ChatGPT App Builder

Build production-ready ChatGPT apps with interactive widgets using mcp-use. Zero-config widget development with automatic registration and built-in React hooks.

Quick Start

npx create-mcp-use-app my-chatgpt-app --template mcp-apps
cd my-chatgpt-app
npm install && npm run dev

Project structure:

my-chatgpt-app/
├── resources/              # React widgets (auto-registered!)
│   ├── weather-display.tsx # Example widget
│   └── product-card.tsx    # Another widget
├── public/                 # Static assets
│   └── images/
├── index.ts               # MCP server entry
├── package.json
└── tsconfig.json

Why mcp-use for ChatGPT Apps?

Traditional OpenAI Apps SDK requires significant manual setup:

• Separate project structure (server/ and web/ folders)
• Manual esbuild/webpack configuration
• Custom useWidgetState hook implementation
• Manual React mounting code
• Manual CSP configuration
• Manual widget registration

mcp-use simplifies everything:

• Single command setup
• Drop widgets in

  resources/

  folder - auto-registered
• Built-in

  useWidget()

  hook with state, props, tool calls
• Automatic bundling with hot reload
• Automatic CSP configuration
• Built-in Inspector for testing
• Dual-protocol support (works with ChatGPT AND MCP Apps clients)

MCP Apps vs ChatGPT Apps SDK

type: "mcpApps"

type: "appsSdk"

Why MCP Apps? It's the official standard (SEP-1865) for interactive widgets:

• Universal: Works with ChatGPT, Claude Desktop, Goose, and all MCP Apps clients
• Future-proof: Based on open specification
• Zero config: With

  type: "mcpApps"

  , mcp-use generates metadata for BOTH protocols automatically

Creating Widgets

Simple Widget (Single File)

Create

resources/weather-display.tsx

import { McpUseProvider, useWidget, type WidgetMetadata } from "mcp-use/react";
import { z } from "zod";

export const widgetMetadata: WidgetMetadata = {
  description: "Display current weather for a city",
  props: z.object({
    city: z.string().describe("City name"),
    temperature: z.number().describe("Temperature in Celsius"),
    conditions: z.string().describe("Weather conditions"),
    humidity: z.number().describe("Humidity percentage"),
  }),
};

const WeatherDisplay: React.FC = () => {
  const { props, isPending } = useWidget();

  if (isPending) {
    return (
      <McpUseProvider autoSize>
        <div className="animate-pulse p-4">Loading weather...</div>
      </McpUseProvider>
    );
  }

  return (
    <McpUseProvider autoSize>
      <div className="weather-card p-4 rounded-lg shadow">
        <h2 className="text-2xl font-bold">{props.city}</h2>
        <div className="temp text-4xl">{props.temperature}°C</div>
        <p className="conditions">{props.conditions}</p>
        <p className="humidity">Humidity: {props.humidity}%</p>
      </div>
    </McpUseProvider>
  );
};

export default WeatherDisplay;

Widget is automatically:

• Registered as MCP tool

  weather-display

• Registered as MCP resource

  ui://widget/weather-display.html

• Bundled for Apps SDK compatibility

Complex Widget (Folder Structure)

For widgets with multiple components:

resources/
└── product-search/
    ├── widget.tsx          # Entry point (required name)
    ├── components/
    │   ├── ProductCard.tsx
    │   └── FilterBar.tsx
    ├── hooks/
    │   └── useFilter.ts
    └── types.ts

Entry point must be named

widget.tsx

widgetMetadata

Widget Metadata

export const widgetMetadata: WidgetMetadata = {
  // Required: Human-readable description
  description: "Display weather information",

  // Required: Zod schema for widget props
  props: z.object({
    city: z.string().describe("City name"),
    temperature: z.number(),
  }),

  // Optional: Disable automatic tool registration
  exposeAsTool: true, // default

  // Optional: Unified metadata (works for BOTH ChatGPT and MCP Apps)
  metadata: {
    csp: {
      connectDomains: ["https://api.weather.com"],
      resourceDomains: ["https://cdn.weather.com"],
    },
    prefersBorder: true,
    autoResize: true,
    widgetDescription: "Interactive weather display",
  },
};

Key fields:

• description

  : Used for tool and resource descriptions

• props

  : Zod schema defines widget input parameters

• exposeAsTool

  : Set to

  false

  if only using widget via custom tools

• metadata

  : Unified configuration for both protocols (recommended)

Content Security Policy (CSP)

Control external resources your widget can access:

export const widgetMetadata: WidgetMetadata = {
  description: "Weather widget",
  props: z.object({ city: z.string() }),
  metadata: {
    csp: {
      // APIs to call (fetch, WebSocket, XMLHttpRequest)
      connectDomains: ["https://api.weather.com", "https://backup.weather.com"],
      // Static assets (images, fonts, stylesheets)
      resourceDomains: ["https://cdn.weather.com"],
      // External iframes
      frameDomains: ["https://embed.weather.com"],
      // Script directives (use carefully!)
      scriptDirectives: ["'unsafe-inline'"],
    },
  },
};

Security tips:

• Specify exact domains:

  https://api.weather.com

• Avoid wildcards in production
• Never use

  'unsafe-eval'

  unless necessary

For detailed CSP configuration and legacy format, see references/csp-and-metadata.md.

useWidget Hook

const {
  props,              // Widget input from tool (empty {} while pending)
  isPending,          // True while tool still executing
  state,              // Persistent widget state
  setState,           // Update persistent state
  theme,              // 'light' | 'dark' from host
  callTool,           // Call other MCP tools
  displayMode,        // 'inline' | 'pip' | 'fullscreen'
  requestDisplayMode, // Request display mode change
  output,             // Additional tool output
} = useWidget<MyPropsType, MyOutputType>();

Props and Loading States

Critical: Widgets render BEFORE tool execution completes. Always handle

isPending

const { props, isPending } = useWidget<WeatherProps>();

// Pattern 1: Early return
if (isPending) {
  return <div>Loading...</div>;
}
// Now props are safe to use

// Pattern 2: Conditional rendering
return (
  <div>
    {isPending ? <LoadingSpinner /> : <div>{props.city}</div>}
  </div>
);

// Pattern 3: Optional chaining (partial UI)
return (
  <div>
    <h1>{props.city ?? "Loading..."}</h1>
  </div>
);

Widget State

Persist data across widget interactions:

const { state, setState } = useWidget();

// Save state (persists in ChatGPT localStorage)
const addFavorite = async (city: string) => {
  await setState({
    favorites: [...(state?.favorites || []), city],
  });
};

// Update with function
await setState((prev) => ({
  ...prev,
  count: (prev?.count || 0) + 1,
}));

Calling MCP Tools

Widgets can call other tools:

const { callTool } = useWidget();

const refreshData = async () => {
  try {
    const result = await callTool("get-weather", { city: "Tokyo" });
    console.log("Result:", result.content);
  } catch (error) {
    console.error("Tool call failed:", error);
  }
};

Display Mode Control

const { displayMode, requestDisplayMode } = useWidget();

const goFullscreen = async () => {
  await requestDisplayMode("fullscreen");
};

// Current mode: 'inline' | 'pip' | 'fullscreen'
console.log(displayMode);

Custom Tools with Widgets

Create tools that return widgets:

import { MCPServer, widget, text } from "mcp-use/server";
import { z } from "zod";

const server = new MCPServer({
  name: "weather-app",
  version: "1.0.0",
  baseUrl: process.env.MCP_URL || "http://localhost:3000",
});

server.tool(
  {
    name: "get-weather",
    description: "Get current weather for a city",
    schema: z.object({
      city: z.string().describe("City name"),
    }),
    // Widget config (registration-time metadata)
    widget: {
      name: "weather-display", // Must match widget in resources/
      invoking: "Fetching weather...",
      invoked: "Weather data loaded",
    },
  },
  async ({ city }) => {
    const data = await fetchWeatherAPI(city);

    return widget({
      props: {
        city,
        temperature: data.temp,
        conditions: data.conditions,
        humidity: data.humidity,
      },
      output: text(`Weather in ${city}: ${data.temp}°C`),
      message: `Current weather for ${city}`,
    });
  }
);

server.listen();

Key points:

• baseUrl

  in server config enables proper asset loading

• widget: { name, invoking, invoked }

  on tool definition

• widget({ props, output })

  helper returns runtime data

• props

  passed to widget,

  output

  shown to model

Static Assets

Use

public/

my-app/
├── resources/
├── public/
│   ├── images/
│   │   ├── logo.svg
│   │   └── banner.png
│   └── fonts/
└── index.ts

Using assets in widgets:

import { Image } from "mcp-use/react";

function MyWidget() {
  return (
    <div>
      {/* Paths relative to public/ folder */}
      <Image src="/images/logo.svg" alt="Logo" />
      <img src={window.__getFile?.("images/banner.png")} alt="Banner" />
    </div>
  );
}

Components

McpUseProvider

Unified provider combining all common setup:

import { McpUseProvider } from "mcp-use/react";

function MyWidget() {
  return (
    <McpUseProvider
      autoSize      // Auto-resize widget
      viewControls  // Add debug/fullscreen buttons
      debug         // Show debug info
    >
      <div>Widget content</div>
    </McpUseProvider>
  );
}

Image Component

Handles both data URLs and public paths:

import { Image } from "mcp-use/react";

<Image src="/images/photo.jpg" alt="Photo" />
<Image src="data:image/png;base64,..." alt="Data URL" />

ErrorBoundary

import { ErrorBoundary } from "mcp-use/react";

<ErrorBoundary
  fallback={<div>Something went wrong</div>}
  onError={(error) => console.error(error)}
>
  <MyComponent />
</ErrorBoundary>

For full component API, see references/components-api.md.

Testing

Using the Inspector

1. Start development:

   npm run dev

2. Open

   http://localhost:3000/inspector

3. Click Tools tab → Find your widget → Enter parameters → Execute
4. Debug with browser console, RPC logs, state inspection

Testing in ChatGPT

1. Enable Developer Mode: Settings → Connectors → Advanced → Developer mode
2. Add your server: Connectors tab → Add remote MCP server URL
3. Test: Select Developer Mode from Plus menu → Choose connector → Use tools

Prompting tips:

• Be explicit: "Use the weather-app connector's get-weather tool..."
• Disallow alternatives: "Do not use built-in tools, only use my connector"
• Specify input: "Call get-weather with { city: 'Tokyo' }"

Dual-protocol note: With

type: "mcpApps"

Best Practices

Schema Design

// Good - descriptive
const schema = z.object({
  city: z.string().describe("City name (e.g., Tokyo, Paris)"),
  temperature: z.number().min(-50).max(60).describe("Temp in Celsius"),
});

// Bad - no descriptions
const schema = z.object({
  city: z.string(),
  temp: z.number(),
});

Theme Support

const { theme } = useWidget();
const bgColor = theme === "dark" ? "bg-gray-900" : "bg-white";
const textColor = theme === "dark" ? "text-white" : "text-gray-900";

Loading States

Always check

isPending

const { props, isPending } = useWidget<MyProps>();

if (isPending) return <LoadingSpinner />;
return <div>{props.field}</div>;

Widget Focus

Keep widgets focused on one thing:

// Good: Single purpose
export const widgetMetadata: WidgetMetadata = {
  description: "Display weather for a city",
  props: z.object({ city: z.string() }),
};

// Bad: Too many responsibilities
export const widgetMetadata: WidgetMetadata = {
  description: "Weather, forecast, map, news, and more",
  props: z.object({ /* many fields */ }),
};

Error Handling

const { callTool } = useWidget();

const fetchData = async () => {
  try {
    const result = await callTool("fetch-data", { id: "123" });
    if (result.isError) {
      console.error("Tool returned error");
    }
  } catch (error) {
    console.error("Tool call failed:", error);
  }
};

Configuration

Production Setup

const server = new MCPServer({
  name: "my-app",
  version: "1.0.0",
  baseUrl: process.env.MCP_URL || "https://myserver.com",
});

Environment Variables

MCP_URL=https://myserver.com
MCP_SERVER_URL=https://myserver.com/api
CSP_URLS=https://cdn.example.com,https://api.example.com

Deployment

npx mcp-use login
npm run deploy

Build for production:

npm run build
npm start

Troubleshooting

Widget Not Appearing

• Ensure

  .tsx

  extension
• Export

  widgetMetadata

  object
• Export default React component
• Check server logs for errors
• Verify widget name matches file/folder name

Props Not Received

• Check

  isPending

  first (props empty while pending)
• Use

  useWidget()

  hook (not React props)
• Verify

  widgetMetadata.props

  is valid Zod schema
• Check tool parameters match schema

CSP Errors

• Set

  baseUrl

  in server config
• Add domains to CSP via

  metadata.csp

• Use HTTPS for all resources
• Check browser console for CSP violations

Protocol Compatibility

• Use

  type: "mcpApps"

  for dual-protocol support
• Set

  baseUrl

  correctly in server config
• Use

  metadata

  (camelCase) not

  appsSdkMetadata

  for dual-protocol
• Test in Inspector which supports both protocols

Quick Reference

Commands:

• npx create-mcp-use-app my-app --template mcp-apps

  - Bootstrap

• npm run dev

  - Development with hot reload

• npm run build

  - Build for production

• npm start

  - Run production server

• npm run deploy

  - Deploy to mcp-use Cloud

Widget structure:

• resources/widget-name.tsx

  - Single file widget

• resources/widget-name/widget.tsx

  - Folder-based widget entry

• public/

  - Static assets

Widget metadata:

• description

  - Widget description (required)

• props

  - Zod schema for input (required)

• exposeAsTool

  - Auto-register as tool (default: true)

• metadata

  - Unified config (dual-protocol)

• metadata.csp

  - Content Security Policy

useWidget returns:

• props

  - Widget input parameters

• isPending

  - Loading state flag

• state, setState

  - Persistent state

• callTool

  - Call other tools

• theme

  - Current theme (light/dark)

• displayMode, requestDisplayMode

  - Display control

References

• Widget Patterns - Complex widgets, data fetching, state, theming examples
• CSP and Metadata - Detailed CSP, legacy format, migration guide
• Components API - Full McpUseProvider, Image, ErrorBoundary API

Learn More

• Documentation: https://docs.mcp-use.com
• MCP Apps Standard: https://docs.mcp-use.com/typescript/server/mcp-apps
• Widget Guide: https://docs.mcp-use.com/typescript/server/ui-widgets
• ChatGPT Apps Flow: https://docs.mcp-use.com/guides/chatgpt-apps-flow
• Inspector Debugging: https://docs.mcp-use.com/inspector/debugging-chatgpt-apps
• GitHub: https://github.com/mcp-use/mcp-use