ChatGPT on the web

Connecting ChatGPT on the web: the secure link (cloudflared)

ChatGPT in your browser runs on OpenAI's servers, so it can't start programs on your computer the way Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor or the ChatGPT desktop app can. To let it reach Surehand MCP, Surehand opens a secure link from the internet to your computer, using a small free tool called cloudflared (by Cloudflare). You install it once.

Using the ChatGPT desktop app or Codex? You don't need any of this: the installer connects them directly.

1. Install cloudflared

Mac

With Homebrew:

brew install cloudflared

No Homebrew? Download the macOS package (cloudflared-darwin-arm64.pkg for Apple silicon, …-amd64.pkg for Intel) from the cloudflared releases page and open it.

Windows

In a terminal (PowerShell or Command Prompt):

winget install --id Cloudflare.cloudflared

No winget? Download cloudflared-windows-amd64.msi from the cloudflared releases page and run it.

Check it worked

Open a new terminal window and run:

cloudflared --version

It should print a version number. If it says "not found", close and reopen the terminal (or restart your computer on Windows) so the new program is found.

2. Start the link from the Surehand panel

1. In After Effects, open the Surehand panel: Window › Extensions › Surehand MCP.
2. Open the panel menu ☰ › Connect an AI app…, and next to ChatGPT (web) click Start. The ChatGPT on the web screen opens.
3. Click Start on that screen.
4. After a few seconds the panel shows a connector address. Click Copy.

The link keeps running, also with the panel closed, until you click Stop (☰ › Connect an AI app… › ChatGPT (web) › Open › Stop) or restart your computer. Keep the computer awake while you use it.

As an alternative to the panel's ChatGPT screen, double-click 3. Connect ChatGPT in the 2. Mac or 3. Windows folder of the zip (or run node ~/.surehand/ae/server/surehand-ae.mjs chatgpt). It prints the connector address in that window; keep the window open while you use it, and press Ctrl+C to stop.

3. Add it to ChatGPT

1. In ChatGPT: Settings › Apps & Connectors › Advanced settings, and turn on Developer mode.
2. Create a connector, paste the connector address, set Authentication to No authentication, and create it.
3. In a chat, turn the connector on and ask something about your After Effects project.

Keep the address private

The connector address contains your access key. Anyone who has it can control After Effects on your computer while the link runs. Don't share it, and click Stop when you're done. Each start makes a new address: after a restart you paste the new one into ChatGPT.

The access key is the token in ~/.surehand/ae/config.json, the same one the bridge in After Effects uses. To change it, see Security. The address is shown in the panel and stored in ~/.surehand/ae/chatgpt.json (readable only by you); it is never written to the activity log.

What ChatGPT can do through the link is governed by the same mode (Full, Ask, Read-only) and Pause AI as any other AI app. See The Surehand panel.

Troubleshooting

What you see	What to do
The panel says "ChatGPT needs a free tunnel tool, cloudflared"	Install it (step 1), then click Try again.
You installed it but the panel still can't find it	Restart After Effects. On Windows, sign out and back in (or restart) so the new program is found.
"The Surehand server stopped (port 8766 is already in use…)"	Another Surehand link is already running, for example 3. Connect ChatGPT or surehand-ae chatgpt in a terminal window. Close that window, then click Try again. To use another port, set httpPort in ~/.surehand/ae/config.json.
"The secure link didn't start within a minute"	Check the internet connection, then click Try again.
ChatGPT says it can't reach the connector	The link stopped (computer asleep or restarted). Start it again in the panel and paste the new address into the connector.
Your company blocks cloudflared	ngrok works too: install it and sign in once with ngrok config add-authtoken <your token>. Surehand uses it when cloudflared isn't installed.

Cloudflare's own guide: Quick Tunnels.