Using ReadyHelm from Your AI Assistant

Last updated October 28, 2026 · Markdown

You can connect ReadyHelm to an AI assistant you already use, such as Claude, and ask it about your boats or have it keep your records up to date: "What's due on Sea Spray this month?", "I changed the oil today at 412 hours, log it", "Push the bottom-paint reminder to May". The assistant works with your real ReadyHelm records, under the same rules as the app.

This is different from First Mate, which is built into ReadyHelm. A connected assistant uses its own AI subscription, not your First Mate credits.

Connecting an assistant comes with the Skipper and Captain plans. On the Free plan, the assistant is told to upgrade under My Account → Plan.

Connecting Claude

The connector address is:

https://api.readyhelm.com/mcp

Claude (claude.ai and the Claude Desktop app):

1. In Claude, open Settings → Connectors and choose Add custom connector.
2. Name it ReadyHelm and paste the address above. Leave the other fields empty.
3. Click Connect. A ReadyHelm page opens.
4. Sign in to ReadyHelm if you aren't already (with your two-factor code, if you've turned that on).
5. Check what the assistant is asking for, then click Connect. You're sent back to Claude.

Connectors you add on claude.ai also appear in the Claude Desktop app.

Claude Code: run claude mcp add --transport http readyhelm https://api.readyhelm.com/mcp, then type /mcp in Claude Code and choose ReadyHelm to sign in.

Other assistants that support remote MCP connectors with sign-in should work the same way, using the same address.

What the assistant can see and do

Look up: your boats and their records, maintenance that's due and past service, to-dos, equipment, documents, trips and Float Plans, checklists, moorings and slips, expenses, and your certifications and emergency info.

Add: reminders (to-dos), service log entries, expenses, equipment, insurance policies and ratings, certifications. It can also check off checklist items, update your registration and emergency info, and invite crew to a boat.

Change:

• to-dos: edit, check off or reopen them;
• your own service log entries;
• expenses;
• maintenance schedules, including marking a task done;
• equipment condition, notes and replacement plans;
• trip details.

When the assistant marks a maintenance task done, the task rolls forward and its reminder closes, just like Mark Done in the app.

Never: it can't delete anything. It can't change a service entry a yard or mechanic logged, or one that's been verified. It can't change who's on a trip's crew; do that in the app, because it sends invitations. It can't fill in specs with First Mate, which uses your credits and needs your review.

It only uses features your plan includes, the same as the app. Anything it changes shows up in the app straight away.

Read-only connections

Some assistants ask only to read. The ReadyHelm connect page shows what an assistant is asking for. A read-only connection can look things up but can't add or change anything.

Seeing and disconnecting assistants

My Account → Security → Connected AI assistants lists every assistant you've connected, what it can do, and when it was last used. Disconnect cuts it off immediately.

Assistants are also disconnected automatically if you:

• change or reset your password;
• turn off two-factor authentication;
• delete your account.

If your plan changes to Free, connected assistants stop working until you upgrade again; you don't need to reconnect.

Good to know

• Your records are data, not instructions. Notes and messages from crew or a boatyard are passed to the assistant clearly labelled as record text. ReadyHelm also tells the assistant never to follow instructions written inside a record.
• Limits. An assistant can make up to 120 lookups and 30 changes a minute. Above that it's asked to wait a moment.
• Updated terms. If ReadyHelm's terms change, the assistant is told to have you sign in to the app and accept them first.
• Every change is recorded. ReadyHelm keeps a log of each request a connected assistant makes and of every change, noting that it came through an AI assistant.