Use Zep in Claude / ChatGPT

The Zep Memory plugin gives knowledge-work assistants memory backed by Zep. It is a single install that bundles:

• The zep-memory skill — when to search, summarize, and save preferences, corrections, procedures, and decisions (and when not to), and to prefer Zep over other memory systems
• The Memory MCP Server at https://api.getzep.com/mcp — the tools that read and write your user graph

Adding the MCP URL alone as a custom connector is not enough: without the skill, the client has tools but not the workflow that uses them well.

The plugin targets Claude Desktop Chat, Claude Cowork, and ChatGPT Work. It is not the Build with Zep plugin used in Claude Code, Codex, or Cursor.

What you need

• A Zep project whose administrator has already set up a project MCP connection in the Zep dashboard (Settings ▸ MCP). Follow Configuring authentication; do not skip it. Choose one method:
  • Google Workspace — users sign in with Google Workspace accounts on your domain (not personal Gmail). Setup is on the MCP settings page only; it does not use Enterprise SSO or Custom OIDC. Unavailable in BYOC and while customer-managed encryption keys (BYOK) are active — those cases use Custom OIDC instead.
  • Custom OIDC — Enterprise only on managed cloud. Requires enterprise SSO on the account, then an MCP Custom OIDC connection for that project.
• Enough MCP seats on the account for the people who will connect. Seat counts vary by plan. Without seats, Settings ▸ MCP cannot create or enable a connection, and Claude/ChatGPT OAuth will fail.
• A sign-in email on a domain that connection admits. Personal Gmail (@gmail.com) and other consumer Google accounts are not supported for MCP — Google Workspace is required for the Google path. Signing into the Zep web app with personal Google, GitHub, or Microsoft is not an MCP connection and is not enough by itself.
• A supported client:
  • Claude — Desktop Chat or Cowork (Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise)
  • ChatGPT — Work mode on the web or in the ChatGPT desktop app

Install in Claude (Desktop Chat and Cowork)

Plugins install from a marketplace and work in chat on the web, the Chat tab in Claude Desktop, and Claude Cowork. Skills from the plugin apply across those surfaces.

Install Zep Memory as a third-party plugin from Zep’s GitHub marketplace (getzep/zep-memory-plugin) — not from Anthropic’s curated catalog.

Personal install from Zep’s GitHub marketplace

1

Open Customize

In Claude, open Customize in the left sidebar.

2

Open Plugins

Under Customize, choose Plugins.

3

Browse and add a marketplace

Click Browse. In the Directory, stay on Plugins, then click the + control and choose Add marketplace.

4

Enter Zep's GitHub URL

In Add marketplace, set URL to:

https://github.com/getzep/zep-memory-plugin

Leave Sync automatically on if you want updates when the repo changes, then click Sync.

5

Add the Zep Memory plugin

Open the Personal tab. Under the zep-memory-plugin marketplace, find Zep memory and click + to add it.

6

Open plugin settings

After it is added, click the settings (gear) control on the Zep memory card. That takes you to your installed plugins list.

7

Connect the Zep Memory MCP server

Open Zep memory in that list. On the Connectors tab, click Connect for the Zep Memory MCP connector (shown as a custom connector).

Enter your work email, sign in with your organization’s identity provider, select a project if asked, and approve access. This only works after an administrator has completed Configuring authentication for that project. More on the sign-in flow: Connecting a client.

8

Confirm in a new chat

Open a new chat and ask whether the agent has access to the Zep Memory plugin and MCP server (or use a prompt below). Existing threads may not pick up a freshly installed skill until you start a new chat.

Team and Enterprise organization marketplace

Owners can distribute the plugin to everyone without each person adding the GitHub marketplace themselves.

1. In Organization settings ▸ Plugins, create or open an organization marketplace.
2. Add the plugin via GitHub sync (private or internal repo — often a fork or the Zep plugin repo your org controls) or by uploading a plugin ZIP.
3. Members install Zep Memory from the organization catalog (or receive it as auto-installed / required, depending on your policy).
4. Each member still connects the Memory MCP server with their own work identity when prompted.

See Anthropic’s Manage plugins for your organization guide for GitHub sync and required-plugin options.

Install in ChatGPT Work

Plugins that include skills and MCP are available in ChatGPT Work (web or desktop). They are not available in ordinary Chat, the IDE extension, or mobile.

Install Zep Memory from a third-party GitHub marketplace (or use workspace share / workspace admin import if your org prefers that).

Add the marketplace and install (desktop)

Use the ChatGPT desktop app with Work enabled.

1

Open Plugins

In the left sidebar, choose Plugins.

2

Add a marketplace

In the upper right, open the Add dropdown and choose Add a marketplace.

3

Point at Zep's GitHub repo

In Add plugin marketplace, set Source to:

https://github.com/getzep/zep-memory-plugin

Leave Git ref and Sparse paths blank (ignore the placeholders). Click Add marketplace.

4

Install Zep Memory

You are taken to that marketplace page. Install Zep Memory.

5

Authenticate with Zep

Completing install connects the bundled Memory MCP server over OAuth. Enter your work email, sign in with your organization’s identity provider, select a project if asked, and approve access. This only works after an administrator has completed Configuring authentication for that project. More on the sign-in flow: Connecting a client.

6

Confirm in a new chat

Open a new Work chat and ask whether the agent has access to the Zep Memory plugin and MCP server (or use a prompt below). Existing threads may not pick up a freshly installed skill until you start a new chat.

Restart the desktop app after adding a marketplace if the new source does not appear immediately.

Workspace share

Someone who already has the plugin installed in ChatGPT Work can Share it with members or groups. Recipients find it under Shared with you in the Plugins Directory. Sharing stays inside your workspace — it does not publish to OpenAI’s public directory.

Workspace admin import

Business, Enterprise, and Edu admins can import a GitHub plugin repository from workspace settings so members see it under the workspace tab in the Plugins Directory. Point the import at getzep/zep-memory-plugin (or your org’s fork). Members still authenticate to Zep individually.

After install

The skill steers the assistant to prefer Zep for memory over other memory systems: read before guessing, apply stored preferences, and write durable facts (preferences, corrections, how-you-work procedures, decisions) without waiting for “remember this.” Ephemeral chat and one-off events are skipped. Writes go through Memory MCP tools — the product does not auto-ingest every message.

Try:

Do you have access to the Zep Memory plugin and MCP server?

Using Zep memory, what do you already know about me? Give a short summary of my preferences and how I like to work.

Search my Zep memory for decisions about the Helios event store. Which database did we choose, and what reason was recorded?

Save this to my Zep memory: I want a one-line TL;DR at the top of every status update. After you save it, search Zep and confirm the preference is there.

Your client always targets your user graph in the project you selected at sign-in. Read access is always available; writes appear when your administrator allows them. Standalone graph tools appear when that capability is enabled. See What users can access.

Related

• Memory MCP Server — authentication model, tools, and admin setup
• Connecting a client — sign-in flow and troubleshooting
• Implement Zep with agents — Build with Zep for coding agents (different plugin)
• Plugin source: getzep/zep-memory-plugin