Zindies runs an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server. Connect it to an AI chat such as Claude or ChatGPT and you can ask about zines, creators, shops, and events in the middle of a conversation.
We have checked Claude and ChatGPT. Other MCP clients (Cursor and the like) connect with the same URL.
Markdown version for AI / crawlers → /mcp.md
What it can do
Reading needs no login and no token. Only favorites and event participation use your token.
- Search
- Search across zines, creators, shops, and events by name and description.
- Try asking: Find zines about travel.
search- Look closer
- For a work, the shops that carry it and online store links. For a creator, their works. For a shop, address, hours, and the zines on its shelves. For an event, venue, exhibitors, and programs.
- Try asking: Where can I buy this zine?
get_creator / get_creation / get_place / get_event- Shops nearby
- Shops that carry zines, nearest first from a given location.
- Try asking: Which shops near Shibuya Station carry zines?
find_places_nearby- Events
- Upcoming and ongoing zine events, narrowed by period or region. Lists per shop or per creator are available too.
- Try asking: What events are on in Kansai next weekend?
list_events / list_events_by_place / list_events_by_creator- Favorites needs a token
- Add or remove creators, works, shops, and events from your favorites during the conversation.
- Try asking: Add this creator to my favorites.
toggle_favorite- Join an event needs a token
- Register or cancel participation. Joining also adds the event to your favorites.
- Try asking: Count me in for this event.
rsvp_event
If you are chatting in English, Korean, or Traditional Chinese, names and descriptions come back in that language (items without a translation stay in Japanese).
Setup
There is one URL to connect to. Registration steps for each client follow.
MCP server URL:
https://mcp.zindies.co/
Claude (claude.ai / desktop app)
- Open "Customize" → "Connectors" (or "Connectors" in Settings) and choose "Add custom connector".
- Enter the MCP server URL. Authentication can stay at "No sign-in".
- Click "Add". You can then switch it on or off per conversation from "+" → "Connectors" in the chat box.
- Per-tool permissions (Always allow / Needs approval / Blocked) are under the connector's "Tool permissions".
Every plan from Free to Enterprise can add it (Free allows one custom connector; on Team / Enterprise an admin adds it). For the token used by favorites and participation, accounts that show a "Request headers" field in the connector settings can enter "Bearer (space) token" for Authorization. If the field is not shown, Claude is read-only (use Claude Code when you want the token).
Claude Code
One line in the terminal. This is enough for reading.
claude mcp add --transport http zindies --scope user https://mcp.zindies.co/To use favorites and participation too, pass the token as a header.
claude mcp add --transport http zindies --scope user https://mcp.zindies.co/ --header "Authorization: Bearer <token>"ChatGPT
- Turn on "Developer mode" in Settings (under "Advanced" in "Connectors", or under "Security and login").
- In "Connectors", choose "Create", enter a name and the MCP server URL, and pick "None" for authentication.
- In a new chat, open "+" → "Developer mode" and switch the connector on.
ChatGPT connectors have no field for a token, so only reading works there. It cannot be used as a Deep Research source. Developer mode is limited by plan and region (check OpenAI's help for the current terms).
Other clients
Any MCP client that supports Streamable HTTP connects with the same URL. For writes, pass a Bearer token in the Authorization header.
- MCP server: https://mcp.zindies.co/
- Connection info (.well-known/mcp.json): https://zindies.co/.well-known/mcp.json
- Service index (llms.txt): https://zindies.co/llms.txt
Token (for favorites and participation)
The token is the key for doing favorites and event participation "as you". You do not need it just to read.
- Sign in to Zindies and turn on "Enable developer menu" under "General" in Settings.
- Open the token page in the developer hub and reveal your token.
- In your client's settings, enter it as the Authorization header value in the form "Bearer (space) token".
Token page: https://developer.zindies.co/token
The token can only act on your own favorites and participation. It cannot touch anyone else's data.
Do not share the token. If you think it has leaked, regenerate it on the token page and the old one stops working.
What comes through, and what does not
Only information Zindies already publishes is handed to the AI. The conversation itself is never sent to Zindies; all that arrives is the question to the tool (a search term, a location, and so on).
- Only what is on public pages comes through. Private works and provisional creators who have not registered themselves do not appear.
- The event list follows the same editorial line as the site's event list (zine-related events only; nothing before its publication date).
- Reader data is never returned to anyone. Favorites and participation work only with your own token.
- Numbers such as favorite counts and participant counts are not returned.
- FAQs and office newsletters are not carried over this route.