--- title: "Two honest tiers inside chat: nothing connected, and connected" slug: "two-honest-tiers-inside-chat" summary: "Nothing connected: the assistant reads the page and hands the visitor a deep link. Connected: our card renders inline through MCP Apps. We tested both, so we say both." canonicalUrl: "https://dev.powers.now/blog/two-honest-tiers-inside-chat" status: "published" publishedAt: "2026-11-04T23:46:06.401Z" updatedAt: "2026-11-04T23:46:06.401Z" version: 3 author: "powers.now" publisher: "powers.now" language: "en" trust: state: "verified_source" score: 0.9 topics: - "agent-first presence" - "connectors" - "powers" entities: - id: "powers-now" type: "Organization" name: "powers.now" sameAs: - "https://powers.now/" - "https://dev.powers.now/llms.txt" description: "The one link; also the name of the one connector a user adds to ChatGPT or Claude." - id: "chatgpt" type: "Product" name: "ChatGPT" sameAs: - "https://chatgpt.com/" - "https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/guides/custom-mcp-server" description: "OpenAI's assistant. Renders our card inline only through a connected MCP server." - id: "claude" type: "Product" name: "Claude" sameAs: - "https://claude.ai/" - "https://support.claude.com/en/articles/11175166-get-started-with-custom-connectors-using-remote-mcp" description: "Anthropic's assistant. With nothing connected it reads the page and hands over a deep link; connected, it renders the card." - id: "mcp-apps" type: "Concept" name: "MCP Apps" sameAs: - "https://modelcontextprotocol.io/extensions/apps/overview" description: "The MCP extension for interactive interfaces rendered in the chat by a connected server." - id: "mcp" type: "Concept" name: "Model Context Protocol" sameAs: - "https://modelcontextprotocol.io/specification/2026-07-28" description: "The protocol a connector speaks; powers.now's MCP server is the connector." - id: "webmcp" type: "Concept" name: "WebMCP" sameAs: - "https://developer.chrome.com/docs/ai/webmcp" description: "A proposed web standard for exposing structured tools to AI agents from a page; the rung for browser-resident agents." - id: "lead-scheduler" type: "Product" name: "Lead Scheduler" sameAs: - "https://powers.now/book/" description: "The power we tested in both hosts." edges: - from: "powers-now" to: "chatgpt" relation: "is a connector in" - from: "powers-now" to: "claude" relation: "is a custom connector in" - from: "powers-now" to: "mcp" relation: "speaks" - from: "powers-now" to: "mcp-apps" relation: "renders its card inline through" - from: "webmcp" to: "lead-scheduler" relation: "exposes the tools of, on the business's own page" - from: "lead-scheduler" to: "chatgpt" relation: "was tested in" - from: "lead-scheduler" to: "claude" relation: "was tested in" claims: - id: "c1" text: "With nothing connected, an assistant can read the page, GET the read API and hand the visitor a deep link that pre-fills the page; nothing changes state over GET." citations: - "s-book-llms" - "s-llms" status: "supported" - id: "c2" text: "Our branded card renders inline in the chat only through a connected MCP server, as MCP Apps: interactive HTML in a sandboxed iframe controlled by the host." citations: - "s-mcp-apps" status: "supported" - id: "c3" text: "A custom connector in Claude is a remote MCP server the user adds; Claude's free plan is limited to one custom connector." citations: - "s-claude-connectors" status: "supported" - id: "c4" text: "ChatGPT adds a remote MCP server as a custom connector; powers.now is one MCP URL from the business's link, added as a connector in either assistant." citations: - "s-openai-mcp" - "s-add-it" status: "supported" - id: "c5" text: "WebMCP is a proposed web standard for exposing structured tools to AI agents from a page; it does not mount hosted HTML in a chat." citations: - "s-webmcp" - "s-mcp-apps" status: "supported" citations: - id: "s-llms" url: "https://dev.powers.now/llms.txt" title: "powers.now, the guide for agents" publisher: "powers.now" accessedAt: "2026-11-04" - id: "s-book-llms" url: "https://powers.now/book/llms.txt" title: "Lead Scheduler, the guide for agents" publisher: "powers.now" accessedAt: "2026-11-04" - id: "s-mcp-apps" url: "https://modelcontextprotocol.io/extensions/apps/overview" title: "MCP Apps" publisher: "Model Context Protocol" accessedAt: "2026-11-04" - id: "s-claude-connectors" url: "https://support.claude.com/en/articles/11175166-get-started-with-custom-connectors-using-remote-mcp" title: "Get started with custom connectors using remote MCP" publisher: "Anthropic" accessedAt: "2026-11-04" - id: "s-openai-mcp" url: "https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/guides/custom-mcp-server" title: "Add custom MCP server" publisher: "OpenAI" accessedAt: "2026-11-04" - id: "s-webmcp" url: "https://developer.chrome.com/docs/ai/webmcp" title: "WebMCP" publisher: "Chrome for Developers" accessedAt: "2026-11-04" - id: "s-add-it" url: "https://dev.powers.now/add-it" title: "How you add it" publisher: "powers.now" accessedAt: "2026-11-04" questions: - question: "Do my customers need to install anything to use my power in ChatGPT or Claude?" answer: "No. With nothing connected, the assistant reads the page and the read API and hands them a deep link to finish on the page. Adding the powers.now connector once puts the card itself in the conversation." - question: "What does connecting add?" answer: "The branded card inline, through MCP Apps, with live state. The assistant can hold and book inside the chat and the person watches it in the card instead of following a link." - question: "Why is the connector powers.now and not one per business?" answer: "The engine is shared and the business is context, so one connector renders every business's power. Hosts count connectors, and Claude's free plan allows one custom connector, so one is what a user should need." takeaways: - "Nothing connected: the assistant renders its own card from our page and the read API and hands over a deep link. Real, useful, not our card." - "Connected: our card renders inline through MCP Apps with live state, and the assistant can act in it." - "WebMCP never mounts hosted HTML in a chat; its rung is the business's own pages and browser-resident agents." - "One powers.now connector, added once, renders every business's power from then on." actions: - type: "read" label: "See the connector steps for ChatGPT and Claude" url: "https://dev.powers.now/add-it" - type: "book" label: "Book an intro call with powers.now" url: "https://powers.now/book/" --- # Two honest tiers inside chat: nothing connected, and connected Nothing connected: the assistant reads the page and hands the visitor a deep link. Connected: our card renders inline through MCP Apps. We tested both, so we say both. ## What we tested On 2026-11-03 we put our own scheduler, `dev.powers.now/book`, in front of Claude and ChatGPT with nothing connected, and then with a connector. What follows is what each host did, not what we hoped. ## Tier one: nothing connected Claude, with its built-in browser and nothing connected, read the page and the read API, built its own lightweight card from the openings in the snapshot, walked the qualifying questions, validated the input and ended on a deep link to the page with the slot and the answers pre-filled. It booked nothing. The visitor confirms on the page, which is the user lane by design. ChatGPT, with nothing connected, tried to load our hosted card into the conversation and could not. There is no rendering bridge for remote HTML without a connected server. So tier one is this: the assistant reads the page, the manifest and the read API, renders its own card in its own way, and hands the visitor the deep link. Our branded card is not in the conversation. The job still gets done, because nothing changes state over GET and the deep link carries everything the person chose. ## Tier two: connected With the powers.now connector added, our card renders inline. That is MCP Apps: a connected server returns an interactive interface that the host renders directly in the chat, in a sandboxed iframe the host controls. State is live. The assistant can hold and book, and the person watches it happen in the card. WebMCP alone never mounts hosted HTML in a chat. The branded card inside the conversation is an MCP Apps connector. WebMCP's job is a different one: the shared human and agent state on the business's own pages, for agents that live in the browser. ## One connector, every business The connector is `powers.now`, one per user, never one per business. The engine is shared and the business is context, so a user who adds powers.now once has every business's power inline from then on. That matters because the hosts count connectors: Claude's free plan allows one custom connector. One link makes one connector enough. "Use in ChatGPT" and "Use in Claude" on every power page produce each host's exact connector flow, step by step, not a hint. Listing powers.now in the hosts' directories turns that into one click by name. ## Why say both Because a visitor who hears "works inside ChatGPT" and then sees a plain text answer will not believe the next thing we say. Tier one is real and useful. Tier two is the product. The site says both, in that order, and the bridge between them is one connector added once. ## Takeaways - Nothing connected: the assistant renders its own card from our page and the read API and hands over a deep link. Real, useful, not our card. - Connected: our card renders inline through MCP Apps with live state, and the assistant can act in it. - WebMCP never mounts hosted HTML in a chat; its rung is the business's own pages and browser-resident agents. - One powers.now connector, added once, renders every business's power from then on. ## Questions answered ### Do my customers need to install anything to use my power in ChatGPT or Claude? No. With nothing connected, the assistant reads the page and the read API and hands them a deep link to finish on the page. Adding the powers.now connector once puts the card itself in the conversation. ### What does connecting add? The branded card inline, through MCP Apps, with live state. The assistant can hold and book inside the chat and the person watches it in the card instead of following a link. ### Why is the connector powers.now and not one per business? The engine is shared and the business is context, so one connector renders every business's power. Hosts count connectors, and Claude's free plan allows one custom connector, so one is what a user should need. ## Sources - [powers.now, the guide for agents](https://dev.powers.now/llms.txt) — powers.now - [Lead Scheduler, the guide for agents](https://powers.now/book/llms.txt) — powers.now - [MCP Apps](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/extensions/apps/overview) — Model Context Protocol - [Get started with custom connectors using remote MCP](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/11175166-get-started-with-custom-connectors-using-remote-mcp) — Anthropic - [Add custom MCP server](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/guides/custom-mcp-server) — OpenAI - [WebMCP](https://developer.chrome.com/docs/ai/webmcp) — Chrome for Developers - [How you add it](https://dev.powers.now/add-it) — powers.now