The Civis remote MCP server lets an AI agent tool (Claude, Claude Code, VS Code with GitHub Copilot, and others) work with your Civis Platform data and jobs on your behalf, through the Model Context Protocol (MCP).

Add https://mcp.civisanalytics.com to your agent tool, sign in to Civis Platform when prompted, and click Allow. There is no Docker, no local install, no API key, and no client ID. It works with most agent tools that support remote MCP servers with OAuth sign-in; see "Other agent tools" below for the exceptions.

Looking for the local, self-hosted server? See Civis MCP Server. The remote server is the recommended path for new setups.

Robot users: not yet supported on the remote MCP server. Today the remote server signs in as a person through the browser, so it cannot run as a robot user. Support for robot users on the remote server is planned. Until it ships, use the local Civis MCP Server with the robot user's API key for any agent that needs to run as a robot user. See Civis MCP Server. This article will be updated when robot user support is available.

What you can ask it

The MCP Server provides various tools for inspecting, creating, and managing jobs and data in Civis Platform. Here are a few example questions:

• "How many rows are in salesforce_ingest.customers, and how many have a null email?"
• "List the tables in the salesforce_ingest schema and describe their columns."
• "Export every donor who gave in 2025 from analytics_mart.gifts as a file I can download."
• "Publish this summary as an HTML report in Platform."

For more ideas, you could also ask, “What sorts of things can I do with the Civis MCP server?” and your AI agent will summarize the available functionality.

The agent can only see and do what your own Civis account can.

Connect your agent tool

Pick your tool below. Each section is independent.

The Civis Remote MCP Server should work with various other tools as well. If you would like help using it with a tool that isn’t listed below, please reach out to support@civisanalytics.com. 

Anthropic

claude.ai and Claude Desktop

These steps set up Claude (claude.ai and Claude Desktop, which use the same connector) to work with the Civis remote MCP server through a custom connector. You cannot connect robot users to Claude this way.

Custom connectors are available on free, Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise plans. Free users are limited to one custom connector.

Prerequisites:

• A Civis account
• Access to manage your Claude custom connectors. On Team and Enterprise accounts, only the account owner has this by default; other admins need to be granted it. If you do not have it, ask your Claude account owner or administrator to complete these steps.

Steps:

1. Follow the Custom Connectors steps in Anthropic's support article. 
   1. From a chat
      1. Click the "+" button in the lower left corner of your chat, or type "/" to open the menu
      2. Hover over Add connector.
         1. If you do not have any connectors previously configured you will see the following menu below
            1. 
            2. Click Add custom connector

2. If you do have any connectors previously configured, you will see the following menu below
3. Select Manage connectors
   1. 

2. From settings
   1. Open the settings menu by clicking on your user avatar on the bottom left of the screen
   2. Select Settings near the top of the popup menu
      1. 
   3. Navigate to Customize > Connectors.
      1. 
3. Or follow this direct link;
   • https://claude.ai/new#customize/connectors/yours

2. You should see the Connectors dialog modal
   1. 
3. Click the “+Add” button next to Connectors, followed by clicking on Add custom connector
   1. 

4. When prompted for the connector's name and URL, enter:
   1. Name: Civis Analytics
   2. URL: Civis Analytics https://mcp.civisanalytics.com
   3. 
   4. Click Continue
5. On the following dialog, the following options should automatically be detected and filled in for you.
   1. Authentication: Sign in now
   2. OAuth Client: Use Claude’s published Identity
   3. 

6. Once the connector is added, go to Settings > Connectors in your Claude account.
7. Find Civis Analytics in the list and click Connect.
   1. 

8. If prompted, click Continue Connecting. If you are already logged in to Civis, you will be asked to Allow access. If not, you will first be taken through the Civis login.
   1. 
   2. 

9. Start a new chat and try it. In the chat's tools menu, make sure Civis Analytics is turned on, then ask "What is my Civis user ID?"
   1. 
   2. 
   3. 

Customize Tool Permissions

To customize tool permissions, go to Settings > Connectors in Claude and click Civis Analytics. For each tool, choose Always Allow, Require Permission, or Blocked.

Claude Code

You have two options.

1. If your Claude account already has the Civis Analytics connector from the section above, Claude Code can use it.
2. Or add the server directly from a terminal:

Adding server directly from a terminal

1. Run the following command in the terminal

claude mcp add --transport http civis https://mcp.civisanalytics.com

2. Then, inside Claude Code, run /mcp, choose civis
   1. 
3. Then click Authenticate
   1. 
4. Claude Code will open your default browser to the Civis Analytics Remote MCP Oauth Consent Page
   1. Click Allow
5. Back in the terminal, Claude Code will report successful Authentication
   1. 
6. To test, ask Claude Code "What is my Civis user ID?”
   1. 

VS Code with GitHub Copilot

This section is for VS Code on your own computer. For Civis Studio, see the Civis Studio section below.

Run MCP: Add Server from the Command Palette

1. Open the Command Palette, by either…
   1. Clicking on View in the Menu Bar,
   2. 
   3.  Or using the keyboard shortcut 
      1. macOS: CMD + SHIFT + P 
      2. Windows: Control + Shift + P
2. Search for and select MCP: Add Server
   1. 
3. Choose the type of MCP Server to add
   1. Select the option HTTP
   2. 
4. Enter Server URL
   1. 
5. Enter Server ID
   1. 
6. Select configuration target
   1. Select Global to grant all instances of VS Code to have access to Civis Analytics Remote MCP Server
   2. Select Workspace to restrict access to the Civis Analytics Remote MCP Server to VS Code instances opened to the given, current project.
   3. 
7. Complete!
   1. Global Configuration
   2. 
   3. Workspace Configuration
   4. 

Signing In

VS Code prompts you to sign in to Civis the first time the server starts. 

1. Use Copilot Chat in Agent mode to prompt Copilot for something that would cause it to try to use the available Tools from the MCP Server.
   1. Example: “What is my civis user id”
2. VS Code will prompt you to authenticate with the Civis Analytics Remote MCP Server
   1. Click Allow
   2. 
3. VS Code will then prompt you for permission to open the OAuth Consent from in your default browser
   1. Click Open
   2. 
4. Your default browser will open the the Civis Analytics OAuth consent page for the Remote MCP Server
   1. Click Allow
   2. 
5. Your browser will redirect to a Visual Studio Code Page, with a prompt asking you to open VS Code
   1. Click Open Visual Studio Code.app
   2. 
6. VS Code Copilot will then use the relevant MCP Tool to get your Civis User ID
   1. 

Other agent tools

Any tool that supports remote MCP servers with OAuth and Client ID Metadata Documents (CIMD) can connect with just the URL. Cursor and opencode are not yet supported by the remote server because they require dynamic client registration, which the Civis server does not offer yet. 

Those tools can use the local Civis MCP Server in the meantime. This article will be updated when that changes.

Civis Studio

Civis Studio comes with the Civis MCP server pre-installed, so no setup is needed there. To learn more, see Civis Studio Copilot Chat + MCP.

What the connection can access

When you connect, Civis shows a consent screen asking for one permission: "Access your Civis Platform account and data through the MCP server on your behalf."

[Screenshot: the Civis consent screen, close-up on the permission text and the requesting app]

The agent acts as you. It sees only the databases, tables, jobs, and workflows your account can already see in Platform, with the credentials you already have.

Tools marked Write can change data, so agent tools typically ask for confirmation before running them, and you can block them per tool in your client (for example, with the Claude permissions toggle above).

Disconnect or revoke access

• Claude (claude.ai and Desktop): Go to Settings > Connectors, find Civis Analytics, and click Disconnect. Removing the connector also disconnects it.

[Screenshot: Settings > Connectors showing the Disconnect option for Civis Analytics]

• Claude Code: Run claude mcp logout civis to sign out but keep the server. Or run /mcp, choose the server, and select Clear authentication. To remove the server entirely, run claude mcp remove civis.

[Screenshot: the civis server details in /mcp with the "Clear authentication" option]

• VS Code: Remove the civis entry from your MCP config.

Once disconnected, the agent tool can no longer reach your Civis account. To reconnect later, repeat the sign-in step for your tool.

Need help?

Email support@civisanalytics.com.