MCP Server Overview
The SmartSuite MCP Server lets AI tools work directly in your SmartSuite Workspace. Assistants can ask questions about your data, create and update Records, and build and manage Solutions, Tables, Views, Forms and Automations through natural conversation in Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and more.
The server is available to all customers on all plans, and any Member can connect.
The SmartSuite MCP Server
Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard that lets AI tools connect securely to outside systems. SmartSuite hosts its MCP server at:
https://app.smartsuite.com/v1/mcp
An assistant connected to it acts as the Member who connected it. What it can do is decided by three things, and the strictest one applies:
| Layer | Who sets it | What it decides |
|---|---|---|
| MCP Access | Workspace Administrators | Whether assistants can reach the Workspace at all, and whether they can make changes there |
| The connection | The Member, when connecting | Which Workspaces the connection covers, and whether it can make changes |
| Roles and Permissions | Solution and Workspace settings | What the Member can see and change, exactly as in the SmartSuite app |
See Controls for how these combine.
Supported clients
These clients can connect to SmartSuite today.
| Client | Setup | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Claude (web, desktop and mobile) | SmartSuite connector in Claude's connector directory | Claude |
| ChatGPT | SmartSuite app coming soon; custom MCP app for Business, Enterprise and Edu today | ChatGPT |
| Claude Code | claude mcp add | Claude Code |
| Cursor | Install link or mcp.json | Cursor |
| VS Code | mcp.json or MCP: Add Server | VS Code |
| Anything else | Any client that supports remote MCP servers and OAuth | Other clients |
Using the server
Once you've connected, ask about the data in your Workspace or start building.
- Be specific. Name the Solution and Table you mean, especially in a large Workspace.
- Expect some discovery. It's normal for an assistant to list your Workspaces and Solutions and read a Table's Fields before it answers. That's how it learns your structure.
- Use plain language. You don't need to know Field names or ids. Describe what you want, and describe the Solution in more detail if the assistant picks the wrong one.
- Ask for a dry run before large updates, deletions or structural changes. The tools that change structure can report what they would do without doing it.
- Ask for a summary of changes after bulk updates, so you can check them.
- Build in a sandbox first. Try structural changes in a sandbox Workspace before making them in production.
- Point at an example. Ask the assistant to follow an existing Solution, View or Automation as a reference.
- Check permissions. If something can't be read or changed, check the Member's Permissions and the Workspace's MCP Access setting.
- Think about what you connect. The assistant reads and changes SmartSuite data on your behalf. Only use AI tools you trust, and be careful about combining SmartSuite with other connections in the same conversation.
What the server can do
At a high level, the server can:
| Scenario | Example tools |
|---|---|
| Explore a Workspace | List Workspaces, Solutions and Tables; read a Table's Fields; search Members and Teams |
| Read and change Records | Find, create, update, delete and restore Records; read activity history |
| Work around a Record | Read and write comments, upload files, follow Records, manage My Work |
| Build structure | Create and change Solutions, Tables, Fields and the Record layout; check a Solution against SmartSuite's design standards |
| Build Views, dashboards and Forms | Create and change Views, dashboards and Forms; submit a Form; publish at a public link |
| Create documents | Design document templates and generate PDFs from Records |
| Build and debug Automations | Read, create and change Automations; read run history; retry failed runs |
See the Tools Reference for every tool.
Authentication
The server uses OAuth. When you connect a client, it opens SmartSuite's sign-in page, where you:
- Sign in to SmartSuite. Single sign-on and two-factor authentication apply if your organization uses them.
- Choose whether the connection can only read or can also make changes. Read-only is the default.
- Choose which Workspaces the connection can use: specific Workspaces (the default) or all of them, including Workspaces you join later. Workspaces whose MCP Access is Disabled aren't offered.
To change those choices later, disconnect SmartSuite in your AI tool and connect again. See Controls.
There are no API keys or personal access tokens for the MCP server. To use a SmartSuite API key instead, see the REST API or the open-source local server.
For client developers
| Server URL | https://app.smartsuite.com/v1/mcp |
| Transport | Streamable HTTP. The server is stateless: requests are POST, and there is no SSE stream or session id. |
| Authorization | OAuth 2.1 with PKCE. Protected resource metadata is at https://app.smartsuite.com/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource/v1/mcp, and an unauthenticated request returns 401 with a WWW-Authenticate header pointing to it. |
| Client registration | Dynamic Client Registration. No pre-registered client id is needed. |
| Scopes | mcp:read, plus mcp:write for a connection that can make changes. |
| Workspaces | Every tool except find-workspaces takes a workspaceId, the 8-character Workspace Id from the SmartSuite URL. Assistants call find-workspaces first to learn which Workspaces the connection covers. |
| Regions | One URL for every Workspace. Requests for EU-hosted Workspaces are routed to their region. See data residency. |