.md

FAQ

Frequently asked questions about the Braking Lab Race Engineer and MCP integration.

General

What is the Race Engineer?

The Race Engineer is an AI-powered assistant that connects to your Braking Lab account through the Model Context Protocol (MCP). It can analyze your telemetry data, generate coaching reports, help prepare for races, and manage your track notes — all through natural conversation with an AI assistant.

Do I need to pay extra for the Race Engineer?

Connecting the Race Engineer is included with every Braking Lab account — there is no separate charge for it. What it can do follows your plan: race planning and reads of your existing data on Basic (free), sample-level lap analysis, comparisons and 25 AI reports every 30 days with Plus, and unlimited AI reports plus race strategy with Ultra. You also need access to a compatible AI assistant; its own plan may have a separate cost.

Which AI assistants work with the Race Engineer?

Any assistant that supports MCP Streamable HTTP transport with OAuth 2.0 can connect. The setup guide covers:

  • Claude Code — Public native plugin or interactive installer with nine skills
  • Codex — Interactive installer with nine skills and MCP configuration
  • Claude chat — Upload the plugin ZIP and connect your account
  • Cursor and other local agents — Install skills, then connect the MCP in the client
  • ChatGPT — Custom MCP connector where available; the public directory listing is still in preparation

Can I use it with ChatGPT or Gemini?

If your ChatGPT account offers custom MCP connectors, you can connect the Race Engineer in Developer Mode. The public directory listing is still in preparation. For Gemini, it depends on the client you use: it needs MCP Streamable HTTP and OAuth support. The full flow has not been verified in every client.

Privacy & Security

Can the Race Engineer see my data?

The Race Engineer can only access data in your authenticated Braking Lab account. It cannot see other users’ data. Access requires you to log in through the OAuth flow.

Is my data sent to the AI?

When you use the Race Engineer, your telemetry data flows through:

  1. Braking Lab servers — Where your data is stored
  2. The MCP connection — Encrypted transport
  3. The AI assistant — Which receives the query results

The AI assistant sees the results of queries (lap times, braking data, etc.) but does not store your raw telemetry files.

Can the Race Engineer modify my data?

Yes, some tools can create or update data:

  • Creative tools — Generate coaching reports
  • Mutating tools — Create/update race events, track notepads, preparations

The AI assistant will always indicate when it’s about to modify data, and you can approve or reject the action.

Is the code execution safe?

Yes. Code runs in an isolated V8 sandbox with no access to the filesystem, network, or external resources. It has strict memory (32 MB) and time (10 second) limits. See Code Mode for details.

Technical

What is MCP?

The Model Context Protocol is an open standard created by Anthropic that lets AI assistants connect to external tools and data sources. It’s like a USB port for AI — a standardized way to give assistants new capabilities.

Why MCP instead of a built-in chatbot?

MCP has several advantages:

  • Use a compatible AI client — Claude, Cursor, or another client supporting MCP over Streamable HTTP and OAuth
  • Better AI quality — You get the full power of frontier AI models
  • Privacy — Your stored data remains in your Braking Lab account; requested query results pass to your connected AI client and may be processed by its provider
  • Extensibility — New tools are added to the Race Engineer without updating your client

How do I update the Race Engineer?

The MCP server runs on Braking Lab’s servers and updates automatically. To update locally installed skills, run the installer again or use claude plugin update braking-lab-race-engineer@braking-lab if you installed the Claude Code plugin.

What if the connection drops?

MCP clients handle reconnection automatically. If you lose connectivity:

  • In-progress operations will timeout safely
  • No data is lost or corrupted
  • The client will reconnect when the network is available

Is there a rate limit?

Yes, the Race Engineer has a rate limit of 100 requests per hour per user to ensure fair usage and server stability.

Troubleshooting

The Race Engineer doesn’t know about my latest session

Make sure your session has finished syncing in Capture. Data is available as soon as sync completes.

”No sessions found” when I know I have data

Check that:

  • You’re authenticated with the same account used in Capture
  • The session has been fully synced (not stuck in “Processing” or “Syncing”)
  • You’re searching with the correct track/car names

The coaching report seems generic

This usually means limited data is available. For better reports:

  • Complete at least 10-15 clean laps per session
  • Run multiple sessions at the same track
  • Avoid sessions with many incidents or off-tracks

Connection won’t authenticate

  • Clear stored tokens in your MCP client
  • Sign out and sign in again
  • Make sure pop-ups aren’t blocked (the OAuth flow opens a browser window)
  • Verify your Braking Lab account is active

Getting Help

If your question isn’t answered here: