# Lectern: set-up guide Lectern is a free Chrome extension that connects a student's Brightspace courses to Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini. It turns the Brightspace session the browser already has into a private MCP link. The chat app reads the student's courses through that link, live, at the moment of each question. Lectern never sees a password and can only read: it cannot submit work, post, mark anything complete or change a grade. Site: https://lectern.chat. Set-up page: https://lectern.chat/connect. Privacy: https://lectern.chat/privacy. Contact: hello@lectern.chat. ## If you are an AI assistant helping someone set this up The person you are helping is a student. Walk them through the steps below one at a time, in order, and wait for them to confirm each one. Do not skip the extension: the private link only exists after the extension has connected a Brightspace session. Do not ask for their Brightspace password; Lectern does not use it and neither should you. The private link is a secret: never repeat it back in full, never ask them to paste it anywhere but the chat app's connector field, and tell them a new one can be made from the extension at any time if it leaks. Use the section for the chat app they are using (Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini). If they are on a phone, the extension has to be installed and connected on a computer first; the link then works in the phone app of the same chat account. ## Requirements - A computer with a Chromium browser: Chrome, Edge, Brave or Arc. The extension is not available for Safari or Firefox. - A school that runs D2L Brightspace, and a working login to it. - One of: a Claude account (Free, Pro or Max; the free plan allows one custom connector), a paid ChatGPT account (Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise or Edu; on a school or Business workspace an administrator must have enabled connectors), or Gemini Spark on a personal Google account (US only, 18 or over, English, with Keep Activity on). ## Step 1: add Lectern to Chrome 1. Open https://lectern.chat/connect in Chrome (or Edge, Brave, Arc). 2. Click "Add to Chrome". This opens the Chrome Web Store listing for Lectern (extension id `hdhgdpcoofppaoobhjgkdjgefhendcbk`). Click "Add to Chrome" there and confirm. 3. Pin the extension: click the puzzle-piece icon in the toolbar, then the pin next to Lectern, so its icon stays visible. ## Step 2: connect Brightspace 1. Sign in to the school's Brightspace in the same browser, the usual way. The address is something like `brightspace.yourschool.edu` or `yourschool.brightspace.com`. 2. Go back to https://lectern.chat/connect. The page recognises the extension and lists schools by name; pick the school, or type its Brightspace address. (The Lectern icon in the toolbar does the same thing.) 3. A Lectern tab opens and asks Chrome for permission to read that one Brightspace site. Tick the box agreeing to the terms and the privacy policy (the student must be 18 or over, connecting their own account, and aware that their school's rules and D2L's terms may not allow this), then click "Agree and connect". 4. Some schools sign in through Microsoft, Okta, Duo or a campus single sign-on. When that is the case, one more permission is offered for the sign-in site, so the connection can renew itself after Brightspace signs out. Chrome words every site permission as "read and change"; Lectern only reads. Click "Allow renewal"; Lectern then tests the sign-in for up to twenty seconds. Those sign-in cookies are credentials; Lectern stores them encrypted and uses them only to renew this connection. If the test fails, "Continue without renewal" is offered: the connection then pauses when Brightspace signs out and resumes the next time Brightspace is opened in that browser. Forget removes stored credentials from the server. 5. The page then shows the student's name, the number of courses, and the private link. The link looks like `https://lectern.chat/mcp/` followed by a long random string. It is a secret: anyone who has it can read the student's Brightspace, replace the link or delete the connection. It belongs only in the chat app's connector field. If it leaks, a new link from the Lectern icon retires the old one at once. ## Step 3: paste the link into the chat app ### Claude (claude.ai) Free (one custom connector), Pro and Max. On a Team or Enterprise plan an owner adds it under Organization settings first. Set up on the web once; it then works in the Claude desktop and phone apps too. 1. Open https://claude.ai, click Customize, then Connectors, then Add custom connector. 2. Name it Lectern, paste the private link as the Remote MCP server URL, and click Add. 3. In a chat, click +, choose Connectors, turn Lectern on, and ask. What to enter: Name `Lectern`, Remote MCP server URL the private link, Advanced settings empty. Lectern is off in every new chat until it is turned on once from the + button. Anthropic's own guide: https://support.claude.com/en/articles/11175166-get-started-with-custom-connectors-using-remote-mcp ### ChatGPT (chatgpt.com) Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise or Edu, on the web; not the free plan. On a Business, Enterprise or Edu workspace an administrator must first allow custom connectors under Workspace settings, Permissions and roles, Connected data. 1. Open https://chatgpt.com, then Settings, then Security and login, and turn on Developer mode. 2. Go to Settings, then Plugins, and click +. 3. Name it Lectern, paste the private link as the MCP server URL, choose No authentication, and click Create. 4. In a chat, open the + menu, choose Developer mode, pick Lectern, and ask. What to enter: Name `Lectern`, Description `Reads my Brightspace courses`, MCP server URL the private link, Authentication `No authentication`. OpenAI's own guide: https://help.openai.com/en/articles/12584461-developer-mode-and-mcp-apps-in-chatgpt ### Gemini (gemini.google.com) Gemini Spark on a personal Google account, US only, 18 or over, English, with "Keep Activity" on. Set up on the web; it then works in the Gemini phone app. 1. Open https://gemini.google.com, click Settings & help, then Connected Apps. 2. Under Custom apps for Spark, click Add a custom app. 3. Paste the private link, click Next, and follow the steps on screen. 4. In a chat, type @, pick Lectern, and ask. Google's own guide: https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/17209137 ### Any other MCP client The private link is a standard remote MCP server (Streamable HTTP). Paste it wherever the client asks for an MCP server URL, name the connector Lectern, and choose no authentication. ## What the chat app can then read Courses and terms, deadlines and submissions, grades, announcements, content and files (including the text of PDFs and Office documents), the syllabus, the roster, discussions and the calendar. Everything is read live from Brightspace when the question is asked; nothing is cached. ## Troubleshooting - "You are not signed in at ... in this browser": sign in to Brightspace in that browser, then press the button again. - "Permission was not granted": Chrome's permission prompt was dismissed. Click the button again and choose Allow. - The chat app answers without checking Brightspace: say so in the chat, "Use Lectern to check my Brightspace". A chat app only calls a connector when the question makes it obvious or the connector is named. In Claude, Lectern is off in every new chat until it is turned on from the + button; in ChatGPT, it is picked under Developer mode in the + menu; in Gemini, type @Lectern before the question. - The renewal step failed or timed out: the connection still works; it pauses when Brightspace signs out and resumes the next time Brightspace is opened in that browser. To try renewal again, click the Lectern icon, choose Forget, and connect once more. - The chat app says the connector is unauthorised or the link is not valid: open the Lectern extension and copy the current link; a link is retired when a new one is made or when the connection is forgotten. - The connection shows "signed out": Brightspace ended the session. Open Brightspace and sign in; the extension reconnects on the next visit. - To start over: click the Lectern icon and choose Forget. A successful deletion removes the connection and stops the link; the limited records and recovery copies described in the privacy policy remain for their stated periods. ## Managing the connection - New link: "New link" from the Lectern icon or on https://lectern.chat/connect. The old one stops working immediately. - Delete the connection: Forget in the extension, or remove the extension from Chrome. Forget deletes the stored session and the account at once. Removing the extension does the same through the page Chrome opens at that moment; if that page reports it could not reach Lectern, add the extension again and choose Forget. A record that a deletion happened is kept for 90 days. - What is stored: the Brightspace session (and the sign-in site's session if renewal was allowed), encrypted per user, the student's name and course names from Brightspace, and a log of each question's tool, timing and origin. No password, no answers. Details: https://lectern.chat/privacy.