How to connect ChatGPT to LinkedIn messages
For consultants, recruiters and anyone who sells their time, LinkedIn messages are often the warmest leads in the business, and the easiest to lose under a pile of notifications. With Spaces, ChatGPT can read your LinkedIn inbox, tell you who is waiting, and draft and send replies from your own account. This guide covers the setup, a worked example from a consultant's Monday, the notes that keep ChatGPT's replies sounding like you, and where LinkedIn's rules mean a lighter touch.
What you need
- A ChatGPT account that can add custom connectors. OpenAI decides which plans can do this, and it changes from time to time, so check their help pages if you cannot find the option.
- A Spaces account. Your trial starts when you connect a chat account, with no card needed.
- The LinkedIn account your customers already message you on.
- A short note about your business: what you sell, prices, opening hours and the things you never want promised. You will paste it into ChatGPT later.
- About ten minutes for the setup, and a little longer to try it on a few real messages.
Step 1: connect your LinkedIn account to Spaces
You sign in to LinkedIn through a secure link and approve the connection. Your account stays yours, and you keep using it on your phone as normal.
Once it is connected, the account shows in your Spaces dashboard. Connecting does not send anything. It only means Spaces can read and send on that account when an AI agent you have added asks it to.
Connect your own LinkedIn profile, the one your clients and contacts message. LinkedIn's rules are strict about automation, so read the note at the top of this page before you connect, and plan to use ChatGPT for conversations rather than for outreach.
Step 2: add Spaces to ChatGPT
- In ChatGPT, open Settings, then Apps & Connectors, then Advanced, and turn on Developer mode.
- Create a connector named Spaces with the URL https://api.spacesos.com/mcp, and choose OAuth.
- Sign in to Spaces and approve access, then turn the connector on in a chat.
- Menu names and which plans can add connectors change from time to time. OpenAI’s help page has the current steps.
To check it worked: The connector page lists the Spaces tools.
You sign in on Spaces' own page during this step, so ChatGPT never sees your LinkedIn login or your Spaces password. If Spaces does not show up:
- Open a new chat and check the Spaces connector is turned on in it.
- Sign in to Spaces again from the connector, in case the first sign-in did not finish.
- Remove the connector and add it again, checking the address is exactly https://api.spacesos.com/mcp.
- If it still does not appear, OpenAI's help pages have their current steps, and our ChatGPT setup page has ours.
Step 3: try it
Open a new chat in ChatGPT, make sure Spaces is turned on, and ask in plain words:
- Who has messaged me on LinkedIn this week, and who is still waiting for a reply?
- Summarise the conversation with Priya and draft a reply suggesting a call next week.
- Draft short thank-you replies to everyone who accepted my invitations this week.
- Which messages look like sales pitches I can ignore?
Start with a question that only reads, like the first one. It shows you that ChatGPT can see your LinkedIn messages before you let it send anything. Then try a draft, read it carefully, and only then let it send.
Good to know
ChatGPT acts when you ask it to in a chat. It does not watch your inbox on its own. For replies around the clock, use an agent that runs all the time, such as Claude Code, Codex, OpenClaw or Hermes, or set up a Spaces routine that sends set replies to set questions.
In practice, treat ChatGPT as a quick helper you sit down with a few times a day: first thing, at lunchtime and before you close. Each time, ask what came in, check its drafts and let it send the ones you are happy with. Customers who message in between wait until your next session, just as they would if you were answering by hand.
A Spaces routine is not an AI. It sends a reply you wrote in advance when something happens, such as a new message or a keyword. That makes it a good way to send "Thanks for your message, we will reply first thing tomorrow" after hours, while ChatGPT writes the real answers in your next session.
Ask ChatGPT to sort the inbox first: real enquiries, existing clients, recruiters and sales pitches. Most people find a third of their LinkedIn messages need no reply at all.
What Spaces lets ChatGPT do on LinkedIn
Spaces gives ChatGPT your LinkedIn messages: listing conversations, reading them and replying in them. A normal message goes to a 1st-degree connection. Anyone else needs a connection request or an InMail.
It can also send a connection request with a note, within tight limits (15 a day and 100 a week on a free account, 25 a day and 150 a week on Premium, Sales Navigator or Recruiter, 4 an hour (5 on a paid account) and at least 90 seconds apart (5 a day in week 1, 10 in week 2, 15 in weeks 3 and 4)), and list and reply to comments on your posts (30 a day). Use both sparingly. The value is in answering people who are already talking to you.
A worked example: a consultant's Monday inbox
Here is how a session might go for an independent marketing consultant. Names and details are examples.
| Who | Message |
|---|---|
| You, to ChatGPT | Who has messaged me on LinkedIn since Friday, and who is waiting on me? |
| ChatGPT | Seven conversations. Priya, a past client, asks if you have room for a project in January. Daniel, who commented on your post, asks what a strategy day costs. A recruiter offers a full-time role. Three people are pitching lead-generation services. Amal, a supplier, confirms Thursday's workshop room. |
| You | Draft replies to Priya, Daniel and Amal. Ignore the pitches. Politely decline the recruiter. |
| ChatGPT | Priya: "Hi Priya, lovely to hear from you. Yes, I have some room in January. Could we have a 20-minute call next week to talk it through? Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon works for me." Daniel: "Hi Daniel, thanks for asking. A strategy day is £1,200, and I send a short questionnaire beforehand so we use the day well. Happy to share an outline." Amal: "Thanks Amal, Thursday is confirmed." Recruiter: "Thanks for thinking of me. I am happily independent, so I will pass, but good luck with the search." |
| You | Send all four. |
| ChatGPT | Sent. The three sales pitches are left unanswered. |
The four replies go out at least 20 seconds apart, from your own profile, in conversations other people started. That is the kind of message LinkedIn is built for.
Notes to give ChatGPT for LinkedIn
LinkedIn replies are read by people deciding whether to work with you, so tone matters more than speed. Paste a note like this at the start of each chat:
About me: independent marketing consultant for small B2B firms.
Offers: strategy day £1,200; monthly advisory from £900. Outline: [link].
Diary: calls Tue-Thu afternoons. Never book a time, suggest days and let them choose.
Tone: warm, direct, short paragraphs, first names, no exclamation marks.
Ignore: sales pitches, link-building and lead-generation offers.
Leave for me: anything about fees for a named project, contracts, or anyone unhappy.
Never: claim results or name clients without my say-so.What to let ChatGPT do on LinkedIn
| Task | Let ChatGPT | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Sort and summarise the inbox | Every session | It only reads, and it saves the most time. |
| Reply to enquiries and clients | Draft, then send once you trust it | These are your best leads, so read the first few weeks of drafts. |
| Decline recruiters and pitches politely | Send | Low stakes, and a short no is kinder than silence. |
| Thank people who accepted an invitation | Draft | Keep it personal and short, with no pitch in the first message. |
| Send new connection requests | Rarely, and only to people you know | They have the tightest limits, and LinkedIn watches them closely. |
| Message strangers about your services | No | That is cold outreach, which LinkedIn restricts and Spaces is not for. |
Why LinkedIn needs a lighter touch
LinkedIn's User Agreement prohibits bots and unauthorised automated methods for messaging, adding contacts and posting, and it can restrict accounts that use them. Spaces lowers the risk by pacing every action and keeping each one inside the limits below, but it cannot remove it. The safest pattern is the one in the example: you are in the chat, you read the drafts, and almost every message is a reply.
If you also have LinkedIn open on your phone or laptop, it is fine to answer some messages by hand. Just tell ChatGPT which conversations you have taken, so it does not draft a second reply.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Asking ChatGPT to message everyone who viewed your profile. That is cold outreach, and it is the fastest way to a restriction.
- Letting it pitch in the first reply to a new connection. Thank them, ask a question, and wait.
- Sending long replies. A LinkedIn message should be readable on a phone without scrolling.
- Skipping the note, so ChatGPT guesses your fees or your diary.
- Using connection requests to get round the rule that normal messages go to 1st-degree connections.
Summing up
With Spaces, ChatGPT can read your LinkedIn inbox, sort it, and draft and send replies from your profile at a careful pace. Give it a clear note, keep it to people who wrote to you, read its drafts while you build trust, and leave fees, contracts and anything delicate for yourself.
How Spaces keeps your account safe
Whatever you ask, Spaces keeps your LinkedIn account inside safe limits: at least 20 seconds between messages, up to 100 a day, and 30 new conversations a day at most, with a gentler start for a newly connected account. If your AI tries to go faster, Spaces holds the message and says when it can try again.
New conversations warm up over the first weeks after you connect:
| Since connecting | New chats an hour | New chats a day |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | 2 | 8 |
| Week 2 | 4 | 15 |
| Weeks 3 and 4 | 6 | 20 |
| After that | 8 | 30 |
A normal message goes to a 1st-degree connection. Anyone else needs a connection request or an InMail.
These are Spaces' own limits. They lower the risk of a restriction, but they cannot remove it, because LinkedIn makes its own decisions about accounts. Read the note at the top of this page before you connect.
Pricing
FAQ
Does this use LinkedIn's Messages API?
No. That API is for approved partners only. Spaces signs in to your own account, so LinkedIn's User Agreement applies, which is why the note at the top of the page matters.
Can ChatGPT message people I am not connected to?
A normal message goes to a 1st-degree connection. Anyone else needs a connection request or an InMail. Keep both for people who expect to hear from you.
Can ChatGPT reply to comments on my posts?
Yes, within the comment limits (30 a day). Ask it to list new comments first, then pick which deserve a reply.
Will ChatGPT answer LinkedIn messages while I am away?
No. ChatGPT acts when you ask it in a chat and does not watch your inbox. Most LinkedIn conversations can wait a few hours, so a morning and an afternoon session usually work well.
Does it work with Sales Navigator?
Spaces works with the messages on the LinkedIn account you connect. Use it for the conversations in your inbox rather than for prospecting lists.
Will people know ChatGPT drafted the reply?
They see a normal message from you. Be honest if someone asks. Many people say they use an AI agent to help them keep up with their inbox and read every reply.
What happens if I hit a LinkedIn limit?
Spaces holds the message and tells ChatGPT when it can try again, so nothing goes out faster than the limits. Replies in existing conversations are rarely affected.