Connecting your AI assistant

Vizspect speaks the Model Context Protocol (MCP), so it works with any assistant on your machine that supports MCP: Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cowork, ChatGPT Work, and ChatGPT Codex (CLI and desktop), and others. In the standard setup the assistant and Vizspect run on the same Windows machine, and the assistant reaches Vizspect at a local address. Running the assistant on a Mac with Visio in a Parallels VM is also supported. See Using Vizspect from a Mac.

Setup is mostly automatic

When Vizspect first runs, it registers itself with the Claude and ChatGPT (Codex and Work) apps it finds (both their desktop and CLI forms) so they can see Visio with no extra setup. Launch your assistant, open a drawing in Visio, and ask it to draw; if it can, you’re connected.

Checking and reconnecting

Right-click the tray icon and open Check connection…. The status window lists each AI assistant found on this machine (Claude Desktop, Claude Code CLI, ChatGPT Codex CLI, and ChatGPT Codex desktop), each with a ✓ when it’s connected to Vizspect, alongside whether Vizspect and Visio are running.

  • Reconnect AI assistants (top of the tray menu, or a button in the status window) re-links Vizspect into Claude and ChatGPT (Codex and Work). You rarely need it: Vizspect re-checks every time you open the menu and links a newly-installed or disconnected assistant automatically. It’s the manual nudge if you want it. After a (re)connect, fully quit and reopen the assistant so it picks up the change.
  • Keep AI assistants connected (Advanced submenu, on by default) is the automatic side of the above: on every launch, and every time you open the tray menu, if an assistant was installed after Vizspect or its entry got wiped, Vizspect re-links it for you (you’ll get a brief notice). Leave it on unless you deliberately removed Vizspect from a client.
  • Copy connection URL (Advanced submenu) puts the local server address on your clipboard, for connecting a client by hand (it’s also shown in the tray’s About).
  • Copy sign-in token (Advanced → Remote access) copies the sign-in token, the secret an AI assistant must present to reach the server when Require sign-in token is on. Paste it into the client’s MCP connection config (as an Authorization: Bearer header). You only need it when the sign-in token is required, which happens automatically once you allow LAN access; see App settings.
  • Copy control token (Advanced → Remote access) copies the control token, a different secret that authorizes remote control of the server (start / stop / restart it over the network) when Allow LAN connections is on, for example the Mac-side restart script in a Parallels setup. It only manages the server process; it can’t read or change a drawing, and you don’t need it when you use Vizspect on this machine only.

Connecting another client by hand

Any MCP client can connect using the address from Copy connection URL:

  • Claude Code takes the URL directly: claude mcp add --transport http visio <URL>.
  • Claude Desktop and the ChatGPT apps (Codex and Work) use a small bridge that Vizspect points them at; the Connect / Reconnect menu sets this up for you.
  • Any other MCP client (including Cowork) connects through its own MCP setup: HTTP-capable clients take the connection URL directly; stdio-only clients use the bundled bridge (as Claude Desktop and the ChatGPT apps do).

A note on security

By default the server listens only on this machine, so Vizspect itself never sends your documents anywhere. If you expose the server beyond this machine (for example a Mac reaching a Visio session in a Parallels VM (Allow LAN connections), or a hosted assistant), turn on Require sign-in token so only a client holding your token can reach the drawing. See App settings. For the Mac side of a Parallels setup, see Using Vizspect from a Mac.

When a connection drops

If an assistant says it can’t see Visio: make sure Visio is open with a drawing, check the tray icon isn’t grey (right-click → Start), then open Connect (it re-checks automatically, or click Reconnect AI assistants) and restart the assistant. More in Troubleshooting.