Use Ecobot's regulatory reference in your AI assistant

  • Updated

Ecobot's regulatory reference works inside the AI assistant you already use, such as Claude, ChatGPT, Microsoft 365 Copilot or Gemini. This article explains what it does, how to connect it and how to ask it questions.

What it does

The reference connects through MCP (Model Context Protocol), which lets an AI assistant look things up in a specific source instead of answering from memory. Ask a wetland or stream question, and the assistant returns the exact passage from the manual, with a link to that page of the PDF.

It covers:

  • The 1987 Corps of Engineers Wetlands Delineation Manual.
  • Every USACE Regional Supplement.
  • The 2025 National OHWM Manual.

It's free, public and read-only, and you don't need an Ecobot account or an API key. It only looks up science and regulatory documents: it doesn't connect to Ecobot Collector or Ecobot Manager, and it can't see your surveys or data.

Connect your assistant

Add this address to your assistant as a custom connector (some assistants call it an MCP server):

https://ecobot.com/mcp

The address isn't a web page, so opening it in a browser only shows an error.

Each assistant adds connectors in its own way. Ecobot's AI assistants guide has step-by-step setup for Claude, ChatGPT, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity and AI code editors.

For example, in Claude:

  1. Open Settings, then Connectors.
  2. Select Add custom connector and enter https://ecobot.com/mcp.
  3. Leave authentication set to none, and save.
  4. Start a new chat and check that Ecobot appears in the list of tools.

Adding a custom connector in Claude needs a paid Claude plan. On a company account, an admin may need to allow custom connectors first.

Ask a question

Start your question with "Use Ecobot" so the assistant knows to look it up. For example:

  • Use Ecobot to find the OHWM indicators for the Arid West.
  • Use Ecobot to explain the difference between primary and secondary hydrology indicators in the Eastern Mountains and Piedmont supplement, citing pages.
  • Use Ecobot to find the current data form for the region I'm working in.

Each answer quotes the manual word for word and links to the page it came from, so you can check it or pass it on to a reviewer.

Privacy

Ecobot doesn't train on your questions or keep them longer than it needs to answer them. Ecobot's MCP trust and safety page explains how citations are checked and how to report a wrong one.

For the manuals and data sources behind Ecobot's forms, see Citations and references.