Use playout.video in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Other AI Apps

What It Is

playout.video is in the ChatGPT plugin directory, and it also works in Claude, Gemini and other AI apps that support connectors (the open standard behind them is called MCP). Once connected, the AI app can see your streams, playlists, media library and channels, and run them for you when you ask in plain language.

It uses the same tools as the AI Assistant inside playout.video, so it works on your real setup, not on guesses.

Which Plans Include It

Every plan, including Free.

Connecting does not use your AI Assistant messages. The AI app runs the conversation, and its own plan and limits apply.
Everything it does runs under your playout.video plan, the same as when you do it yourself: the number of streams, video quality, storage and destinations are unchanged.
If an app sends a very large number of requests in a short time, playout.video asks it to wait a minute.

New to playout.video?

You can create your account while you connect. When the AI app opens playout.video, sign in with your email, answer three quick questions to set up your free workspace, and you go straight on to approve the connection.

Connect ChatGPT

Open playout.video in ChatGPT, or open Plugins in the ChatGPT sidebar and search for playout.video.
Click Connect.
Sign in to playout.video. Your playout.video email does not need to match your ChatGPT email. New to playout.video? Signing in creates your account, and you set up a free workspace before going on.
If you belong to more than one workspace, choose the one ChatGPT can use.
Click Approve. You are back in ChatGPT, ready to ask.

To use it in a chat, mention @playout.video in your message, or click one of the suggested questions on its page in the plugin directory.

Whether you can add plugins in ChatGPT depends on your ChatGPT plan, region and workspace settings. Those are set by OpenAI, not by playout.video.

Guided Workflows in ChatGPT

In ChatGPT, playout.video comes with guided workflows for common jobs. Ask for the job and ChatGPT follows the steps for you:

Get Started: a tour of your workspace and what to set up first.
24/7 YouTube Stream Setup: from your videos to a stream that runs all day.
Stream Health Check: what is live, what stopped, and why.
Change What's On Air: skip, reorder or add videos on a running stream.
Multistream to More Platforms: send one stream to YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, LinkedIn, Kick and more.
Weekly Show Schedule: put shows on a weekly calendar in your time zone.
Best Time to Go Live: the days and hours your viewers watch.
YouTube Watch Hours Planner: live hours, viewer hours and what to fix.
Live Quizzes and Polls: plan a quiz or poll your viewers play on their phones.

Connect Claude

This works on every Claude plan. On Claude's Free plan you can add one custom connector.

In Claude, open Customize in the sidebar, then Connectors.
Click Add, then Add custom connector.
Enter the name playout.video and this URL: https://playout.video/api/mcp. Click Continue.
Claude detects how playout.video signs you in. Leave those settings as they are and click Add.
Click Connect.
Sign in to playout.video. Your playout.video email does not need to match your Claude email. New to playout.video? Signing in creates your account, and you set up a free workspace before going on.
If you belong to more than one workspace, choose the one Claude can use.
Click Approve. You are back in Claude, ready to ask.

On a Claude Team or Enterprise plan, an Owner adds the connector first: Organization settings, then Connectors, Add, then Custom, and the same URL. Each member then opens Customize, then Connectors, finds playout.video and clicks Connect to sign in with their own playout.video account.

To use it in a chat, click + in the message box, choose Connectors and check that playout.video is turned on.

Claude Code: run claude mcp add --transport http playout-video https://playout.video/api/mcp, then type /mcp in Claude Code, pick playout-video and sign in.

Connect Gemini

In Gemini, you add playout.video as a custom app. For now, Google offers custom apps only to people who are 18 or over and in the US, signed in with a personal Google Account (not a work or school account), with Gemini's Keep Activity setting on. Custom apps work in English, in the Gemini web app and the Gemini mobile app.

You can only add a custom app in the Gemini web app. Once it is added, it also works in the Gemini mobile app.

On your computer, go to gemini.google.com.
At the bottom, click Settings, then Connected Apps.
Under Custom apps, find the Add a custom app link to get started field. If you already have a custom app, click Add a custom app.
Enter this URL: https://playout.video/api/mcp. Leave Advanced features as they are: playout.video registers Gemini by itself, so no client ID or secret is needed.
Click Next and follow the steps Gemini shows.
Sign in to playout.video. Your playout.video email does not need to match your Google Account. New to playout.video? Signing in creates your account, and you set up a free workspace before going on.
If you belong to more than one workspace, choose the one Gemini can use.
Click Approve. You are back in Gemini, ready to ask.

To make sure Gemini uses playout.video for a question, type @ in the message box and select playout.video.

Before you connect, Gemini reminds you that custom apps are run by their makers, not by Google. Gemini asks you to confirm before a custom app makes any change.

Connect Other AI Apps

Any app that supports remote MCP servers with sign-in works the same way: add a server with the URL https://playout.video/api/mcp, then sign in and approve. This includes developer tools like Cursor and VS Code. You can also copy the URL from Settings, then Connected apps in playout.video.

What You Can Ask

What is running. "Which of my streams are live right now, and what are they playing?"
Health checks. "Is anything wrong with my streams?" "Why is my YouTube destination showing an error?"
Setting up a stream. "Help me set up a 24/7 YouTube stream from my videos."
Playlists and schedules. "Add these three videos to the end of my main playlist." "Play my morning playlist every weekday at 7am."
Your audience. "When do my viewers watch the most?" "How many viewer hours did my streams get last week?"
How-to questions. "How do I add a fallback to my calendar?" Answers come from the playout.video help center.

Workflows That Work Well

The best results come from asking a few things in a row, so the AI app builds on what it found.

Set up a 24/7 YouTube stream

"Help me set up a 24/7 YouTube stream from my videos."
It checks your library, makes a playlist, and gives you a link to connect YouTube if it is not connected yet.
"I connected it." It adds YouTube as a destination.
"Start it." It asks you to confirm, then goes live.

Check on everything

"Is everything healthy?"
"What happened to the stream that stopped?"
"Restart it on the same playlist."

Plan the week around your audience

"When do my viewers watch the most?"
"Schedule my best playlist for those hours, every day this week."

You Stay in Control

Changes ask first. ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini ask for your confirmation before the app changes anything, like starting a stream or editing a playlist. Claude also asks before it reads anything, until you change that. Under Customize, then Connectors, then playout.video, you can let it use the read-only tools without asking and keep the others asking first. Leave starting and stopping streams on asking first.
Going live is public. Starting or stopping a stream is visible to your audience, so check the confirmation before you accept it.
Everything is recorded. Changes it makes are recorded in your workspace's audit trail, the same as changes made in the app.

What It Cannot Do

Sign in to YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, LinkedIn or Kick for you. It gives you a link that opens the sign-in in your browser. You finish it there, then tell the AI app you are done. Instagram, TikTok, X and custom RTMP servers need no sign-in: give it the stream URL and key and it adds them.
Upload a file from your computer. It can import a video from a link (YouTube, Vimeo or a direct file URL). To upload a file, use the media library in playout.video.
Run the Live Studio. Live shows, quizzes and polls start in the Live Studio. The AI app can help you plan them.
Handle billing or support. Plans, payments and support requests are in playout.video, under Settings, then Billing and Help.

Workspaces

Each connection works in one workspace: the one you choose when you approve it. Links it gives you, like the one to connect a channel, open in that workspace.

To use a different workspace, disconnect the app (see below), connect it again and choose the other workspace.

Disconnect

In playout.video: go to Settings, then Connected apps and click Disconnect next to the app. It loses access right away.
In ChatGPT: open playout.video from Plugins, click Manage and disconnect it.
In Claude: open Customize, then Connectors, then playout.video, and click Disconnect. To take it off your list as well, click ... and then Remove. On Team and Enterprise plans, an Owner removes it for everyone in Organization settings, then Connectors.
In Gemini: go to gemini.google.com, click Settings, then Connected Apps. Under Custom apps, turn playout.video off to stop Gemini using it. To end its access, click More details, then Disconnect (it stays in your list, ready to connect again), or Remove app to take it off the list too. You can also unlink it from your Google Account's Linked apps page.

Disconnecting does not undo anything the app already changed.

Fixing Common Problems

I can't finish connecting. Sign in to playout.video in the same browser first, then start the connection again from the AI app. Turn off pop-up blockers for the sign-in, or try a private window.

It is working in the wrong workspace. Disconnect it in Settings, then Connected apps, connect again and choose the right workspace.

It says the connection was disconnected. The connection was removed in playout.video. Connect again from the AI app.

It says it can't see playout.video. Check that the plugin or connector is turned on for this chat (in ChatGPT, mention @playout.video; in Claude, click + in the message box, choose Connectors and turn playout.video on; in Gemini, type @ and select playout.video), then try again in a new chat.

Gemini has no Custom apps section. Custom apps need a personal Google Account in the US, with Keep Activity on. They are not available with a work or school account. Those rules are set by Google, not by playout.video.

It says something is not included in your plan. The AI app works under the same plan limits as the app. The message names what is missing.

FAQ

Is my data safe? The connection uses OAuth, the same standard as "Sign in with Google". The AI app never sees your password, only a token that works for the one workspace you chose, and you can disconnect it at any time.

Do I need a paid ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini plan? You need an account with the AI app. Its plans and limits are set and billed by its maker, separately from playout.video. Claude's Free plan allows one custom connector. In Gemini, custom apps currently need a personal Google Account in the US (see Connect Gemini).

Does this replace the AI Assistant in playout.video? No. The built-in AI Assistant works inside playout.video, with connect buttons and approval cards in the chat. The plugin brings the same tools into the AI app you already use.

Does it work on my phone? It works wherever your AI app supports plugins or connectors, including their mobile apps where available. In Gemini, add it once in the web app and it then works in the Gemini mobile app too.