Controls
Members and Workspace Administrators both decide what an AI assistant can do in SmartSuite. Members choose what each connection covers. Administrators set the ceiling for the whole Workspace. And every action stays within the connected Member's own Permissions.
Member controls
Choosing what a connection can reach
Each connection is scoped when the Member connects it. On SmartSuite's sign-in page, the Member chooses:
- Access: read-only, or read and write. Read-only is the default.
- Workspaces: specific Workspaces (the default), or all of them, including Workspaces the Member joins later.
A connection never reaches a Workspace outside its scope. If an assistant asks for one, it is told to reconnect and select that Workspace.
Change or revoke a connection
Connections are managed from the AI tool that holds them, for example Claude's Connectors screen or ChatGPT's Apps settings. To change a connection's Workspaces or access, disconnect SmartSuite there and connect again. Disconnecting ends the assistant's access.
Permissions always apply
The assistant acts as the Member who connected it. It can't see or change anything that the Member's Role and Permissions don't allow, and a Member with read-only Permissions on a Solution can only read it, whatever the connection allows. Requests through MCP get the same Permission checks as the same action in the SmartSuite app.
Read-only, two ways
A connection can be read-only for two reasons, and assistants see them differently:
| Reason | What the assistant sees |
|---|---|
| The Member chose read-only when connecting | Tools that make changes aren't offered at all |
| The Workspace's MCP Access is Read-Only | Tools that make changes are offered, but refused with a message that an Administrator must allow MCP writes |
The Tools Reference marks which tools are read-only.
Seeing what an assistant did
Every change made through MCP is written to the Record's activity history under both the Member's name and the assistant's, using the name the AI tool registered with SmartSuite, such as "Claude". It's always clear what a person did directly and what an assistant did on their behalf. Changes send the same notifications as the same change made in the SmartSuite app.
Assistants can read activity history too, with find-record-history, including whether a person, an assistant or an Automation made each change.
Undoing changes
- Deleted Records, Fields, Tables and Solutions go to the Workspace's recycle bin. Records can usually be restored for about 30 days after they are deleted, and longer on some plans. Assistants can list the recycle bin and restore from it.
- Updated values stay in the Record's activity history.
- Deleted Views, dashboards, Forms, document templates and Automations don't go to the recycle bin and can't be restored.
- Dry runs: the tools that change structure can report what they would do without doing it. Ask for one before large changes.
Workspace controls
These controls are for Workspace Administrators and are available on all plans.
MCP Access
MCP Access decides what assistants can do in the Workspace. It applies to every connection, from every AI tool.
- Open Workspace Administration.
- Go to AI Control Center → MCP Access and click Edit.
- Choose an option and click Save Configuration.
| Option | What it allows |
|---|---|
| Disabled | No MCP access. The Workspace isn't offered when a Member connects an assistant, and every request to it is refused. |
| Read-Only (default) | Assistants can read anything the connected Member can see, including Records, documents, structure and settings, but can't create, change or delete anything. |
| Read & Write | Assistants can change data and structure: Records, Fields, Tables, Views, Forms and Automations, within the Member's own Permissions. |
"Write" covers structure as well as Record values. In Read & Write, an assistant can create and delete Fields, Tables, Views, Forms and Automations. Choose it deliberately.
Two gates, and the stricter one wins
The Workspace setting is the ceiling. A Member's choice when connecting can only narrow it.
| Workspace setting | Member chose read-only | Member chose read & write |
|---|---|---|
| Disabled | No access | No access |
| Read-Only | Read only | Read only |
| Read & Write | Read only | Read & write, within the Member's own Permissions |
Lowering the setting to Read-Only or Disabled narrows every existing connection within about a minute. Nobody has to reconnect. Raising it to Read & Write doesn't upgrade existing read-only connections: a Member who wants write access reconnects and chooses it.
Recommended setups
- Build and sandbox Workspaces: Read & Write, so builders can scaffold Tables, Fields, Views and Automations with an assistant.
- Production Workspaces: Read-Only, so Members can ask questions of live data without any risk of changes.
- Workspaces no assistant should reach: Disabled.
IP restrictions
If IP restrictions are turned on under Workspace Administration → Security, they apply to MCP requests too. The address checked is the one the request comes from, which depends on the AI tool:
| AI tool | Where requests come from |
|---|---|
| Claude (web, desktop and mobile), ChatGPT and other hosted assistants | The AI provider's servers |
| Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code and other tools running on your computer | Your own network |
A request from an address that isn't on the allowlist is refused with a message naming the address. To use a hosted assistant with a restricted Workspace, an Administrator has to allow the provider's addresses. Otherwise, Members can use a tool that runs on their computer from an allowed network.
Two-factor authentication
If the Workspace requires two-factor authentication, the Member is asked for a code when they connect. A connection that hasn't answered that challenge is refused in that Workspace until the Member reconnects. Its other Workspaces keep working.
Data privacy
What SmartSuite receives
The SmartSuite MCP Server receives only the tool calls an assistant makes, such as the Table to search and the values to write. It never receives your prompt or the rest of the conversation.
SmartSuite logs metadata about each call: which tool was used, the Workspace, the AI tool and the address the request came from. It doesn't log tool arguments or results, though a call that fails may log its error message. Data the server reads and writes is handled under the same policies as the rest of SmartSuite.
What the AI tool receives
Whatever a tool returns, such as Records, comments or structure, is sent to the AI tool and processed by its provider under that provider's terms. Many AI tools show each tool call's arguments and results, so you can see exactly what was exchanged. Only connect SmartSuite to AI tools your organization has approved.
Data residency and GDPR
The SmartSuite MCP Server runs in the United States. Requests for EU-hosted Workspaces are routed to the EU, and Workspace data stays stored there. However, each tool call, and the data it reads or writes, passes through the server in the United States. The data is then processed by your AI tool's provider wherever that provider operates.
If your Workspace is hosted in the EU and you're subject to the GDPR, using the MCP server can transfer personal data outside the EU. Review it with your data protection officer, or under your own transfer assessment, before you allow it. Until you have, consider setting MCP Access to Disabled for Workspaces that hold personal data.