Getting started with Context Board
Sign in to Context Board with your email, pick what your board is for, connect your data and your AI agent, and learn the keys that get you around.
You can have a live board in a few minutes. Sign in, pick what it’s for, connect one thing. Everything after that is making it yours.
1. Sign in
- Go to board.contextbolt.com.
- Type your email and choose Email me a code.
- Type the eight-character code from the email and choose Sign in.
There’s no password. New here? The same code starts your board. A code works for 10 minutes. If it hasn’t arrived, check your spam folder, then choose Send a new code.
New accounts then start the trial. Choose Start free trial and add a card at checkout. It’s free for 3 days, then $12 a month, and you can cancel any time. Back on the board, choose I’ve checked out. Check again. if it hasn’t moved on by itself.
2. Pick what it’s for
A new account is asked What do you want to use this for? Pick one and your first board is set up for it. You can make any other kind of board later.
| Pick | Your first board |
|---|---|
| Track my business | A canvas, My business: MRR with a chart, visitors and top pages, this week’s to-dos, a focus note, a clock and a focus timer. |
| Plan a build with my coding agent | A plan board, My build plan: plan it step by step, then watch Claude Code or Codex build it. |
| Plan my content | A Content calendar: every post on a calendar, drafted with your agent. |
| Run my clients | A client pipeline, Clients: deals from first hello to won, with follow-ups. |
| Organize my day | A Calendar board, My calendar: your meetings and tasks on one calendar. |
Skip starts you on Founder HQ instead: revenue, signups and your agents’ work on one screen. Every new account also gets an Agents board beside its first one, with every Claude Code and Codex session on your computers, what waits for you, and how much of your plans is left.
Pick one and the chat has a first request typed in its box, like “Plan my day” on a Calendar. Nothing is sent until you send it. Canvas templates, like Launch week and Calm desk, are under New board whenever you want one. See Board types.
No template ships a number. A widget that needs data says Not connected yet, with a Connect button, until you connect its source.
3. Find your way around
Three buttons sit at the top right.
- The chat button is named for who answers. It reads Ask Claude or Ask Codex once the chat is set up, the name of the AI app you connected, or Ask your agent before either.
- Connect, the plug icon, opens the Connect window.
- Your initials open your account menu, with Settings, Keyboard shortcuts and Sign out.
The board’s pill at the top holds the board’s name, which you click to switch, rename or add boards. With many boards, sort them into folders: New folder at the foot of that list, then drag a board onto a folder or use the folder button on its row. A folder folds away and stays folded, and Find a board searches every folder. Then come All boards, See everything (on a canvas or mind map), Look and themes, Share, Settings and Full screen.
The command bar sits at the bottom as a slim bar. Right-click any widget for its menu.
These are the keys worth learning first.
| Key | What it does |
|---|---|
| Ctrl K or ⌘ K, or / | The command bar. Add, find or ask for anything. |
| Ctrl J or ⌘ J | Open the chat beside the board. |
| A | Add a widget from the gallery. |
| D | Data and sources. |
| N | Add a sticky note. |
| F | Full screen. Esc leaves it. |
| Shift F | Hide the controls without leaving the window. |
| G | All boards, every board on one screen. |
| Ctrl [ or Ctrl ] (⌘ on a Mac) | The previous or next board. |
| Shift T | Try on themes, on the board as you move through them. |
| B | The next background, on a theme with pictures. |
| ? | Every shortcut. |
On the canvas, scroll or drag empty space to move around, and use Ctrl or ⌘ with the scroll wheel, or a pinch, to zoom. Shift 1 fits the whole board in view. Double-click empty space to add a widget there. Select a widget to move it or pull its handles to resize it.
4. Connect your tools
The Connect your tools checklist at the bottom left has five steps. Each opens its own setup and links its how-to, and ticks itself once that thing is really connected. Do the ones that fit you.
| Step | What it does | How-to |
|---|---|---|
| Connect the Context Board MCP | Claude Code, Claude, ChatGPT or Codex reads and builds your board | Your AI |
| Bring your other MCPs | The MCP servers you use in other apps, like Stripe or Notion, feed your widgets and the chat | Bring your MCP servers |
| Connect your APIs | A key, or any API, feed or calendar | Any API or feed |
| Connect your project files | Folders your agent works in | Project folders |
| Connect your computers | Where you run Claude Code or Codex | Link your computer |
You can tick a step yourself, or choose Mark all done. The checklist folds into a small pill when you don’t need it.
5. Connect your first data
There are two ways in.
- From a widget: click Connect on a widget that says Not connected yet. The Connect window opens on the places its data most likely comes from.
- From Connect: click the plug icon at the top right and open Your data. Search for any app or service, or paste a link.
Pick the service and follow its form. Some sign in with the service’s own sign-in page, some take a key you save once, and the free ones need nothing at all. Every form shows what the widget will say before anything is added. Then choose Add to the board. If you started from a widget, the button reads Connect to and the widget’s name.
Not sure where to start? Weather, Hacker News or a GitHub repo’s stars are free and take one field. Every kind of connection is on Your data.
6. Connect your AI
Open Connect, then Your AI, and pick the app you use.
- Claude Code or Codex: copy the one line on its page and run it on your computer. It gives them your boards and runs the board’s chat on your own plan. Then open a new session.
- Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, VS Code or another app: follow its two or three steps and click Allow on the board’s sign-in page.
The app’s page says Connected once it reads the board. Then ask it something.
“Read my Context Board and tell me what needs my attention today.”
The steps for each app, the chat inside the board, project folders and your own MCPs are on Your AI and your computers.
7. Make it yours
- Themes: press Shift T to try them on, or open Look and themes in the board’s pill. There are ten places with their own scenes, nine palettes such as Tokyo Night, Catppuccin, Gruvbox and Nord, and photo themes. Or use Make a theme in the command bar and describe a place you love.
- More boards: click the board’s name in its pill and choose New board, or press G and pick the New board tile. Pick a Canvas, Doc, Sheet, Slides, Plan, Files, Mind map, Calendar, Content calendar or Client pipeline, or start a canvas from a template. See Board types.
- Custom widgets: when no built-in widget fits, describe what you want. Use Make a custom widget in the command bar, or ask your agent. It writes the widget, and it runs sealed off with no network access.
- Full screen: press F. Widgets keep working, and the chat and command bar still open.
What it costs
Context Board is free for 3 days, then $12 a month. One plan with every connection, widget and theme.