Before you start
You need two things. 1. A Copyleaks account you can already scan with. Sign in to Copyleaks and check you can run a scan there on a paid balance. A subscription, a prepaid balance, or an account your organization pays for all work. Free plans can’t connect, and neither can an account whose plan has ended. A Copyleaks API key doesn’t count - the API is a separate product, and having a key doesn’t connect an agent. 2. An AI tool with a place to add a connector. Claude, Codex, Gemini CLI, Antigravity, Cursor and VS Code all have a Connectors or MCP setting. A product without one can’t connect, on any plan. Once connected, all twelve tools work in every client. Larger files and images need a client that can run commands on your computer - see what works where. In Claude Desktop, that’s the Code tab.Step 1 - Add Copyleaks to your agent
The server is calledcopyleaks_app, and its address is https://extensions.copyleaks.com/mcp.
Add it
Claude Code - one line:--scope user makes it available in every project on your machine. Then run /mcp inside a session to sign in.
Claude Desktop or claude.ai - go to Customize → Connectors, press + → Add custom connector, paste the address above, then Add → Connect.
Any other client - copy its block from Client setup. Blocks differ between clients.
Step 2 - Approve what it can do
Your browser opens. Sign in to Copyleaks, review what your agent is asking for, and approve - you land back in your connector settings or terminal. Permissions explains each one. Your agent can only do what you could do in Copyleaks. It can’t buy credits or change your plan, delete any scan, report, or profile, create share links, or see anything in another account.Step 3 - Start a new session
Agents load connectors when a session starts, so one added mid-conversation won’t show up yet.
In the Chat or Cowork tab, open the tools menu in the message box and check Copyleaks is listed and enabled. Not there? Check you’re signed in to the Claude account you added it on.
Step 4 - Check it worked
Ask your agent:“Check my Copyleaks credit balance.”A number back means you’re connected.
Step 5 - Run your first scan
Paste a few paragraphs and ask:“Check this for plagiarism and AI.”Your agent submits the scan and checks back until it finishes. Ask how far along it is and you may get a percentage - never a finish time. What comes back: your
Plagiarism score and your AI score, as percentages to one decimal place, plus which checks actually ran.
Other ways to start a scan
Step 6 - Go deeper on the result
This is the part that isn’t in the report. Keep asking:“Which sources did I match?” “Show me the exact text that overlapped with the third one.” “Walk me through everything flagged, in the order I wrote it.”Your agent starts with the summary and goes deeper when you ask. To see the document itself, open the report. Every finished scan comes with a link -
Open this scan in Copyleaks - that opens your marked-up document.
Worth knowing on day one
- It uses your normal credits - the same balance as scans in the app, with nothing extra to buy. Limits and access
- Links that need a sign-in scan the login page. Google Docs, SharePoint, Notion and the like return a sign-in page, and Copyleaks scans it and spends credits on it. Send the file instead. Scanning
- 10 scans a minute, on every paid plan. Extra work waits, and your agent carries on by itself.
- Your own scans only. Anything shared with you stays in Copyleaks.
If something doesn’t work
No Copyleaks tools? Start a new session (step 3). Still missing? You haven’t signed in -claude mcp login copyleaks_app, or /mcp in a session. Anything else: Troubleshooting.