# Gusto MCP connector

The Gusto connector brings payroll, employees, contractors, time off and taxes into Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and the Elaichi Agent, so each person can ask about them, log time, onboard people and run payroll inside their own Gusto access.

Source: https://elaichi.ai/connectors/gusto-mcp/

## Facts

| | |
| --- | --- |
| Application | Gusto |
| Category | HRIS |
| Authentication | Connects over OAuth |
| Bring your own OAuth app | No |
| Native MCP | Yes. Gusto builds and runs this MCP server. Elaichi adds sign-in, access controls and an audit log on top |
| Support for its tools | support.gusto.com |
| MCP endpoint | https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp |
| Works with | Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, any MCP client, and the Elaichi Agent |
| Tools advertised by name | No. Connected tools are never listed one by one, however few there are. The endpoint advertises `search_tools` and `execute_tool` instead |

## Why connect Gusto's MCP server through Elaichi

Gusto builds and runs this MCP server. Elaichi sits in front of it, so Gusto's tools follow the same sign-in, access rules and audit log as every other connector your organization uses. Calls an AI client makes to Gusto's server directly, outside Elaichi, get none of this.

- **One address for every AI client.** Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor reach Gusto's tools at https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp, the same address as every other connected app. Nobody adds Gusto's server to each client one by one.
- **Each person signs in as themselves.** Each person signs in to Elaichi as themselves. Members connect with their own Gusto sign-in, and a connection someone shares runs on its owner's account. The credential stays in Elaichi's separate credential service, and the AI client holds only its Elaichi sign-in.
- **Rules checked before a call leaves.** Restrictions on a role or a person, for the whole connector or a single tool, are checked before a call reaches Gusto's server. By default, a tool Gusto does not mark read-only or non-destructive counts as destructive, and over MCP it needs the "Delete data and remove access" consent.
- **One audit log for every app.** Each call that runs is recorded with the person, the tool, the connection and the AI client that made it, in the same audit log as every other app.
- **Tool issues go to Gusto.** Gusto builds and runs these tools, and Elaichi staff do not curate them, so a report about how a tool behaves goes to the Gusto team. Contact: [support.gusto.com](https://support.gusto.com/).

More: [why run a vendor's MCP server through Elaichi](https://elaichi.ai/blog/vendor-mcp-servers-through-elaichi/)

## What you can ask once Gusto is connected

- Who is on time off next week and who approved it?
- Show me the contractors we paid last month and their totals.
- Start onboarding for Maya Chen, starting Monday in the Austin office.

## Connect Gusto in Elaichi

This happens once for the organization, before any client is involved.

1. Open Connections, choose Add connection, and pick Gusto.
2. Optionally set Share with, then press Connect.
3. Approve it in Gusto. Gusto's own window opens. Whoever approves it decides what this connection can reach.

Credentials are vaulted and nobody, including the AI, reads them back. The connection becomes a toolbox immediately, so you can curate which Gusto tools are exposed, rename them, or freeze arguments before anyone points a client at it.

## Gusto MCP connector for Claude

Endpoint: https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp

1. Open Customize, then Connectors.
2. Press Add.
3. Name it, paste the MCP server URL, then Continue.
4. Sign in and approve.

On Team and Enterprise, an Owner adds it once. Everyone else turns it on for themselves.

## Gusto MCP connector for ChatGPT

Endpoint: https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp

1. Open Plugins, then press the + button.
2. Name it and paste the endpoint into Server URL.
3. Leave Authentication on OAuth, then tick the risk acknowledgement.
4. Press Create, then sign in and approve.

Works on the web today. The plugin directory lives at chatgpt.com/plugins.

## Gusto MCP connector for Cursor

Endpoint: https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp

1. Open `~/.cursor/mcp.json`.
2. Add the endpoint under `mcpServers`.
3. Reload Cursor, then sign in and approve.

Set up per machine, so repeat it on each computer you work from.

## Connect Gusto to any MCP client

Endpoint: https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp

1. Add the endpoint as a remote MCP server.
2. Sign in and approve.

The Elaichi Agent already has these tools, with nothing to set up.

## What the consent screen decides

Every scope the client asks for starts ticked except "Delete data and remove access", which you tick yourself. Calling a Gusto tool needs "Run your connected tools". Over MCP there is no trusted place to confirm a write in the moment, so the consent screen is the standing approval rather than a formality. Think hard before granting Delete, which reaches into connected apps and cannot be undone.

## What teams do with Gusto through Elaichi

### Onboard a new hire before day one

People. Give the AI a name, start date and role and have the Gusto onboarding started, then check what paperwork is still outstanding the morning they arrive.

### Prepare and run payroll without the spreadsheet

Payroll. Ask what is ready for this pay period, what changed since last time, and have the payroll prepared and run once you have looked it over.

### Answer tax and payroll cost questions fast

Finance. Ask what payroll cost last quarter, how much went to taxes, or what the contractor total was, and get the figures straight from Gusto.

### Keep contractor records and payments straight

Operations. Check which contractors are set up in Gusto, who was paid last month, and who still needs details before the next payment goes out.

### See who is out and when

Managers. Ask who on your team has time off next week and what is still waiting for approval, without opening Gusto to piece it together.

### Get headcount and payroll totals on demand

Leadership. Ask how many employees and contractors are active, how that changed this year, and what the monthly payroll run is costing.

## Elaichi vs Zapier MCP vs Composio for Gusto

All three can connect Gusto to an AI assistant, and all three have admin controls. They differ in where access lives and how you pay.

| What to check | Elaichi | Zapier MCP | Composio |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Where the AI connects | One address for the whole organization. Endpoint: https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp | A server per member, created at sign-in. | An MCP endpoint per team, or an SDK. |
| Control over Gusto tools | Allow or restrict single Gusto tools, per role or user. | App and action restrictions on the account. | Role permissions, down to the action. |
| Record of calls | One audit entry per Gusto call. | A History tab of tool calls. | A log of every tool call. |
| Single sign-on | SAML or OIDC, plus SCIM, on Gold. | SAML on Enterprise. | SAML and OIDC on Enterprise. |
| Price | $15 per user per month. | 2 tasks per successful call. | Billed per tool call. |

Sources: Zapier MCP [docs](https://docs.zapier.com/mcp/get-started/quickstart), [security](https://docs.zapier.com/mcp/manage/security), [usage](https://docs.zapier.com/mcp/features/usage); Composio [docs](https://docs.composio.dev/docs/composio-connect), [gateway](https://composio.dev/mcp-gateway), [enterprise](https://composio.dev/enterprise), [pricing](https://composio.dev/pricing). Checked September 2026.

Longer take: [Zapier MCP alternative](/blog/zapier-mcp-alternative/) and [when you don't need an MCP gateway](/blog/when-you-dont-need-an-mcp-gateway/).

## Frequently asked questions

### How do I connect Gusto to Claude?

Connect Gusto in Elaichi, sign in with your Gusto account when it asks, and approve the access. There is no OAuth application to register and no client ID or secret to generate. Then in Claude go to Customize, then Connectors, then Add, and paste https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp. Gusto is then available in Claude under your own sign-in.

### Does Gusto work with ChatGPT and Cursor as well as Claude?

Yes. Once Gusto is connected in Elaichi, the same endpoint, https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp, works in Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, any other MCP client and the Elaichi Agent. You connect Gusto once and every client sees it.

### What can an AI agent actually do with my Gusto data?

It can answer questions about payroll, employees, contractors, time off and taxes in Gusto, such as who is out next week or what last month's payroll cost. It can also log time, start onboarding for a new hire, and prepare and run payroll when you ask it to. Short, concrete asks work better than long sentences.

### Does connecting Gusto give the AI everything in my company's account?

No. Every request runs inside the access of the person who signed in to Gusto, so an office manager who cannot see executive pay in Gusto cannot see it through the AI either. Elaichi can narrow that access further by team or by action, but it can never widen it beyond what Gusto already allows that person.

### Can my team share one Gusto connection?

Yes. One person connects Gusto in Elaichi and shares the connection with a team, and nobody else ever handles a credential. Each teammate still signs in as themselves, so the audit log names who ran payroll or who looked up an employee.

### Can I stop an agent from deleting or changing things in Gusto?

Yes. Restrictions in Elaichi apply per action, so you can let the AI read Gusto employees and time off while blocking it from running payroll or changing records. A restricted action is never advertised to Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor at all, so no prompt can reach it.

### What happens to a Gusto connection when someone leaves?

Offboarding them in Elaichi ends their Gusto access through every client at once. If they had shared a Gusto connection with a team, it keeps working for everyone else. Disconnecting Gusto once in Elaichi removes it from Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and every other client together.

### Does the Gusto MCP connector work with Gemini, Codex, Claude Code or other MCP clients?

Yes. Gusto is reached over the same MCP endpoint every client uses, so anything that speaks MCP can call it — Gemini, Codex, Claude Code, Windsurf, Cline, Zed and OpenCode among them — alongside Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, and the Elaichi Agent. The tools on offer and the access behind them are identical whichever client asks. Only the setup screen differs.

### Is Elaichi an alternative to Zapier MCP for Gusto?

Yes. Both let Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor use Gusto. Zapier MCP fits a team that already automates in Zapier, since each person signs in and acts as themselves in that account. Elaichi fits when IT wants one address for the whole company, per-tool rules by role, and a record of every Gusto call.

### How is Elaichi different from Composio for Gusto?

Composio gives AI agents tools and sign-in handling across 1,000+ apps, for developers building agents or people using an assistant, billed per tool call. Elaichi gives a company's own people governed access to Gusto: one address, restrictions per role or user, and $15 per user per month. Both have role permissions and a log of every call.