# What is Bring your own AI

> Use the AI you already have with MockFlow: MockFlow Bridge runs your own agent behind Mida on the board, and MockFlow MCP lets Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and other AI apps create boards.

Source: https://mockflow.com/docs/what-is-bring-your-own-ai

MockFlow is the visual canvas for people, teams and agents. Its built-in AI agent, Mida, plans and adds items to your board, and each generation uses AI credits from your plan. Bring your own AI lets you use an AI you already pay for, such as Claude Code, Codex, Claude or ChatGPT, to do that work instead. Your own AI does the thinking, so nothing you generate this way uses MockFlow AI credits.

There are two ways to connect your own AI, and they work in opposite directions:

- **MockFlow Bridge** keeps you on the board. You ask Mida as usual, and an AI agent running on your computer does the generating.
- **MockFlow MCP** keeps you in your AI app. You ask Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or another MCP client for a visual, and the result is created as a MockFlow board.

![Two ways to bring your own AI. On the left, MockFlow Bridge: a board where Mida is asked to map a repo as a mind map, paired with the mockflow-bridge program on the computer, which uses Claude Code or Codex as its agent. On the right, MockFlow MCP: a Claude chat asks for a Q3 launch plan timeline and the timeline appears on a MockFlow board](https://assets.mockflow.com/docs/media/e6237c747abc4c80b264f9989a337354.webp)

## MockFlow Bridge: your own AI agent behind Mida

MockFlow Bridge is a small program that runs on your computer and connects an AI agent there to the board open in your browser. Once the board is paired with it, the AI features on the board use your agent instead of MockFlow AI:

- **Ask Mida**, for boards, diagrams, wireframes and plans from a prompt
- **Concept Builders**, the AI agents that help your team build a concept for a game, product, book or software on the board
- **AI on an item**, such as generating or changing a mind map, a flowchart or a chart from its toolbar

Nothing else about the board changes. You keep every board format and AI skill, and your teammates see a normal board session, not a terminal.

The agent can be **Claude Code**, **Codex** or **opencode**, or **BridgeAI**, an option built into Bridge that works with an API key from a provider such as OpenRouter. Because the agent runs on your computer, Bridge can also read a folder you choose, such as a code repository or a set of meeting notes, and draw what it finds. The files stay on your computer; only the finished drawing is saved to your board.

## MockFlow MCP: create boards from your AI app

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is the open standard AI apps use to connect to other tools. With the MockFlow MCP server added to your AI app, you can ask for a flowchart, a mind map, a kanban board, a timeline or a cloud architecture diagram in the conversation, and the AI creates it as a MockFlow board that you open, edit and share.

MockFlow MCP works with:

- **Claude** and **ChatGPT**, added as a connector in the app's settings
- **Claude Code**, **Codex**, **Cursor**, **VS Code** and other MCP clients, through MockFlow's MCP servers for boards and for wireframes

## Bridge or MCP: which one to use

|  | MockFlow Bridge | MockFlow MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Where you work | On the MockFlow board | In your AI app or code editor |
| Who you ask | Mida, Concept Builders and the AI on each item | Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or another MCP client |
| Which AI does the work | Claude Code, Codex, opencode or BridgeAI on your computer | The AI in your app |
| What it can read | Your board, and a folder on your computer if you allow it | Your conversation or code in the AI app |
| Setup | Install Bridge, start it and pair your board | Add MockFlow to your AI app once |
| AI credits | Not used | Not used |

Choose **Bridge** when the board is where you think and work with your team, and you want unlimited AI generations on it, or want the AI to build boards from files on your computer. See [What is MockFlow Bridge](/docs/what-is-mockflow-bridge) and [Set up MockFlow Bridge](/docs/set-up-mockflow-bridge).

Choose **MCP** when you spend your day in a chat app or code editor and want a visual as the output, for example a flowchart of the code you are working on or a plan you have just discussed. See [What is the MockFlow MCP server](/docs/what-is-mockflow-mcp).

You can use both. Many people pair Bridge for day-to-day work on boards and add the MCP server to the coding tool they use.

## AI credits and plans

Generations through Bridge or MCP run on your own AI subscription or API key, so they do not use MockFlow AI credits. Media items, such as AI images, video clips, sound and 3D models, can only be generated by MockFlow AI. When you ask for one of them, MockFlow AI creates it and uses credits as usual.

Bridge and MCP are available on every plan, including Basic, with limits on Basic. **Bridge Pro**, included in Plus and Max, removes the daily limit on generations and adds every supported agent, several boards at once and reading files on your computer. On Max, your agent can also read data from your connected tools, such as Jira, Notion or Slack. See [MockFlow pricing](https://mockflow.com/pricing/) for details.