How to Connect ChatGPT to Your Task Manager (Step by Step)

You can connect ChatGPT to SelfManager.ai through its MCP server, authorize access to your account and use conversation to read or update your tasks.

The basic setup is to add the server in ChatGPT, sign in to SelfManager.ai, install the resulting plugin and select it in a conversation. Then test one read request and one small change.

This guide uses SelfManager.ai throughout, with prompts you can adapt to your own work.

Setup instructions checked October 24, 2026. The steps follow OpenAI’s current custom MCP plugin flow on the web. Account controls and interface labels can change.

What you need before starting

Have these ready:

• A SelfManager.ai account. If you are new, start your 7-day free trial.
• ChatGPT on the web.
• Access to ChatGPT’s custom MCP server controls in the account or workspace you intend to use.

Check ChatGPT access first

OpenAI’s current instructions use Plugins → Add custom MCP server. Account and workspace policies apply.

The documentation reviewed for this guide does not establish a complete current plan-by-plan eligibility list. Check whether your account exposes the control before buying or changing a ChatGPT plan specifically for this connection.

If you use an organization-managed workspace, an administrator may need to enable the relevant access.

Step 1: Copy the SelfManager.ai server address

Use the address published on the SelfManager.ai MCP page:

https://api.selfmanager.ai/mcp

Copy the complete address, including the final /mcp.

You will enter it in ChatGPT’s server URL field.

Step 2: Add the server in ChatGPT

In ChatGPT on the web:

1. Open Plugins.
2. Select the plus button.
3. Choose Add custom MCP server.
4. Name it SelfManager.
5. Under Connection, enter the server address.
6. Configure account authentication using the OAuth option.
7. Read the connection notice and confirm that you want to continue.
8. Select Create as a plugin.

This creates the ChatGPT-side connection. Follow any sign-in prompts that appear during setup or installation.

Older instructions may refer to Apps, Connectors or developer mode. The current OpenAI flow checked for this guide uses Plugins.

Step 3: Sign in to SelfManager.ai and choose access

When the SelfManager.ai authorization screen opens:

1. Sign in to the account containing your tasks.
2. Review the requested access.
3. Choose what the connection may do.
4. Approve the connection.

For checking your workload, read access is sufficient. Creating or completing tasks requires permission to make changes.

Choose additional access only when it supports the workflow you intend to use.

If you have several SelfManager.ai accounts, confirm the account before authorizing. This avoids a successful connection that appears to contain the wrong tasks.

Step 4: Install and select the plugin

OpenAI’s current quickstart separates creating a custom connection from installing it.

After creation:

1. Find SelfManager in your personal plugins.
2. Open it and use the install control.
3. Return to the ChatGPT homepage.
4. Switch to Work.
5. Start a new conversation.
6. Type @ in the prompt box and select SelfManager.

Selecting it explicitly helps make the intended source clear.

You can now ask ChatGPT to use the connected task manager.

Step 5: Test reading your tasks

Start with a request that does not change anything:

Use SelfManager to show the tables and tasks on today’s date. Do not change anything.

Check the result against the day in SelfManager.ai.

A useful answer should refer to your actual work. If there are no tasks on that date, an empty result may be correct.

You can also ask about a date where you know you have data:

Use SelfManager to show my tables for [specific date]. Read only.

Replace the placeholder before sending.

The purpose is to confirm the connection, account and date before asking for changes.

Step 6: Test creating a small table

Once reading works, try a small, recognizable change:

Use SelfManager to create a table for tomorrow called “Connection test” with two tasks: “Check the connection” and “Choose tomorrow’s first priority.” Tell me what was created.

Review any confirmation ChatGPT presents.

Then open tomorrow in SelfManager.ai and check:

• The table name.
• The date.
• The two tasks.
• Whether an existing item was changed unexpectedly.

A successful explanation in chat is useful, but the actual record is the clearest way to verify the result.

Step 7: Use precise requests for existing tasks

For changes, identify the date, table and task whenever possible.

For example:

In SelfManager, on [date], in the table “Website update,” mark “Check the contact form” as complete.

This is easier to interpret than “Mark that one done,” particularly if several tables contain similar tasks.

If you are unsure which item matches, ask ChatGPT to find and show it first:

Find the task about checking the contact form. Show me the matching table and date before changing anything.

Ask for the change after confirming the right item.

Useful prompts after the connection works

Choose a starting point for today

Read today’s SelfManager tables. Suggest a realistic starting order based on the recorded priorities and deadlines. Explain any assumptions. Do not edit the tables.

This separates a recommendation from a change.

You still decide what to do, especially when availability or commitments are missing from the record.

Turn a rough plan into dated work

I need to prepare a presentation over the next five working days. The steps are gathering figures, outlining the argument, drafting slides, checking the figures and rehearsing. Suggest how to distribute them. Show me the plan before creating SelfManager tables.

Review the proposed distribution, adjust it, then ask for the approved work to be created.

Specify actual dates when weekends, holidays or a deadline could cause ambiguity.

Capture a follow-up from a conversation

Add “Send the revised proposal” to my SelfManager table “Client follow-ups” on [date]. Keep the wording exactly as written.

If the table does not exist, tell the assistant whether it should create one or ask you first.

Review a completed week

Read my SelfManager work from [start date] through [end date]. Summarize completed work, unfinished items and recorded blockers. Use tracked time where available, and say when information is missing. Do not change anything.

This asks ChatGPT to produce a review from the information it retrieves.

SelfManager.ai’s in-app AI Review is a separate feature. The MCP connection does not launch that internal AI feature on ChatGPT’s behalf.

What to do if the connection does not work

You cannot find “Add custom MCP server”

Check the account and workspace you are using, then review the current ChatGPT controls.

In a managed workspace, ask the administrator whether custom MCP connections are permitted.

A guide for another interface version may show a different route. Use the current controls available to your account.

ChatGPT gives general advice instead of reading your tasks

Confirm that the plugin is installed and selected in the conversation.

Try the direct read-only test again:

Use the connected SelfManager plugin to read today’s tables. Return the actual result.

An answer describing how task management works does not demonstrate that the connection was used.

Reading works, but changes fail

Check whether you authorized changes in SelfManager.ai.

Additional types of access have their own controls. Review the authorization settings for the action you are attempting.

Use one simple task change to diagnose the problem before trying a larger batch.

You see no tasks

Check the date and connected SelfManager.ai account.

Try a specific date where you know a table exists. An empty day is different from a failed connection.

You are unsure whether a change succeeded

Open the relevant date and table in SelfManager.ai before repeating the request.

If ChatGPT is uncertain, ask it to read the current record. That reduces the chance of creating a second copy of something that already exists.

How to disconnect ChatGPT

In SelfManager.ai, open My Profile → Connected apps and disconnect the relevant connection.

You can also remove or uninstall the corresponding plugin in ChatGPT. Revoking access ends the connection; review the task manager directly if you want to change any data already created.

A useful first workflow

After testing, choose one recurring need.

For example:

1. Read today’s work.
2. Ask for a suggested starting order.
3. Complete the work.
4. Update clearly identified tasks.
5. Review the recorded week.

Keep requests small enough to check while learning how the connection behaves.

If you are starting with SelfManager.ai, begin your 7-day free trial, add real work for a few days and test the connection with that context.

Frequently asked questions

Can ChatGPT add tasks to SelfManager.ai?

Yes, through an authorized MCP connection with permission to make changes. Specify the date and table, and verify the result in SelfManager.ai.

Do I need to write code?

This setup uses ChatGPT’s connection controls and SelfManager.ai’s sign-in flow. It does not require you to build a server or write an integration.

Which ChatGPT plan do I need?

Check whether your current account or workspace provides access to adding a custom MCP server. OpenAI’s setup documentation reviewed here does not provide a complete plan-by-plan eligibility matrix, and workspace policies can also affect access.

Does ChatGPT automatically know everything in my account?

The connection gives it access to supported tools within the authorization you grant. Ask it to retrieve the relevant dates or tables rather than assuming it has already loaded your entire history.

Is a review in ChatGPT the same as SelfManager.ai’s AI Review?

They are different workflows. ChatGPT can retrieve work and write its own review. SelfManager.ai also has an in-app AI Review feature, which the MCP connection does not run.

Can I connect another task manager the same way?

The general approach applies when that product provides a compatible MCP server and authentication flow. Use that provider’s official server address and instructions.