Connect your family's archive once, then ask in plain words: who's in this photo, when was Nana born, add Grandma's sisters. ChatGPT can do only what you can do on the website.
In ChatGPT, open Settings → Apps & Connectors → Advanced settings and turn on Developer mode.
Choose Create, name it Kumbaa and paste the address below.
Sign in with the account you use on Kumbaa.
https://kumbaa.app/mcp
You need a Kumbaa account that belongs to a family archive: start one, or accept a family's invitation.
For example
Who's in our Christmas photo from 1994?
find_photosview_photo
Eighteen of the family, round the table at Harehills Lane: Thomas and Peggy in the middle, with Susan, David, Peter and Helen and their families.
Add Lily to Rebecca's family. She's her daughter, born May 2017.
add_personlink_people
Done: Lily Whitfield, born May 2017, is now Rebecca's daughter in the tree.
What you can ask
"Who are my great-grandparents on my mother's side?"
"Show me every photo with Dadi and Nani together."
"Whose birthdays are in March?"
"Add my uncle Ravi: born 1958 in Pune, my father's younger brother."
"Put the photos from the 1987 wedding in an album and tag the bride and groom."
"Invite my cousin Priya as a viewer."
Who can do what
ChatGPT acts as you, with your role in each family. Viewers read: people, life stories, albums and photos. Curators and the owner can also add, edit and link people, tag, caption and share photos, manage albums, and invite or remove members. Anything that removes something asks you first. Deleting a family, handing it to someone else and backups stay on the website.
More than one family?
One connection reaches every archive you belong to, such as your own family and your husband's or wife's side. Ask ChatGPT to switch, or name the family in the question.
Private stays private
ChatGPT reads your archive through your own sign-in, only when you ask. Your archive stays behind sign-in, closed to search engines, and isn't used to train AI models. See the privacy policy.
FAQ
Questions
Is Kumbaa free in ChatGPT?
Connecting is free; it uses your family's Kumbaa archive, which has a 14-day free trial and then a family plan. Everyone invited to the archive can connect too.
What can ChatGPT do in our archive?
Exactly what you can do on the website, and no more. A viewer can look at people, albums and photos; a curator can also add and edit people, tag and file photos, and invite family. Removing anything is always confirmed with you first.
Does ChatGPT see our photos?
Only the ones you ask about, while you ask. ChatGPT reads them through your own sign-in; nothing in your archive becomes public.
Which address do I use?
https://kumbaa.app/mcp. It's the same for every family; signing in tells Kumbaa which archives are yours.
Does it work in other AI apps than ChatGPT?
Yes: in Claude, and any app that supports remote MCP servers with sign-in.