Connecting Familiar to Claude

A few things to know:

• A Claude surface that supports custom connectors — Claude on the web, the desktop app, or your phone, as well as Claude Code.
• No Familiar account is required to start. Familiar creates a temporary private session for the connector; add email or Google later only if you want purchases or recovery.

Connecting is free. Your own Claude writes the reading; Familiar only serves the cards.

Familiar is a remote connector — there's nothing to install and no key to paste. It lives at one address:

https://mcp.familiartarot.com/mcp

In Claude, open Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector, paste that address, and save.

Leave every advanced field blank. In particular, don't enter an OAuth Client ID or Secret — Familiar registers your client automatically. A value typed into those fields is the single most common reason the connection fails, so if in doubt, clear them.

When Claude opens the connection, Familiar asks you to approve access. Choose Continue without an account and the connector can start with the free decks.

If you later buy a deck or want a recoverable history, you can add email or Google then. There's still no password to remember.

Familiar is one universal connector, so the same address works in any assistant that supports custom MCP connectors — not only Claude. The setup is the same shape everywhere: add it by URL, approve access, and leave the OAuth fields blank.

• ChatGPT — add Familiar as a custom MCP server in ChatGPT Plugins; some accounts need developer mode turned on first. The steps are at https://familiartarot.com/connect/chatgpt.
• Grok — on grok.com, add Familiar under Connectors → New Connector → Custom. The steps are at https://familiartarot.com/connect/grok.
• Mistral Le Chat (now Vibe) — add a custom connector under Context → Connectors; it detects the sign-in by itself. The steps are at https://familiartarot.com/connect/le-chat.
• Perplexity — on Pro or Max, add a custom remote connector under Settings → Connectors. The steps are at https://familiartarot.com/connect/perplexity.
• Gemini — personal accounts in the US can add Familiar as a custom app under Settings → Connected Apps. The steps are at https://familiartarot.com/connect/gemini.
• HuggingChat — free with a Hugging Face account: open MCP Servers → Add Server and authorize. The steps are at https://familiartarot.com/connect/huggingchat.
• Cursor and similar developer tools — add an MCP server by URL in their MCP settings.

Wherever you add it, the address is the same one above, and the same rule applies: leave any OAuth Client ID or Secret blank so Familiar can register your client automatically.

You never call these by name. You talk, and your Claude reaches for the tool that fits. There are eight:

• shuffle — mix the whole deck into a fresh deal, and open a session to draw from.
• cut — lift and set down a portion of the shuffled deck; a gesture of its own, distinct from a shuffle.
• draw — pull one to ten cards from the top, with no fixed positions.
• draw_spread — lay a named spread, each card in a fixed place: three (past / present / future), relationship, decision, the Celtic cross, and more.
• draw_situation — draw for an everyday moment: a card for the day, the week ahead, a yes-or-no, or an either-or between two options.
• list_decks — see the decks you can read with, free and owned.
• browse_deck — look up any card's image and meaning without drawing it.
• list_patterns — see every spread and situation, with what each position means.

The connection won't add, or it errors out. Almost always this is a value left in the advanced OAuth fields. Clear any Client ID or Secret so they're blank — Familiar registers automatically — then add the connector again.

It describes cards without drawing them. The cards only come from the tools. Ask it plainly to shuffle and draw; if it narrates a card it didn't draw, tell it to draw for real.

It says a deck isn't yours. The Classic deck is free for everyone. Other decks become yours once you buy them on familiartarot.com — when you ask for one you don't have yet, the tool hands you a link to it.

Is there anything to pay? No. Connecting and reading over MCP is free. Paid decks are one-time purchases, needed only for those decks.

Where does it work? Anywhere Claude supports custom connectors — the web, desktop, and phone, as well as Claude Code.

Readings you make through the connector are saved to the temporary or signed-in Familiar history for that connection and marked as coming from Claude. What we collect and how it's handled is set out in the Privacy Policy, and the Terms of Service cover the rest.