the live interface August 2026 — connectors used to live under Settings and have since moved, so if a menu name here does not match, look for Connectors and an Add button.
- Open Customize in the left sidebar, then the Connectors tab. (If you go to Settings → Capabilities instead, it will tell you the same thing: connectors moved to Customize.)
- Click Add, top right, next to Discover. A dialog titled Add custom connector opens with two fields. (The Open the dialog in Claude button at the top of this page skips both of these steps.)
- Name — type FitCoach. This is only the label shown in your connectors list; it does not have to match anything.
- Remote MCP server URL — paste:
https://usefitcoach.com/mcp - Click Continue. Claude reads the server’s OAuth configuration itself — there is no client id or secret to enter, and you should not be asked for one.
- Back in the list, click Connect next to FitCoach and sign in with the email link we send you.
- Click Approve to finish. FitCoach appears in the list tagged Custom with a tick, and is available in your chats.
Heads up: custom connectors need a paid Claude plan — Pro is enough. Claude also warns that Anthropic does not review custom connectors and cannot verify what tools they expose; that is true of every custom server, ours included. What FitCoach does with what you connect is in the privacy policy, and every tool is listed on the docs page.
Claude (desktop app)
Same connector, no extra setup — connectors apply account-wide. There is no dialog to open here: add it once in Claude (web) and the desktop app picks it up.
- Add FitCoach via claude.ai in a browser using the steps above — connectors are stored on your account, not per-device, so the desktop app picks up whatever is in that same Customize → Connectors list.
- Open the desktop app — FitCoach appears automatically.
- If it doesn’t show up, restart the desktop app so it picks up the new connector.
ChatGPT
Copies the connector URL and opens ChatGPT’s New Plugin dialog in a new tab. If it lands somewhere unexpected, the written steps below are the reliable route and always will be.
Via ChatGPT’s developer mode. OpenAI now documents this under Settings → Security and login, while the installed item appears in the Plugins directory. Field names below were verified in August 2026; if yours differ, follow the same shape and use the written fallback here.
- Open Settings → Security and login and turn on Developer mode. Nothing below is possible until this is on.
- Open Plugins in the left sidebar — the directory page, not the settings pane — and click the + at the top right, beside the search box. A New Plugin dialog opens. (The button above goes straight here.)
- Name — type FitCoach. This one is required: leave it blank and Create stays dead with a red “Name is required” under the field. It is the first thing people miss, because the placeholder reads “Custom Tool” and looks like a value rather than a prompt.
- Description (optional) — anything you like. If you want ours:
A fitness coach with memory: logs your training from plain language, and rebuilds your weekly plan from your own history. - Icon (optional) — PNG only, 256×256 or larger, and no bigger than 10 KB, which rules out most logos. Ours fits: download the FitCoach icon (256×256, ~2.7 KB).
- Connection — leave it on Server URL, not Tunnel, and paste:
https://usefitcoach.com/mcp - Authentication — leave it on OAuth, which is the default. Leave Advanced OAuth settings alone; FitCoach publishes its OAuth configuration and ChatGPT discovers it. You do not need a client id or a secret, and you should not be asked for one. You can tell discovery worked without opening anything: the grey line under Advanced OAuth settings changes from “Enter a valid MCP Server URL” to “Review discovered OAuth settings” a moment after you paste the URL.
- Tick I understand and want to continue under the red risk warning. Create will not work until you do — this is the second thing people miss, because the button looks enabled either way.
- Click Create, sign in with the email link, and approve access. On a Business workspace you may also need Publish from the drafts list before it shows up in chat.
About that risk warning. It is not about FitCoach specifically — ChatGPT shows it for every custom server, because OpenAI has not reviewed any of them. Worth reading anyway, and worth knowing what we do with what you connect: the privacy policy is short, and every tool is listed on the docs page.
Check the capability shown in your workspace. FitCoach itself allows both reads and writes, but ChatGPT availability and permitted actions can vary by plan, workspace, and admin policy. If the plugin dialog or chat marks the connection read-only, you can still inspect your data there; use a client that permits writes to log or change training. OpenAI’s current instructions are linked from the official plugin quickstart.
Bring in Apple Health — no FitCoach app required
A website cannot read Apple Health directly. If Health is available in your ChatGPT account, connect Apple Health there on your iPhone, then let ChatGPT bridge only the measurements you choose into FitCoach. OpenAI is still rolling Health out to eligible U.S. adults, and connecting Apple Health requires ChatGPT on iPhone. Availability and setup wording were verified August 31, 2026 against OpenAI’s Health guide.
- In the ChatGPT iPhone app, open Health, connect Apple Health, and approve only the categories you want ChatGPT to read.
- Open a chat and make both Health and FitCoach available. If your ChatGPT account does not allow both in the same chat, use the Shortcut fallback below; FitCoach cannot override a ChatGPT account or workspace restriction.
- Send the prompt below. FitCoach’s first tool call is preview-only. Review the dates and values ChatGPT shows you; nothing is stored until you explicitly confirm the second call.
@Health Use my Apple Health data from the last 30 days. Extract only sleep duration, HRV, resting heart rate, bodyweight, body-fat percentage, and completed workouts. Send that snapshot to FitCoach in preview mode, show me every date and value you extracted, and ask me to confirm before committing it.If Health is not in your ChatGPT account yet: use the Apple Shortcut recipe in the usage guide. It turns selected Health samples into a message you paste into any FitCoach chat. FitCoach never writes back to Apple Health.
Your first conversation
Connected? Say any of these — copy, paste, lift.
1 · Get set up — FitCoach asks the questions (doesn’t use any of your free block):
Set me up with FitCoach.It walks you through five things, one at a time: how long you’ve been training, how many days a week you can train, what equipment you have, anything to work around, and what you’re training for. Each one changes what the engine programs — experience sets your volume, equipment filters every exercise it may pick, and your goal sets the rep ranges.
Or say it all in one go, if you’d rather skip the questions:
Set up my FitCoach profile: I've been lifting about a year, I can train 4 days a week, I have a full gym, and I'm in Chicago.Say where you are. That last part isn’t small talk — it’s how FitCoach knows what “today” and “yesterday’s session” mean. Without a city or timezone every date is resolved in UTC, so an evening workout can land on the wrong day. Swap Chicago for wherever you train.
2 · Bring your history with you (optional, and it doesn’t touch your free block):
Import my training history into FitCoach — I have a CSV export from Hevy.Exports from Strong, Hevy, and Fitbod all work for lifting, and a runs CSV (a Strava export, or your own spreadsheet with date and distance columns) works for running. Importing gives the engine real numbers to plan from on day one instead of guessing from a blank slate.
3 · Log a workout, just by describing it:
Log today's workout with FitCoach: bench 185 for 3x8 (last set felt heavy), rows 155 for 3x10, incline dumbbell press 60s for 3x12.4 · Get your plan:
Plan my training week with FitCoach.Make it a ritual
The coaching compounds when it happens on schedule. Ask Claude once, and Claude’s scheduled tasks will run these for you automatically every week.
Plan every week, automatically:
Ask Claude: "Every Sunday at 6pm, plan my week with FitCoach."Review every week, automatically:
Ask Claude: "Every Sunday evening, run my week in review with FitCoach."Free to use · your data is exportable from day one · exercise library · privacy & terms