How to Use Gillby With AI Apps: Connect, Ask, Plan

Choose an assistant that supports custom MCP connections

Gillby’s connection page includes guidance for ChatGPT, Claude and other compatible MCP clients. Your account and workspace determine which custom connections are available. Menu names can differ, so use the current guide for your assistant rather than assuming every account shows the same button.

You do not need to build an integration yourself. Where your assistant supports custom remote servers, setup is about adding Gillby’s connection details and enabling it for your conversation. If a workspace restricts custom connections, its administrator controls access.

Add Gillby using one server URL

Open Gillby’s connection guide, choose your assistant and copy the HTTPS server URL ending in /mcp. In your assistant’s custom MCP settings, name the connection Gillby and paste the URL. Choose Streamable HTTP if a connection type is requested.

For public coastal information, choose no authentication where the client offers that option. Save the connection, refresh the available tools if needed and enable Gillby in a new conversation. Copying the URL alone does not complete the connection.

There is no separate Gillby API key to create for these public tools. If you want personal account features, use the supported OAuth sign-in and consent flow instead; a public connection does not grant access to your saved account data.

Ask for your place, activity and time

A clear first question names where you want to go, what you want to do and when. For boating, add the boat or route details relevant to the question. For surfing or a beach visit, name the actual beach rather than asking about all of Florida at once.

Ask the assistant to use Gillby explicitly. Then ask it to include source timestamps and any missing information. This makes it easier to judge the answer and to decide which follow-up question matters.

Check that Gillby actually answered

A working connection makes a Gillby tool call and returns sourced information or an explicit unavailable result. A fluent general answer does not verify that the assistant used Gillby. If no tool is called, check that the connection is enabled in that conversation.

A text answer can still be a successful connection. An interactive coastal panel is a separate feature that depends on the client’s MCP Apps support. Do not assume every assistant will render the same interface.

Treat examples as questions to try, not live reports. The answer depends on current source availability and what the selected tool supports. Keep forecast times, observation times and official advisories visible as you work through the plan.

Keep using the conversation for follow-ups

Once you have a sourced answer, ask what is missing, which station a reading represents or how the forecast changes during the requested window. You can move into Gillby’s map whenever seeing places together helps.

Direct installation from major AI directories is planned and depends on platform approval. Today, start with the custom setup on the connection page. That page has assistant-specific instructions, a test question and troubleshooting in one place.

Questions to try after connecting

These are suggested prompts, not live condition reports or promises of data availability.

• Use Gillby to check current conditions at Boca Inlet. Include source freshness and any unavailable data.
• Use Gillby to find the available wind and wave forecast for a Cocoa Beach surf session tomorrow morning. State the forecast’s time coverage.
• Use Gillby to help me plan a beach outing near Clearwater. Show what information is available and which local checks I still need.

Frequently asked questions

Connect once. Start with a real question.

Choose your assistant on Gillby’s connection page for the current server URL, setup instructions and a test question.

Read why Gillby is a headless water app

Sources & further reading

• Gillby: current setup and troubleshooting
• OpenAI: custom MCP server guidance
• Claude: custom remote MCP connectors

Setup options vary by assistant, plan and workspace. This article describes Gillby’s connection approach, not current water conditions.