Codex

Codex connects to Ranktide's MCP server over Streamable HTTP and reads the SEO skills from a folder. Codex CLI, the Codex IDE extension and Codex in the ChatGPT desktop app share one configuration file, ~/.codex/config.toml, so you add Ranktide once.

Codex and ChatGPT chats use separate connections. To use Ranktide in ChatGPT chats, see ChatGPT.

Add the MCP server

Run this in your terminal:

codex mcp add ranktide --url https://app.ranktide.io/mcp

Codex detects that Ranktide uses OAuth and opens a sign-in in your browser. Sign in to Ranktide, pick your organisation and approve the connection. If the browser doesn't open, run:

codex mcp login ranktide

You can also add the server to ~/.codex/config.toml by hand, then run codex mcp login ranktide:

[mcp_servers.ranktide]
url = "https://app.ranktide.io/mcp"

From the ChatGPT desktop app or IDE extension

1. In the ChatGPT desktop app, open Codex, then Settings → MCP servers → Add server. In the IDE extension, open the gear menu and select MCP servers.
2. Name it ranktide, choose Streamable HTTP and enter https://app.ranktide.io/mcp.
3. Save, and restart when prompted.
4. Select Authenticate for Ranktide and approve the sign-in.

Check the connection

Start a new Codex session and send:

Use Ranktide to check my connection and list my projects. Don't run any research.

Codex should return your account, credit balance and projects. These calls use no credits. Run /mcp in Codex CLI to see the servers it loaded.

Install the skills

Codex reads skills from ~/.agents/skills for every project, and from .agents/skills inside a repository for that project only. Each skill is a folder with a SKILL.md file. ranktide-skills.zip holds every Ranktide skill folder.

To install them for every project:

mkdir -p ~/.agents/skills
curl -fL -o ranktide-skills.zip https://ranktide.io/skills/ranktide-skills.zip
unzip -o ranktide-skills.zip -d ~/.agents/skills

For one project, run the same commands from the repository root with .agents/skills as the folder.

Codex detects new skills on its own. If one doesn't appear, restart Codex.

Use a skill

Codex uses a skill when your request matches it. You can also type $ and pick a skill, for example $seo-audit, or run /skills to see the list.

Connect with an API key

API keys are for headless runs and CI, on the Growth plan and up. Create one in the app under Settings → API keys. Keep it in an environment variable, not in the config file:

export RANKTIDE_API_KEY=YOUR_API_KEY
codex mcp add ranktide --url https://app.ranktide.io/mcp --bearer-token-env-var RANKTIDE_API_KEY

In ~/.codex/config.toml, the same setting is:

[mcp_servers.ranktide]
url = "https://app.ranktide.io/mcp"
bearer_token_env_var = "RANKTIDE_API_KEY"

Anything Codex does with the key acts as you, in the organisation that was active when you created it. See connect with an API key.

Update

Ranktide updates its MCP tools on the server. Start a new Codex session to load new tools.

To update the skills, download ranktide-skills.zip again and unzip it over the old folders. unzip -o replaces each SKILL.md without asking. If you edited a skill, copy your changes out first.

curl -fL -o ranktide-skills.zip https://ranktide.io/skills/ranktide-skills.zip
unzip -o ranktide-skills.zip -d ~/.agents/skills

Troubleshooting

OpenAI's guides cover MCP in Codex and skills. For anything else, see the MCP reference or email support@ranktide.io.