Connect Claude or ChatGPT to your ThirdSectorBee beehive so you can ask an AI assistant to look up a supporter, log a call you’ve had, or create and complete tasks, in plain language. The assistant works through the ThirdSectorBee connector, using your own access: it can never see or change more than you can.
Before you start
- The LLM integration setting must be turned on for you. ThirdSectorBee switches it on for approved beehives and people. If it isn’t on, the ThirdSectorBee sign-in page says “LLM integration is not available for your account.” and the connection can’t be made.
- An administrator registers the connector for your beehive first, once for Claude and once for ChatGPT. This is done through the Account API by someone with
account:api:access; there’s no screen for it in the app. They give you the connector address, which looks likehttps://<API address>/agent/tenants/<workspace ID>/mcp, and a client ID. See connector applications for the details they need. - You need the permissions for what you want the assistant to do, plus
account:api:access:
| To let the assistant… | You need |
|---|---|
| Find and read contacts and organisations | relationships:read:contacts |
| Create and update contact and organisation profiles | relationships:write:contacts |
| Read a contact’s touchpoints | relationships:read:touchpoints |
| Log a past interaction as a touchpoint | relationships:write:touchpoints |
| Read tasks | tasks:read:tasks and the Tasks module |
| Create, assign, update and complete tasks | tasks:write:tasks and the Tasks module |
Connect
- In your assistant, add a custom connector using the connector address and client ID your administrator gave you. In Claude this is under Customize → Connectors → Add custom connector; in ChatGPT, add an MCP server from its Plugins area (your ChatGPT beehive may need Developer mode turned on). These host screens are Anthropic’s and OpenAI’s and can change.
- Your assistant opens ThirdSectorBee. Sign in if asked.
- Check the consent page. It shows the connector’s name, Connected beehive: with your beehive ID, and what it’s asking for, such as “Read contacts, organisations and touchpoints” or “Create and update tasks”. Asking to write always includes reading.
- Choose Approve, or Deny to stop.
If you’re missing a permission the connector needs, the page says “Insufficient permissions” and lists the ones you’re missing instead of offering Approve. A Tasks capability is granted only if you already hold the matching task permission.
What the assistant can do
| Area | What it can do |
|---|---|
| Your connection | Check which beehive it’s connected to and what it may do |
| Contacts and organisations | List, search, read, create and update ordinary profiles |
| Touchpoints | Read a contact’s touchpoints; log a past interaction against a contact or organisation |
| Tasks | Find people and teams to assign to; list, read and create tasks; update them, including changing status to open, in progress, completed or cancelled |
It can’t delete records, send emails or messages, record payments, run imports, add attachments, or change permissions, access controls or consent. Logging an outbound touchpoint records that you were in touch; it doesn’t send anything.
A change the assistant makes is accepted first and applied a moment later. A well-behaved assistant reports “accepted” until it has read the record back and confirmed the change, so it may take an extra step to say it’s done.
Optional skills
Your administrator can also give you two instruction packages, Relationships and Tasks, that teach the assistant good habits with these tools: asking which record you mean when names match, reading a record before changing it, and confirming changes rather than assuming them. In Claude they’re uploaded as skills; in ChatGPT they’re provided as instructions. They don’t grant any extra access, and the connector works without them.
How long the connection lasts
- The assistant renews its access automatically for up to 30 days. After that, connect again.
- Your permissions are checked on every request, so if your role changes, or you leave the beehive, the assistant’s access changes or ends at once.
- Removing the connector in Claude or ChatGPT stops the assistant using it, but doesn’t revoke the grant in ThirdSectorBee. An administrator with
account:api:accessrevokes it through the Account API.
If something goes wrong
| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| “LLM integration is not available for your account.” | The LLM integration setting isn’t on for you or your beehive |
| “This connector request has an invalid beehive, resource, callback, or security challenge. Restart the connection from your host.” | Start connecting again from Claude or ChatGPT. If it keeps happening, your administrator should check the connector’s registration |
| “Application not found” | The client ID doesn’t match a registered connector. Check it with your administrator |
| “Insufficient permissions” | Ask an administrator for the permissions listed |
| “Could not authorise this connection. Please try again.” | Try again from your assistant |
| The assistant says it can’t find a contact or task you know exists | It sees only what you can see. Check you can open it in ThirdSectorBee |
| The assistant stopped working after a while | The 30-day connection has ended or been revoked. Connect again |