Chat Clients

Use Foldr with Chatbot UI (MCP)

Chatbot UI is a popular open-source Next.js clone of ChatGPT used as a reference implementation by many teams. Community forks have added MCP support through the LLM tool-calling interface. Foldr is a natural companion - it gives self-hosted Chatbot UI instances an easy upload-and-share primitive.

Chatbot UI (OSS)Self-hosted (web)MCP: community

Installation

Add the Foldr MCP server to Chatbot UI with the snippet below. Replace fs_… with an API key from foldr.space/developers/signup. Each upload costs 5¢ - top up account credits or subscribe to Pro tier to bypass per-call charges.

// In .env.local:
MCP_SERVERS_JSON='{
  "foldr": {
    "url": "https://foldr.space/api/mcp",
    "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer fs_live_..." }
  }
}'

Setup tip: Exact env var name depends on the fork - check your specific Chatbot UI repo's README.

Official Chatbot UI MCP docs

What You Can Do

Upload any file from Chatbot UI to Foldr and get a permanent shareable URL back in the same turn (5¢ per upload, debited from credits)
Mint short-lived capability tokens to share files with downstream agents without leaking your API key
Organize uploads into per-API-key folders with hierarchical structure
Shorten long URLs to foldr.space/s/... links - free with any API key
Let chat participants retrieve uploaded files by asking for them by filename

Chatbot UI + Foldr FAQ

How do I install the Foldr MCP server in Chatbot UI?

Open Chatbot UI's MCP configuration (the JSON settings file) and paste the config block shown above. Set FOLDR_API_KEY to a key you create at foldr.space/developers/signup. Restart Chatbot UI if it doesn't hot-reload.

How much does it cost to use Foldr from Chatbot UI?

Each upload costs 5¢. You can pay by topping up account credits via the `top_up_credits` MCP tool (min $5) - every upload then debits from balance. Or subscribe to Pro tier ($25/mo) and per-call charges are bypassed entirely. Tools that don't write data (list_files, mint_capability, get_usage, etc.) are free.

I set the key but Chatbot UI says the Foldr tool isn't available - what's wrong?

Three common causes: (1) Chatbot UI wasn't restarted after editing the config - most MCP hosts need a restart to pick up new servers. (2) The API key is wrong or missing - verify the env var name your client reads (e.g. FOLDR_API_KEY) matches the config snippet above. (3) Your client doesn't support the streamable-http transport - most modern clients do, but check Chatbot UI's docs for the version that added MCP support.

Can Chatbot UI upload files directly to Foldr, or just generate URLs?

Chatbot UI can do both. The MCP server exposes tools for `upload_file` (base64-encoded file content), `bulk_upload` (up to 20 files in one call), `mint_capability` (short-lived shareable links), and `create_short_url`. Any file Chatbot UI can read from disk can be uploaded.

Is the Foldr MCP integration with Chatbot UI production-ready?

Foldr's MCP server is stable and used in production - streamable-http transport at https://foldr.space/api/mcp with 23 tools. Chatbot UI's MCP support is currently community-maintained - check the upstream repo for current status. Every write endpoint accepts an Idempotency-Key so retries are safe.

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Connect Chatbot UI to Foldr in under a minute

Grab an API key, paste the snippet above into Chatbot UI's MCP config, top up credits (or grab a Pro subscription), and your agent can upload files and mint share links immediately.

Get your Foldr API key x402 details