What MCP is, in plain language
Assume no background here. Three words, then an analogy, then why it matters for this page.
- MCP
- Stands for Model Context Protocol. It is an open standard, a publicly documented shared way for one program to talk to a language model, and to reach the tools that model can use.
- The problem it solves
- Before a standard like this existed, every app that wanted to use a model had to be written against that specific model’s specific API. Changing models meant rewriting the connection. MCP is a common shape that both sides agree on, so the app and the model can be changed independently.
- The analogy
- Think of it as a USB port rather than a bespoke plug. A USB device works with any laptop that has a port, because both follow the same agreed shape. An MCP endpoint is the same idea: any app that speaks MCP can point at any model that answers in MCP.
- Why Popcue cares
- Because the standard is open, Popcue does not have to choose a model vendor. It can take an address from you and use that. That is the whole reason the other connectors are free and uncapped, and the reason this one is the strongest privacy story of the connectors.
If none of that lands, you do not need it. This is the one connector on the site that assumes you already run a model. If you do not, the other two (Notion and AnkiDroid) are free and uncapped and need nothing from you (Todoist is coming soon). And if you would rather not connect anything, five AI-written paths are free with no connection at all.
How the MCP connector works
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You point Popcue at an endpoint
In the connector settings, you give Popcue the URL of an MCP-compatible LLM endpoint you already run, plus the access key for it. That is the current method: an address and a key, entered by you.
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Popcue asks the endpoint, not a model of ours
When Popcue needs to turn your material into cards, the request goes to the address you gave, and the endpoint you chose does the reading. Whatever model sits behind that endpoint is the one that writes the cards, and it is billed to your account, at your provider’s rate, on your terms.
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Cards come back as ordinary Popcue cards
What arrives is a card in one of Popcue’s eight types, labelled as coming from your endpoint, and scheduled by the same SM-2 scheduler as everything else. From that point on it is the ordinary interrupt: the wrapped app opens, a card is on screen, you reveal it, you rate it, and the app opens.
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You can turn it off and take the key with you
Disconnect the connector and the endpoint stops being asked anything. Rotate the key at your provider and the old one stops working, because the key belongs to you. Nothing here is a relationship we hold you inside of.
What the access key is, and the honest caveat
The access key is a secret string your provider issues you. You paste it into Popcue so that requests from Popcue are recognised as yours, in the same way a password identifies you to a service. It is not your password and not a login Popcue creates for you; it is a token you were issued and can revoke.
Here is the part we would rather not have to write, written plainly. Today, connecting an MCP endpoint means entering an access key in the app’s URL field. Hosted OAuth sign-in for third-party assistants is not available yet. You cannot yet connect by signing in to a provider from inside Popcue and approving it there. If a provider only issues keys that are awkward to handle, or if you would rather not paste a secret into a phone field at all, that is a legitimate reason to skip this connector. Use Notion or AnkiDroid instead; they are free, uncapped, and have none of this friction.
Two smaller things worth knowing before you paste a key anywhere:
- Popcue stores the endpoint address and the access key, so the connection can be re-established. That is the one place this page asks you to hold a secret, and rotating the key at your provider is the way to change it. The privacy policy covers the retention detail.
- Nobody but you chooses what the endpoint can see. What it can reach, and what it is permitted to read, is configured at your provider, under your account. Popcue sends the request; it does not widen the endpoint’s reach.
Why this is the strongest privacy story of the connectors
The other connectors hand your material to a service that already had it: Notion holds your pages, AnkiDroid holds your decks. That is already better than a copy in a stranger’s silo, but it is still a third party in the path.
With the MCP connector, the third party in the path is you. You already pay for the endpoint, you already chose the provider, and you already have an account with them and a relationship with them. Popcue is not introducing a new party into the chain; it is inserting a caller into a conversation you were already having.
- Who reads your material
- The endpoint you connected. It is the one doing the reading, under your account, on your provider’s terms, on your infrastructure if you host it yourself.
- Does it reach Popcue’s servers
- Your material does not. Popcue holds the endpoint address and the access key so the connection can be made again, and it does not build a server-side copy of what the endpoint returns. The privacy policy is the full statement of what is retained.
- Who can read it besides you
- Your provider, under their terms, exactly as if you had made the request yourself. Popcue adds no visibility and does not inspect what comes back.
- What it costs
- Nothing to us, which is why it is free and uncapped on every tier. It costs you whatever your provider charges, on your invoice, which is the trade and the reason it is honest to describe this connector as the strongest privacy story rather than the cheapest.
Questions people ask about the MCP connector
What is MCP?
MCP stands for Model Context Protocol. It is an open standard: a shared way for one program to talk to a language model, and to reach the tools that model can use. It is to models roughly what a USB port is to peripherals: a common shape that lets an app and a model connect without either one being written for the other. Because it is open, an app can point at any endpoint that speaks it, which is why Popcue can connect to a model you already run rather than one we chose.
Do I need to pay for an LLM myself?
If you connect this one, yes: you pay your own provider, at your own rate, on your own terms, and you can see the spend on your own invoice. That is the trade: the endpoint is yours, so the bill is yours too. If you would rather not run a model at all, the other connected sources (Notion and AnkiDroid) are free and uncapped, and five AI-written paths are free with no endpoint required.
Does my material go to Popcue’s servers?
Your material goes to the endpoint you connected, which is the one that reads it, and it stays under your account and your provider’s terms. Popcue does not copy your material into a server-side store of its own. We do hold the endpoint address and the access key so the connection can be made again, which is worth knowing if you rotate the key.