StoryFolder Help

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Set up ChatGPT ​

You connect StoryFolder to ChatGPT through Codex, OpenAI's own assistant tool. You sign in to Codex with the ChatGPT account you already have.

Where you'll find StoryFolder ​

Once this is set up, StoryFolder shows up in the two places Codex lives:

  • the Codex app or command line on your computer
  • the Codex sidebar in an editor like VS Code or Cursor

It doesn't appear in the ChatGPT desktop app's chat window yet. That's on our list. For now, open Codex and ask it there.

If you'd rather have this in an ordinary chat window today, Claude is the shorter route.

We've tested Claude further

Claude Desktop is the path we've run end to end. For Codex we've confirmed it reads the setup below and starts StoryFolder, but we haven't signed off on a full working conversation yet. If something misbehaves, tell us — that feedback is genuinely useful right now.

What you'll need ​

  • Codex, signed in. Install the CLI or the editor extension from OpenAI, then run codex login and sign in with your ChatGPT account.
  • StoryFolder installed and open.
  • Node 18 or newer on your computer. Codex runs the connector, but unlike Claude it doesn't bring its own copy of Node. Check with node --version in a terminal; if it says command not found, install Node — the LTS build is fine.
  • The StoryFolder Codex extension, from the next step.

Download it ​

Download Codex Extension

Not published yet. This download is finished, but there is nowhere to get it from yet. Ask support and we will send you a copy — the rest of these instructions work the same either way.

  1. Download the file above and unzip it.
  2. Move the folder somewhere you'll keep — ~/StoryFolder-connector, say. Not Downloads, which you'll empty one day.
  3. Note that folder's full path. You'll paste it into the next step.

Everything StoryFolder needs is already in the folder. There's nothing to install into it.

Using Claude too?

That's a different file — Claude installs an extension you double-click. Grab it from the Claude page. The two don't substitute for each other.

Connect it ​

One command. Swap in your folder from the step above, keeping the /src/index.js on the end:

bash
codex mcp add storyfolder -- node /Users/you/StoryFolder-connector/src/index.js

Then restart Codex. It won't pick up a new connection until you do.

Confirm it registered:

bash
codex mcp list

storyfolder should be in the list. That means the setup is valid — the next step is what proves it actually runs.

Check it worked ​

With StoryFolder open, start a Codex session and ask:

What projects are in my StoryFolder library?

You should get your real project names back. Then try something more interesting.

If nothing comes back, it's almost always one of three things: StoryFolder is closed, you didn't restart Codex, or Codex can't find Node. That last one has its own section below.

Let it read, but not edit ​

Turn on read-only and the assistant can look at everything and change nothing. Renaming, tagging, adding note fields, importing and exporting stop being available to it.

Add it when you connect:

bash
codex mcp add storyfolder \
  --env STORYFOLDER_MCP_READ_ONLY=1 \
  -- node /Users/you/StoryFolder-connector/src/index.js

Restart Codex after changing it. To turn editing back on, remove that setting and restart again.

There's more on what read-only costs you on the overview.

When Codex cannot find Node ​

If Codex never starts StoryFolder at all, this is nearly always why. It's a genuinely confusing problem, so here's the whole thing.

node --version working in your terminal doesn't mean Codex can find Node. An app you launch from the Dock or Start menu doesn't read your shell's settings, so it looks in a different set of places. If you manage Node with nvm, fnm, asdf or volta, your Node lives in your home folder and won't be one of them.

The fix is to spell out where Node is. Find it:

bash
# macOS / Linux
which node

# Windows (PowerShell)
where.exe node

That prints something like /Users/you/.nvm/versions/node/v22.22.0/bin/node. Use that whole thing in place of node:

bash
codex mcp add storyfolder \
  -- /Users/you/.nvm/versions/node/v22.22.0/bin/node \
     /Users/you/StoryFolder-connector/src/index.js

That path changes when you upgrade Node

An nvm path has the version number in it, so .../v22.22.0/bin/node stops existing the day you move to v22.23. If StoryFolder disappears from Codex after a Node upgrade, re-run which node and update the path.

Editing the config file by hand

codex mcp add writes to ~/.codex/config.toml. You can edit that file directly instead:

toml
[mcp_servers.storyfolder]
enabled = true
command = "/Users/you/.nvm/versions/node/v22.22.0/bin/node"
args = ["/Users/you/StoryFolder-connector/src/index.js"]

On Windows, note the doubled backslashes — TOML requires them:

toml
[mcp_servers.storyfolder]
enabled = true
command = "C:\\Program Files\\nodejs\\node.exe"
args = ["C:\\Users\\you\\StoryFolder-connector\\src\\index.js"]

Read-only mode goes in its own sub-table:

toml
[mcp_servers.storyfolder.env]
STORYFOLDER_MCP_READ_ONLY = "1"

1, true and yes all turn it on. Anything else, including an empty value, leaves editing available. Restart Codex after any change.

The Codex CLI and the editor extension read the same file, so you set this up once and both see it.

Next step ​

→ Things to try