# Connect your AI to FranchiseSEE

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or another AI app to FranchiseSEE and ask about your stores in plain
language: "How did my stores do on sales last week?", "Which locations are behind on labor?",
"What sold best at lunch?". The app looks the answer up in FranchiseSEE and replies with your own
numbers. It sees exactly what your FranchiseSEE login sees, and nothing more.

FranchiseSEE connects through the **Model Context Protocol (MCP)**, the open standard AI apps use to
reach outside data.

> [!NOTE]
> FranchiseSEE's AI connections are in beta. Tools, their inputs and their answers may change
> without notice, and the setup steps may change as AI apps change their menus.

## Before you start

- **Signing in needs AI connections on for your brand.** If you don't see **Connect your AI** in
  the FranchiseSEE menu, they aren't on yet. Ask your HQ admin or FranchiseSEE support. HQ API
  tokens work either way.
- **Franchisees** can connect only while HQ allows it, by signing in and, separately, with
  personal tokens. See
  [Brand switches for HQ admins](https://franchisesee.com/docs/ai/data-scope-and-permissions.md#brand-switches-for-hq-admins).
- The **Connect your AI** page inside FranchiseSEE shows the sign-in steps with your connection
  link ready to copy, plus sample questions to try.

## Which way should I connect?

There are two ways in. Most people should sign in.

| You want to | Connect |
|-------------|---------|
| Ask questions in Claude or ChatGPT, set up in a few minutes | [Sign in](https://franchisesee.com/docs/ai/sign-in.md) |
| Connect without help from IT, with nothing to install | [Sign in](https://franchisesee.com/docs/ai/sign-in.md) |
| Use Claude Code, Cursor or Codex for reporting | [Sign in](https://franchisesee.com/docs/ai/sign-in.md) |
| Create or change locations, districts or users from an AI app | [API token](https://franchisesee.com/docs/ai/api-tokens.md) |
| Use an app that can't sign in, such as GitHub Copilot | [API token](https://franchisesee.com/docs/ai/api-tokens.md) |
| Run a script or a CI job | [API token](https://franchisesee.com/docs/ai/api-tokens.md), or the [REST API](https://franchisesee.com/docs/api/getting-started.md) |
| Roll the connection out to a team from a config file IT manages | [API token](https://franchisesee.com/docs/ai/api-tokens.md) |

## How the two compare

| | Sign in | API token |
|---|---------|-----------|
| Setup time | A few minutes | A few minutes, plus editing a config file |
| Who sets it up | Anyone with a FranchiseSEE login (franchisees while HQ allows it) | HQ users with *Manage API tokens*; franchisees only while HQ allows it |
| Where it works | Web, desktop and phone apps (claude.ai, ChatGPT) and coding tools | Apps that take a config file or header: Copilot, Claude Code, Claude Desktop, scripts |
| Servers it reaches | Reporting | Reporting, and admin for HQ only |
| Read or write | Always read-only | Read-only, or read and write for HQ |
| Expiry | Stays connected until someone disconnects it | HQ tokens can be set never to expire; franchisee tokens expire after 30 days, 90 days or a year |
| How to turn it off | **User settings**, then **Connected apps** | **User settings**, then **API tokens** |

- **[Connect by signing in →](https://franchisesee.com/docs/ai/sign-in.md)** Claude, ChatGPT and coding tools, with your usual
  FranchiseSEE login.
- **[Connect with an API token →](https://franchisesee.com/docs/ai/api-tokens.md)** The admin server, apps that can't sign in,
  scripts and IT-managed setups.

## The two servers

FranchiseSEE runs two MCP servers, each at its own address:

- **Reporting**, `https://app.franchisesee.com/mcp/reporting`: leaderboards, trends, labor, menu
  items, ratings, goals and more. Read-only. Connect it by signing in or with a token.
- **Admin**, `https://app.franchisesee.com/mcp/admin`: create, update and delete locations,
  districts, categories, location groups and users. API tokens only, and HQ accounts only: it
  refuses franchisee tokens.

The [MCP tool reference](https://franchisesee.com/docs/ai/tools) lists every tool on both servers,
with its inputs.

## Next steps

- See what a connection can see in [Data scope and permissions](https://franchisesee.com/docs/ai/data-scope-and-permissions.md).
- Try the [example prompts](https://franchisesee.com/docs/ai/example-prompts.md).
- Something not working? See [Troubleshooting](https://franchisesee.com/docs/ai/troubleshooting.md).