One search tool in Notion MCP
By Steven Van ·
Access checks become optional for most connections, while ChatGPT search and fetch responses adopt OpenAI’s required format.
Search descriptions in hosted Notion MCP sessions now reflect each user’s access: AI search when available, or keyword search with a one-line upgrade note when the plan lacks AI search.
Search tools and compatibility
Sessions list notion-search, called search for OpenAI clients, as their single content-search tool. notion-ai-search no longer appears in tools/list but remains callable by name, keeping clients with cached tool lists working. Server instructions also tell clients to use the Notion search tool for every content search.
Workspace-owned MCP connections with a selected tool list retain their earlier tool lists and descriptions.
Access checks become optional
Outside workspace-owned connections, tool descriptions no longer instruct clients to call notion-get-tool-access first. Tools enforce access limits themselves and report them in their results. Clients can still call notion-get-tool-access for plan or parameter details up front, replacing the September 17 guidance to check first.
ChatGPT response format changes
For ChatGPT connections, search returns results containing id, title and url. Fetch returns id, title, text, url and metadata. Both responses provide structuredContent and JSON text, matching OpenAI’s MCP requirements for company knowledge and deep research.
ChatGPT search results no longer include highlights, path, timestamps or notices. When fetch receives include_file_urls: true, file download URLs appear under metadata.references. User lookups and other clients are unchanged.
See the October 7 announcement for the changes.