Last reviewed: 5 October 2026. This guide describes Marvin’s MCP server as it works today. For the UK GDPR side, read our separate guide to AI, MCP and UK GDPR.
TL;DR
- MCP (Model Context Protocol) lets an AI assistant such as Claude or ChatGPT call tools in another application. Connected to your recruitment CRM, the assistant can search, read and act on your data.
- Marvin’s MCP server exposes 51 tools: search, matching and scoring, records and pipeline, LinkedIn sourcing, outreach, multiposting and analytics.
- You connect it in a couple of steps: add https://mcp.marvins.ai/mcp as a connector, then sign in with your Marvin account.
- The AI runs on your own subscription: Marvin does not bill those requests.
- Sending, enrolling, deleting and other heavy actions return a preview by default, and each recruiter only reaches what their Marvin account allows.
What MCP changes for a recruiter
Most consultants already use an AI assistant to rewrite an advert or tidy a call note. The limit is that the assistant knows nothing about your candidates, your clients or your live roles, so you copy and paste, and the answer is only as good as what you pasted.
With MCP, the assistant asks your CRM directly. A morning on a perm desk can look like this, all from the same chat:
- “Find me five management accountants in our pool within 30 miles of Leeds who are open to interim.”
- “Score them against our new Finance Manager role and tell me why.”
- “Write me a brief for my 11am with the second one, from her notes and CV.”
- “Draft a LinkedIn message to the first one about the role.”
- “Move the third to Client interview and add my feedback.”
The assistant chooses which Marvin tools to call and shows you what it called. Every answer comes from your data, not from what the model remembers.
Connecting Marvin’s MCP server
- Copy the server URL:
https://mcp.marvins.ai/mcp. It is the same for every firm; your sign-in decides which account, firm and permissions apply. - Add it as a connector in your assistant. In Claude (Desktop or web): Settings, Connectors, Add custom connector. ChatGPT accepts it through its connectors, and Cursor, Claude Code and Goose support remote MCP servers too.
- Sign in with your Marvin account. The connection uses OAuth 2.1: each recruiter connects with their own account, never a shared token.
Each recruiter can see and revoke their MCP connections in Desk, under Settings, Integrations, MCP.
What you can do: the 51 tools
| Area | What the assistant can do |
|---|---|
| Search and read | Search candidates, contacts, companies, jobs and processes; count; run Boolean and saved searches; read a full record; list team members; find records that have gone stale |
| Matching and scoring | Candidates for a job, jobs for a candidate, similar profiles or jobs; score candidates for a job; compare candidates |
| Preparation | Candidate brief from a process, activity summary, next best action, interview questions, outreach draft, duplicate detection, tag suggestions |
| Records and pipeline | Create and update records, merge duplicates, duplicate a job, move a candidate to another stage, add feedback, schedule the next interview, process applications, close a job’s pipeline |
| LinkedIn sourcing | Search LinkedIn and look up a profile through the recruiter’s connected account, import a profile, enrich a person from LinkedIn, enrich contact details |
| Outreach | Send a message, enrol people in a sequence |
| Jobs | Post a job to job boards, take it down, manage your career page |
| Analytics and data | Statistics; a CSV export of companies (administrators only, where the export option is enabled for your firm) |
Beyond tools, the server exposes your records as resources that the assistant can read, such as a candidate, a job, a company or a meeting transcript, and a few ready-made prompts: a candidate brief, an interview summary, a sourcing plan, a candidate follow-up and a pipeline recap.
Safeguards built into the tools
An assistant that can act on your CRM can also make mistakes at scale. Marvin’s MCP server is designed so that heavy actions are shown before they happen.
- Messages: the messaging tool returns a preview unless the assistant explicitly asks for a real send, and it is flagged to assistants as an irreversible action that needs your confirmation; how that confirmation looks depends on the assistant. When the tone, language or call to action of a real send are not specified, Marvin asks you to confirm in a form, and refuses the send in assistants that cannot show one, such as Cursor today. Messages go from the recruiter’s own connected mailbox, LinkedIn or WhatsApp account.
- Sequences: enrolment returns a preview by default, and one call can enrol at most 100 people.
- Deletions: deleting a record returns a preview unless it is confirmed, and a deleted record cannot be restored. Bursts of deletions are also slowed down.
- Other bulk actions: closing a job’s pipeline returns a preview by default, and bursts of multiposting, application processing, record merges and career page changes are slowed down.
- Rate limits apply to each connection.
- Workflows that find and approach candidates prepare drafts; they do not send.
These are brakes, not a guarantee that nothing can go wrong. Agree with your team which tools each role should use, and keep a recruiter behind every message that leaves the agency.
Permissions and data: the short version
Every request is filtered by firm and runs with the signed-in recruiter’s role and visibility rules, so the assistant sees no more than that recruiter does. If Marvin cannot determine those rights, it refuses rather than showing the whole firm.
Your data is hosted in France (Scaleway, Paris). Our sub-processors, including AI providers, are listed in our DPA. With MCP, the assistant and its model are the ones your agency chose and contracts with, so they are a separate provider to assess. Our guide to AI, MCP and UK GDPR covers automated decisions, international transfers and the checklist to run before you connect; we do not repeat it here.
Who pays for the AI
With MCP, the AI runs in the assistant you chose, on your own subscription. Marvin does not bill those requests and does not resell an AI plan. The MCP server is included in Marvin plans.
MCP or the Copilot inside Marvin?
They work on the same data and complement each other.
- MCP suits consultants who already live in Claude or ChatGPT and want their CRM there, alongside email drafting, research and documents.
- The Copilot is built into Desk, uses Marvin’s contracted AI providers or your firm’s own key, and shows cards that the recruiter confirms in Desk. Read what it does in our guide to Marvin’s AI copilot.
Getting started on your desk
Start with reading and scoring tools on a live role, then add drafting, and only then sending and pipeline moves, once your team agrees how they are used. If you source on LinkedIn from the assistant, the same rules apply as from Marvin itself: see our guide to LinkedIn sourcing and outreach for UK recruiters. And if you are building a new agency, our guide to starting a recruitment agency in the UK covers the rest.
Read more about the MCP server, or book a demo to see it on your own data.
Frequently asked questions
Which AI assistants work with Marvin’s MCP server?
Any assistant that supports remote MCP servers. Our documentation covers Claude (Desktop, web and Code), ChatGPT through its connectors, Cursor and Goose. You add the server URL as a connector, then sign in with your Marvin account.
How many tools does Marvin’s MCP server expose?
In its default configuration, 51 tools: search and reading, matching and scoring, record updates and pipeline moves, LinkedIn sourcing and enrichment, outreach, job multiposting, analytics and a company export.
Who pays for the AI when we use MCP?
The assistant runs on the AI subscription your agency already has. Marvin does not bill those requests. The MCP server itself is included in Marvin plans.
Can the assistant send messages to candidates through MCP?
Yes, from the recruiter’s own connected accounts, with safeguards. The messaging tool returns a preview by default and is flagged to assistants as an irreversible action that needs confirmation. When details of a real send are missing, Marvin asks for confirmation in a form, and refuses the send in assistants that cannot show one.
How do we stop a recruiter’s access?
Each recruiter connects with their own Marvin account and can see and revoke their MCP connections in Desk, under Settings, Integrations, MCP. Access follows their Marvin account and role.
