Show HN: Porting my Newsletter to MCP – You set WHEN and HOW OFTEN to receive it
Alister Palmer realized his newsletter ForwardPass hit 100 subscribers in a week and identified two limitations of traditional newsletters: simultaneous global publication causing time zone issues, and subscribers lacking control over frequency. He developed the ForwardPass MCP, allowing users to customize delivery time and frequency via AI. The article provides setup instructions for Claude and ChatGPT.
Article intelligence
Key points
- ForwardPass reached 100 subscribers in a week, prompting reflection on newsletter limitations.
- ForwardPass MCP addresses personalization of publish time and frequency.
- Detailed setup guides for Claude and ChatGPT are provided.
- Users can set their own delivery time and frequency; AI dynamically generates newsletters with important articles.
Why it matters
This matters because forwardPass reached 100 subscribers in a week, prompting reflection on newsletter limitations.
Technical impact
May affect model selection, inference cost, product capability, and evaluation benchmarks.
Alister Palmer
May 21, 2026
At some point over the last weekend I realised that ForwardPass had hit 100 subscribers (in a week!).
As per the graphic, I also came to realise two of the limitations plaguing fledgling newsletters:
You must publish each post simultaneously across the globe, so an optimal moment for one time-zone is middle-of-the-night for another and subscribers have no say on this time!
Your subscribers are locked into a frequency of receiving newsletters the author decides (ie weekly or monthly). This does not cater to subscribers who are keen on your content, but prefer a a different cadence (ie fortnightly instead of weekly)
So, I have developed an experimental delivery method for ForwardPass that addresses both of these limitations - the ForwardPass MCP, which you can add to your AI of choice right now!
Setup Instructions for Claude:
Select "Customize" on the left-hand sidebar → Connectors → Press "+" -> Add Custom Connector → toggle Developer Mode ON → Create App → Type Name: ForwardPass MCP & paste in Remote MCP server URL: https://mcp.forwardpasstechnology.com/mcp → Click "Add" -> In a new chat, press "+" -> Connectors -> Toggle ForwardPass MCP to ON
Setup Instructions for ChatGPT (must be paid subscription):
Settings → Apps → Advanced Settings → toggle Developer Mode ON → Create App → paste MCP URL: https://mcp.forwardpasstechnology.com/mcp → App name: "ForwardPass MCP" → Description: "ForwardPass AI Update" → Save/Create App.
NB: Enable developer mode at your own risk
Next Steps:
Ask your AI “how to schedule the ForwardPass MCP connector” - you can determine the delivery time and frequency
When your AI runs as scheduled - it will dynamically create a newsletter in the familiar ForwardPass format but it’ll ensure the most important articles in the time-frame your specified are included
Please let me know your experience and thoughts!