MCP Connector
What the MCP connector does
The MCP connector adds your Tavnit organization as a tool inside an AI assistant. Once it is connected, you can ask the assistant to run a document through one of your flows or answer questions from a Bucket, and it works against your live Tavnit data instead of guessing.
MCP (Model Context Protocol) is the open standard that lets AI assistants call external tools. Tavnit exposes an MCP endpoint, and the connector URL is the credential that points a client at your organization. It works with claude.ai (Pro and above), Cursor, and any other client that accepts a remote MCP server URL.
This page covers connecting an assistant you already have to a Tavnit account you already have. It assumes you know what your flows and Buckets are for — if you are still setting those up, start with the extraction basics and come back.
Before you start
You need three things: a Tavnit organization with the connector enabled, a personal API key, and an MCP client. The connector is issued from your own key, so it can only reach the organization you were signed in to when you generated it, with your role's permissions.
| Requirement | Where it comes from |
|---|---|
| Custom Connector card | Visible on the Integrations page. The connector is rolling out gradually — if the card is not there, ask support to enable it for your organization. |
| A Tavnit API key | Also on the Integrations page, one per member per organization. If it is missing, sign out and back in. |
| An MCP client | claude.ai on a Pro plan or above, Cursor, or any client that accepts a remote MCP server URL. |
| A role that can act | The assistant inherits your permissions. A Member cannot make the assistant do something a Member cannot do in the app — see user roles and permissions. |
Connect claude.ai
Generate the URL in Tavnit, then paste it into claude.ai as a custom connector. The whole setup is five steps and takes about a minute; there is nothing to install and no configuration file to edit.
- 1Open Integrations in the Tavnit sidebar. Check the organization switcher first — the connector is bound to whichever organization you are in.
- 2In the Custom Connector card, select Generate connector URL.
- 3Copy the URL with the copy button.
- 4In claude.ai, go to Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector and paste the URL.
- 5Open a new chat and ask it to list your flows. Getting your real flow names back confirms the connection.
Connect Cursor or another MCP client
Any client that supports remote MCP servers takes the same URL. In Cursor, add it as a remote MCP server rather than a command-based one — there is no local process to run, because the connector points at a hosted endpoint.
- 1Generate and copy the connector URL from the Integrations page, as above.
- 2In Cursor, open the MCP settings and add a new server of the remote / URL type.
- 3Paste the connector URL as the server URL. No separate API key field is needed — the URL already carries the credential.
- 4Reload the client and check that Tavnit appears in its tool list.
The same connector URL can be pasted into more than one client. They all act as the same member in the same organization, so a refresh disconnects all of them at once.
What your assistant can do
The connector exposes two capabilities: running documents through your flows, and reading the data you have already extracted. Everything else — building flows, editing Cleaners, managing the team — stays in the app.
- Process documents through your flows and get the structured result back in the conversation.
- Read and search your Buckets — ask questions about data you have already extracted, without exporting it first.
Prompts that work well:
| Ask this | What happens |
|---|---|
| “Run this invoice through my Supplier Invoices flow.” | The attached document is processed by that flow and the extracted fields come back in the chat. |
| “What did we pay Acme Corp last month, from my Invoices bucket?” | The assistant queries the Bucket and answers from the stored rows. |
| “Which flows do I have?” | A quick connectivity check — a real list means the connector is working. |
A document processed by the assistant is an ordinary flow run and is billed the same way as one you upload yourself. If a flow has human review enabled, the run pauses for a reviewer instead of returning results immediately.
Expiry and refreshing
Connector URLs are time-limited. The Custom Connector card shows when the URL was created and when it expires, and warns you as the expiry approaches. Refreshing issues a new URL and invalidates the old one immediately.
| State | What you see | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Active | The URL plus a created date and a remaining-time label. | Nothing. |
| Expiring soon | An amber notice: Connector expires soon — refresh now to avoid disruption. | Refresh, then paste the new URL into every client using it. |
| Expired | A red notice: This connector has expired. Refresh to generate a new URL. | Refresh and re-paste. Clients using the old URL have already stopped working. |
Refreshing is not a rotation you can stage. The moment you confirm it, the previous URL stops working and every assistant holding it fails until you paste the new one. Refresh when you can update the clients straight away.
Treat the URL like a password
The connector URL is a bearer credential. Anyone who has it can reach your organization's flows and Buckets as you, without signing in. It is safe to paste into an MCP client's settings; it is not safe to share in a ticket, a chat message, or a screenshot.
- Do not commit it to a repository or paste it into a shared document.
- Blur or crop it out of any screenshot before sharing.
- If it leaks, refresh immediately — that invalidates the exposed URL on the spot.
- Regenerating your API key is a separate action on the same page; do that too if you think the key itself is exposed.
Troubleshooting
Most connector problems are one of four things: the feature is not enabled, the session has lapsed, the URL has expired, or the client is holding a URL that was replaced by a refresh.
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| No Custom Connector card on Integrations | The connector is not enabled for your organization yet. | Contact support to have it turned on. |
Custom connectors require a valid Tavnit session | Your sign-in has lapsed, so Tavnit cannot issue a URL. | Sign out and back in, then generate the URL again. |
| The assistant stopped seeing Tavnit | The URL expired, or someone refreshed it. | Check the card for an expired or expiring notice, refresh, and re-paste into every client. |
| The assistant sees the wrong data | The URL was generated while you were in a different organization. | Switch organizations in Tavnit, generate a fresh URL, and replace the old one. |
| The assistant cannot perform an action | Your role does not allow it. | The connector inherits your permissions — check your role before assuming a connector fault. |
When to use the connector instead of the API
Use the connector for conversational, ad-hoc work — one-off documents, questions about stored data, exploratory analysis. Use the REST API for anything scheduled, high-volume, or embedded in another system, where you need explicit error handling and retries.
| Situation | Use |
|---|---|
| A colleague asks what a supplier billed last quarter | MCP connector |
| One invoice landed in your inbox and you want it extracted now | MCP connector |
| Every invoice from a vendor portal, nightly | REST API or an email trigger |
| Your own product needs the extracted data | REST API plus webhooks |