Golden Hint · for AI assistants

Use Golden Hint from your AI assistant

This is the Model Context Protocol server for Golden Hint, the free place where charities trade skills hour for hour, founders get a step-by-step guide to starting a US nonprofit, and everyone gets a plain-English library for running one. It lets an assistant such as Claude search the library, walk you through the Start a Charity pathway, browse the Exchange and, if you sign in, work with your exchanges and messages.

The address to connect to:

https://mcp.goldenhint.org/mcp

Connect Claude

1. In Claude, open Settings › Connectors.
2. Choose Add custom connector.
3. Name it Golden Hint and paste https://mcp.goldenhint.org/mcp.

That gives you every public tool, with no account needed.

Sign in for member tools

To let an assistant see your dashboard, wallet, matches, exchanges, messages, notifications and team, sign in. Use this address instead, which asks you to sign in when you connect:

https://mcp.goldenhint.org/mcp/members

Claude opens Golden Hint, where you sign in as usual and choose what the assistant may do: read only, or read and write if it should post listings, propose or answer exchanges, send messages, RSVP or invite colleagues for you. (On the first address, Claude asks you to sign in the first time you use a member tool.) The connection shows under Connected apps at goldenhint.org/account, where you can revoke it at any time.

Or use a token

Assistants that can send a header can use a personal access token instead: create one at goldenhint.org/account under Connected apps and send it as a header. In Claude Code, for example:

claude mcp add --transport http goldenhint https://mcp.goldenhint.org/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer gh_pat_…"

This server never logs tokens. A sign-in keeps an encrypted copy of the token Golden Hint made for that connection, so it can act for you; a header token is passed through and not kept. Posting needs your organization to be verified by Golden Hint staff first.

Tools

• search_golden_hint: Search everything public on Golden Hint: Start a Charity pathway stages, guides, templates, news, the glossary and the directory of state charity regulators and resources.
• list_categories: List Golden Hint's 13 expertise areas (marketing, fundraising, finance, legal and so on).
• list_pathway: List the eight stages of Golden Hint's Start a Charity pathway for founding a US nonprofit, in order, with links.
• get_pathway_stage: Get one stage of the Start a Charity pathway: the full guide, its checklist, how long it takes, the fees (with sources) and templates.
• get_guide: Get the full text of a Golden Hint guide, template, news post or Trust Centre page by its slug (from search_golden_hint or list_resources), with its sources.
• list_resources: List the Resources library: plain-English guides (default) or templates, news posts or Trust Centre pages, optionally narrowed to one expertise area.
• get_glossary_term: Look up a nonprofit term in Golden Hint's plain-English glossary (135 terms, e.g.
• find_state_regulator: Find the charity regulator and other directory entries for a US state or DC (who registers charities, where annual reports go), from Golden Hint's directory.
• run_tool: Run one of the five Start a Charity tools and get its result (nothing is stored):.
• get_credit_rules: Get the rules for Golden Hint Credits: one hour of expert help is one credit, the welcome and founder grants, the balance floor, ways to earn, the gifting cap and inactivity rules.
• browse_listings: Browse open offers and requests on the Expertise Exchange, where verified charities trade skills hour for hour.
• get_listing: Get one Exchange offer or request in full: what's offered or needed, the format, hours, credits and the organization.
• get_organization: Get a member organization's public profile (mission, place, what it's good at and what it needs) and its open listings.
• browse_forum: Browse questions in the Golden Hint forum, where charities ask each other practical questions.
• get_forum_thread: Get a forum question and all its answers.
• my_dashboard: The signed-in member's dashboard: who they are, their organization and its verification, the credit wallet, suggested matches, active exchanges, unread messages and pathway progress.member
• my_wallet: The member organization's credit balance (held and available) and its ledger entries, newest first.member
• my_matches: Organizations that could help the member's organization, and that it could help back (mutual matches first), with the reason.member
• my_exchanges: The member organization's exchanges (proposed, agreed, completed, declined, cancelled or disputed), optionally filtered by status.member
• get_exchange: One exchange in full: who provides and receives, scope, format, credits, status, confirmations and reviews.member
• get_exchange_messages: Read the messages in one exchange's conversation, newest last.member
• my_inbox: The member's message threads, one per exchange, with the other organization, the last message and unread counts.member
• create_listing: Post an offer (help the member's organization can give) or a request (help it needs) on the Exchange.member, write
• propose_exchange: Propose an exchange with another organization, from one of its listings or directly.member, write
• respond_to_exchange: Move an exchange on: agree (credits are held from the receiver), decline, cancel (while proposed or agreed; releases the hold) or confirm the work was done (credits move once both sides confirm).member, write
• send_exchange_message: Send a message in an exchange's conversation, as the member.member, write
• ask_forum_question: Ask a question in the Golden Hint forum, as the member.member, write
• answer_forum_thread: Answer a forum question, as the member.member, write
• list_events: Upcoming free workshops and webinars on Golden Hint, hosted by member charities and the Golden Hint team, soonest first.
• get_event: One event in full: what it covers, when (with its time zone), where, the host, places, and the calendar file link.
• list_circles: Golden Hint's peer circles: small groups of up to twelve charities that meet monthly or fortnightly on one topic.
• list_pools: Funder credit pools and company programs on Golden Hint: sponsored credits charities can claim (no money moves).
• get_impact_report: Golden Hint's public impact report: verified organizations, completed exchanges, hours of help, credits moved, mentorships, workshops, circles and pool grants, by area, by state (small states grouped as Other) and by month.
• my_mentorships: The member organization's mentoring (as mentor or mentee): status, goals, weeks and sessions with whether the mentee confirmed them.member
• my_badges: The member organization's recognition tier (Seedling, Spark, Lantern, Beacon), badges, hours given and received, and how far to the next tier.member
• rsvp_event: Sign the member up for an event (free), or cancel their RSVP with going: false.member, write
• block: Block an organization (by id or slug) or a member (by their id, e.g.member, write
• my_notifications: The member's Golden Hint notifications, newest first: proposals, exchange updates, messages, mentoring, circle posts, event reminders, invites, verification, pool claims, report outcomes and outcome check-ins.member
• mark_notifications_read: Mark the member's notifications as read: the ones given by id (from my_notifications), or all of them when no ids are given.member
• my_team: The people in the member's organization on Golden Hint, with their role (admin or member) and when they joined.member
• invite_member: Invite a colleague to join the member's organization on Golden Hint (organization admins only).member, write
• list_newsletter_issues: The archive of Golden Hint's newsletter: past issues with their dates and links.
• my_checkins: Outcome check-ins waiting for the member's organization: a week after an exchange or mentorship completes, Golden Hint asks whether it helped.member
• submit_checkin: Answer an outcome check-in for the member's organization: did the help work (yes, somewhat, no), did it save time or money, and an optional note that only Golden Hint staff read.member, write
• submit_resource: Suggest a resource for Golden Hint's library (a guide, template or useful link) on behalf of the member.member, write
• funder_pool_report: For funders linked to a credit pool by Golden Hint staff: each pool they fund with credits claimed and remaining, the claims (organization, amount, reason, status) and where the credits went by expertise area and state (small states grouped as Other).member
• company_summary: For company members: hours of help the company has given on Golden Hint, its credit pool and the grants it has made to charities (admins also see hours by employee).member
• list_impact_reports: Golden Hint's published annual impact reports, by year, with links to the printable page and the PDF.

Good to know

• Listings, forum posts and messages are written by members. The server labels them so assistants treat them as information, not instructions.
• Golden Hint’s guides are general information, not legal or tax advice.
• Credits are hours of help, never money.