How to use VOLTA inside Claude and ChatGPT
You can use VOLTA inside Claude or ChatGPT by adding one connector address, https://voltaelectric.ca/mcp, and signing in with your VOLTA account. After that, the assistant can open your estimates, review them against drawings you share in the chat, propose changes and make the quote. VOLTA's own estimator does every price; the assistant reads, explains and asks before it changes anything.
- Setup is three steps: a VOLTA account (the 30-day trial works), the connector address in Claude or ChatGPT, and a sign-in on VOLTA's own page.
- The assistant works with what it can see: your VOLTA estimate, and the drawings or specs you choose to share in the chat.
- Every price, total, quote and report comes from VOLTA's estimator, the same one that runs on the website.
- Changes are proposed first and applied only after you agree. Each one is marked as set by AI and can be undone.
- The connector is included with VOLTA. Your Claude or ChatGPT plan is separate, and each company decides which plans can use custom connectors.
What is the VOLTA connector?
It is an MCP server: a connection that lets an AI assistant use VOLTA's tools. The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard for connecting AI applications to outside systems, and Anthropic reports it has been adopted by products including ChatGPT, Gemini and Microsoft Copilot (source 3). A recent extension, MCP Apps, lets a tool show an interactive view inside the chat, and Claude and ChatGPT both support it (source 4). That is how a VOLTA estimate appears in the conversation with its sliders and line items.
| Job | Who does it |
|---|---|
| Count devices on drawings you share | The assistant, citing the sheet and room for each count |
| Spot gaps and questions in the estimate | The assistant |
| Decide whether a change goes in | You |
| Unit prices, labour, markup, tax and the bid total | VOLTA's estimator |
| Quotes, scope of work and the calculation report | VOLTA's estimator, at the assistant's request |
How do you connect VOLTA to Claude or ChatGPT?
Add the address https://voltaelectric.ca/mcp as a custom connector, then sign in with your VOLTA account. It takes about two minutes. The full steps for both assistants are also on the VOLTA connector page.
Step 1: Have a VOLTA account
The connector signs in with the same email and password you use on voltaelectric.ca. A trial account works, so you can try it during the 30-day free trial before paying $9.99 CAD a month.
Step 2: Add the connector in your assistant
- In Claude: go to Customize → Connectors, click + Add, then Add custom connector. Name it VOLTA and paste the address. Anthropic offers custom connectors on its plans, including Free, which is limited to one; on Team and Enterprise plans an owner adds the connector for the organization first (source 1).
- In ChatGPT: set it up on chatgpt.com in your web browser, not in the desktop app. Open Plugins, then Add → Add custom MCP server. Name it VOLTA, leave Server URL selected, paste the address, keep OAuth, tick I understand and want to continue and click Create as a plugin. In a chat, type @ and pick VOLTA. OpenAI decides which plans can add custom servers, so check its help page for yours (source 2).
Step 3: Sign in on VOLTA's page and test it
The assistant opens a VOLTA sign-in page. Your password goes to VOLTA, not to the assistant. Then start a new chat and ask: "List my VOLTA projects." If your estimates come back, you are connected.
What should an electrical estimator ask it?
Start with requests where a second reader saves you money: a review before the quote goes out, a count against the drawings, and the quote itself. Here are three to copy.
"Review my [project] estimate and tell me what to check before I send the quote. Don't change anything."
The assistant opens the estimate in VOLTA and reads it line by line. On a three-line sample estimate we built for testing, Claude pointed out that labour for wire and boxes was priced but the material was not, that there were no panel or exit-sign lines, and that the terms promised a permit no line paid for. It changed nothing, as asked. Treat its list as questions to answer from the drawings, not as findings.
"Here are the lighting plans. Count the fixtures by type, tell me the sheet and room for each count, and compare them with my estimate."
Attach the drawings in the chat. VOLTA's instructions to the assistant are to cite the sheet and room for every count and to say how sure it is. It then proposes each change as item, current quantity, new quantity and reason, and waits. Reply "yes" to the ones you agree with; the reason is kept in the estimate's history and the change is marked as set by AI.
"Make the quote in the proposal layout, show the scope of work and terms, and give me the printable link."
VOLTA builds the quote from the estimate and returns a link you can open and print to PDF. The link is kept for 7 days. Check the company details and the client name first: the quote uses whatever is saved in your VOLTA settings.
What can the AI do, and what can't it?
The assistant reads the estimate and the drawings you give it; VOLTA does the pricing. Everything else follows from that split.
| It can | It can't |
|---|---|
| Open, read and explain your VOLTA estimates | Work out a price or total on its own: those come from VOLTA |
| Count devices on drawings and specs you share in the chat | See drawings you haven't shared, or files in the VOLTA app on your device |
| Propose changes, and apply them after you agree | Guarantee its counts: check them against the plans |
| Add custom lines you confirm, such as a luminaire type from the fixture schedule | Decide code compliance, or sign and send a bid for you |
| Make quotes, the calculation report and a project file | Send anything to your client: you review the quote and send it yourself |
Two limits are worth knowing. First, the automatic drawing read that drafts a fresh estimate runs on VOLTA's PDF takeoff in your browser, not in the chat; to bring that estimate into the assistant, save the project file in VOLTA's Settings and attach it. Second, the assistant can be wrong about a count, so the approve-first rule is there for you to use.
Where is your data kept?
Once you connect an assistant, the estimates in your Project log, your shop settings and your company details are kept on VOLTA's servers, hosted by Netlify, which may store data outside Canada. Drawings you read in the VOLTA app still never leave your device. Anything you share in the chat, including drawings you attach there, is handled under Claude's or ChatGPT's own privacy terms. The details are on VOLTA's privacy page.
Frequently asked
Can I use VOLTA in ChatGPT?
Can I use VOLTA in Claude?
Does the AI price my electrical estimate?
Does the VOLTA connector cost extra?
Can the AI change my estimate without asking?
Does the assistant see my drawings?
Connect it in two minutes. Included with VOLTA, free for 30 days.
See the connectorStart free trialSources
- Anthropic, Get started with custom connectors using remote MCP (Claude Help Center).
- OpenAI, Developer mode and MCP apps in ChatGPT (OpenAI Help Center).
- Anthropic, Donating the Model Context Protocol and establishing the Agentic AI Foundation, December 9, 2025.
- Model Context Protocol blog, MCP Apps: bringing UI capabilities to MCP clients, January 26, 2026.
Next: VOLTA in Claude and ChatGPT · AI for electricians: six practical uses · AI electrical estimating software · Will AI replace electrical estimators?
