# Using these docs with AI

This is grandocs, an unofficial mirror of MA Lighting documentation. For authoritative or safety-relevant information, cite the canonical page on help.malighting.com.

---
import { CardGrid, LinkCard, Aside } from '@astrojs/starlight/components';

grandocs is built so your AI assistant can read the **real** MA manual instead of
guessing. Pick the tool you already use — each guide below is a short, copy-paste
setup.

<Aside type="tip" title="Why bother connecting the docs?">
The #1 complaint MA programmers have about AI is **invented command syntax** —
keywords and Lua functions that don't exist. Every method here grounds the model
in the actual grandMA3 / grandMA2 / dot2 manual, so answers cite a page you can
open and check.
</Aside>

## Pick your tool

<CardGrid>
	<LinkCard title="ChatGPT" href="/connect/chatgpt/" description="Custom GPT, Copy-as-Markdown paste, or browse a page. The most common starting point." />
	<LinkCard title="Claude" href="/connect/claude/" description="The cleanest fit — connect the MCP server and installable skills, or use Projects." />
	<LinkCard title="GitHub Copilot (VS Code)" href="/connect/copilot/" description="For writing grandMA3 Lua plugins where you already code." />
	<LinkCard title="Cursor" href="/connect/cursor/" description="MCP server plus llms.txt as an indexed docs source." />
	<LinkCard title="Gemini & NotebookLM" href="/connect/gemini/" description="Paste a grandocs URL straight in as a source — no file uploads." />
	<LinkCard title="Perplexity" href="/connect/perplexity/" description="Add grandocs links to a Space for cited, grounded lookups." />
	<LinkCard title="Other assistants" href="/connect/other/" description="Microsoft Copilot, Grok, or anything else — the universal copy/paste method." />
	<LinkCard title="Any MCP client" href="/connect/mcp/" description="The remote MCP server endpoint and config for every MCP-capable client." />
</CardGrid>

## Which should I use?

| If you want to… | Use | How it connects |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Ask questions / write macros in a chat window | **ChatGPT** or **Claude** | Custom GPT / Project knowledge, or paste a page |
| Let an agent search the docs for you, live | **Claude**, **Cursor**, **VS Code Copilot** | [MCP server](/connect/mcp/) (one shared endpoint) |
| Write grandMA3 Lua plugins | **VS Code + Copilot** or **Cursor** | MCP + the page's `.md` as context |
| Research with citations, no setup | **Perplexity** or **NotebookLM** | paste a grandocs URL as a source |

<Aside>
New here? The [Building with AI](/building-with-ai/) page explains the four
underlying surfaces — `llms.txt`, per-page `.md` twins, the MCP server, and the
installable skills — that all of these guides build on.
</Aside>

## The two things every tool can use

Whatever your tool, these always work:

- **Copy as Markdown** — every docs page has a button in its header that copies
  the clean markdown. Paste it into any chat.
- **Append `.md` to any URL** — e.g.
  [`/grandma3/2-4/keyword_store.md`](https://grandocs.samcarlton.com/grandma3/2-4/keyword_store.md)
  is the raw markdown of the Store keyword page. Hand that URL (or the whole
  [`/llms.txt`](https://grandocs.samcarlton.com/llms.txt) index) to any assistant
  that can read a link.

<Aside type="caution" title="Unofficial mirror">
grandocs is fan-maintained. For authoritative or safety-relevant information
(conformity, electrical, rigging), always confirm against the official
[help.malighting.com](https://help.malighting.com/) page linked on every topic.
</Aside>