ChatGPT can talk about screen time all day, but it has never seen yours. Ask it how much you scroll and it will say it cannot know. Give it a bridge to your real numbers and the conversation changes from generic advice to “your Thursdays are the problem, and it is Instagram after 10 pm”. This guide is that bridge, for ChatGPT.

One honest caveat first: ChatGPT’s custom connector screens are the part of this setup that changes most. OpenAI has renamed and moved them more than once, they depend on your plan and workspace, and we cannot test every account type. So this guide gives you the exact values to enter and describes the steps in general terms. Where the menus differ from what you see, OpenAI’s documentation is the authority on the clicks; this page is the authority on the Respite side.

What do you need?

  • Respite Plus on an account you can sign in to with Google or Apple. Reading your data through an AI is a Plus feature.
  • Synced data. At least one device signed in and syncing, or there is nothing to read.
  • A ChatGPT plan and workspace that allow custom MCP connectors. This is the variable part. Developer mode, where required, is a switch in the connector or app settings. On Business, Enterprise or Edu workspaces an admin may need to allow it.
  • These values:
    • Name: Respite
    • MCP server URL: https://respite-api.liveintently.app/mcp
    • Authentication: OAuth (no API key; Respite registers ChatGPT itself)

How do I add Respite to ChatGPT?

  1. In ChatGPT, open Settings and find the section for connectors (some versions say apps).
  2. If your plan requires it, turn on developer mode in that section’s advanced settings. Read the warning: developer mode lets ChatGPT call tools you add yourself, which is exactly what you want here and is also why you should only add servers you trust.
  3. Choose to create a new connector or app.
  4. Enter the name and the URL above. Choose OAuth when it asks how to authenticate.
  5. Save. ChatGPT sends you to a Respite page: choose Google or Apple, review the permission, and choose Allow.
  6. Open a new chat, use the tools or connectors menu to switch Respite on for that conversation, and ask your first question.

If you get stuck at step 2 because developer mode or custom connectors do not exist for your account, you have two options: ask your workspace admin, or connect a different assistant. Claude connects to Respite in about two minutes, and Cursor and other MCP clients work too, as described in the all-clients guide.

What can ChatGPT do with Respite today?

Read. ChatGPT can call these tools, and picks which for each question:

Tool What ChatGPT gets
get_account Your plan, devices and when this connection was made. Works on a free account.
get_usage Minutes per app or per day for up to 92 days, merged across your devices.
get_insights This period against the last: top apps, busiest day, limits kept, walk-aways, baseline.
list_limits Your per-app limits and schedules.
list_events Sessions, or the moments Respite interrupted you at a limit and what you chose.
get_progress Acorns, XP, streak, freezes, quests and league tier.

By default everything is read-only. If you ticked “Also let it make my limits stricter”, ChatGPT can lower a limit or add a schedule; raising or removing a limit needs your approval in the app. If it says it changed something you did not allow, check the app.

What should I ask first?

A broad question to see it work:

Use my Respite data. How did my screen time this week compare with last week, which apps changed most, and which day was my worst?

Then something specific to you:

Look at my limits and my usage together. Which limit am I closest to always breaking, and what would a realistic limit be instead?

When Respite paused me at a limit, how often did I walk away? Which app do I give in to most?

ChatGPT tends to answer in confident paragraphs. Ask it to show the numbers it used (“list the tool results you based this on”) so you can check, and remember it is advice on top of your data, not a verdict. The prompt library has thirty more, including ones that work without any connector.

Is this the same as a ChatGPT app blocker?

No, and it is worth being clear because the search results blur it. People who type “ChatGPT app blocker” want one of two things:

  • To block ChatGPT itself (or other AI sites) because they use it too much. Any app blocker or website blocker can do that, including Respite’s pause on a chosen app or site.
  • To have an AI manage their blocking. That is the idea behind letting an AI change your limits. Respite’s connector does this in one direction: if you opt in, tightening a limit applies at once, while loosening needs your approval in the Respite app. See letting your AI change your limits and the AI hub.

What the connector does today is the part that comes first anyway: letting an assistant understand your real habits.

What happens to my data in ChatGPT?

Whatever a Respite tool returns is placed in your conversation, so it is processed by OpenAI under its own terms and your account’s data controls (chat history, training and memory options). Check those settings before you connect, especially if you would rather your usage not be used for training. Respite runs no AI on your data, trains nothing on it, and answers only the calls ChatGPT makes, for the permission you allowed. Is it safe to give an AI your screen time data? goes through this in detail.

Troubleshooting

  • No place to add a connector. Plan, region or workspace restrictions. See above for the Claude alternative.
  • ChatGPT answers without calling Respite. Switch the connector on in the chat and say “use my Respite data”.
  • “This needs Respite Plus.” Upgrade in the Respite app, then ask again.
  • A permission error. Disconnect the connector, add it again and allow read access.
  • The numbers look low. Check sync. get_account lists your devices and when each was last seen, so ask ChatGPT to run it.

How do I disconnect?

Open the connector in ChatGPT’s settings and disconnect or delete it. That ends its access. Deleting your Respite account ends every connection. A Connected AI screen in the app is arriving in app updates.

Next step

Add the connector, ask the broad question above, and pick one limit to change. Not on Respite yet? Download it. For the bigger picture, see AI and screen time.