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.
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How it connects. Connects over OAuth. The credential goes into a vault nobody reads back.
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One address. https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp, the same for every user.
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Their own access. An agent never gets more than the person it acts for.
How to connect
How to connect Gusto to Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor
Two steps, about a minute.
In Elaichi
Connect Gusto once
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Open Connections, choose Add connection, and pick Gusto.
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Optionally set Share with to give a team access, then press Connect.
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Approve it in Gusto. Gusto's own window opens. Whoever approves it decides what this connection can reach.
The credential is vaulted. Nobody reads it back, not even the AI.
Add connection
Choose a connector.
In your AI client
Point it at one endpoint
Everyone in the organization uses the same address, and each person only ever reaches what their own account allows.
Gusto MCP connector for Claude
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1
Open Customize, then Connectors.
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2
Press Add.
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3
Name it, paste the MCP server URL, then Continue.
https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp -
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
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1
Open Plugins, then press the + button.
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2
Name it and paste the endpoint into Server URL.
https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp -
3
Leave Authentication on OAuth, then tick the risk acknowledgement.
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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
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1
Open
~/.cursor/mcp.json. -
2
Add the endpoint under
mcpServers.https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp -
3
Reload Cursor, then sign in and approve.
~/.cursor/mcp.json
{
"mcpServers": {
"elaichi": {
"url": "https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp"
}
}
}
Set up per machine, so repeat it on each computer you work from.
Connect Gusto to any MCP client
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1
Add the endpoint as a remote MCP server.
https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp -
2
Sign in and approve.
{
"mcpServers": {
"elaichi": {
"url": "https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp"
}
}
}
The Elaichi Agent already has these tools, with nothing to set up.
Use cases
What teams do with Gusto through Elaichi
Every one of these runs inside the access the person already has, and lands in the same audit log.
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People
Onboard a new hire before day one
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.
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Payroll
Prepare and run payroll without the spreadsheet
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.
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Finance
Answer tax and payroll cost questions fast
Ask what payroll cost last quarter, how much went to taxes, or what the contractor total was, and get the figures straight from Gusto.
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Operations
Keep contractor records and payments straight
Check which contractors are set up in Gusto, who was paid last month, and who still needs details before the next payment goes out.
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Managers
See who is out and when
Ask who on your team has time off next week and what is still waiting for approval, without opening Gusto to piece it together.
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Leadership
Get headcount and payroll totals on demand
Ask how many employees and contractors are active, how that changed this year, and what the monthly payroll run is costing.
Try asking
- “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.”
Native MCP
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
Compare
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.
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, security, usage; Composio docs, gateway, enterprise, pricing. Checked September 2026.
Longer take: Zapier MCP alternative and when you don't need an MCP gateway.
See it in Elaichi
What connecting Gusto gets you
5 screens from the product, each doing one job for your Gusto account.
The agent
Ask Gusto about payroll in plain language.
Employees, contractors, time off and tax answers come from live Gusto records.
- employees
- contractors
- payrolls
- time off requests
Ask Elaichi to work across your apps.
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.
Also runs in Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor
MCP clients
One governed endpoint for Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor.
Gusto works in every MCP client through one org endpoint, no SDK and no shared key.
ElaichiMCP clientsClaude
ChatGPT
Cursor
Copy the endpoint
Toolboxes
Each team gets its own Gusto toolbox.
People, payroll and finance each work from a toolbox scoped to their job.
- People
- Payroll
- Finance
- Operations
ElaichiToolboxesShared connections
Share a Gusto connection without sharing a credential.
One person connects Gusto, teammates work through it and never see a login.
- People team
- Payroll
- Finance
- Contractors
ElaichiConnectionsAudit log
Every Gusto action is logged with a name.
See when, who, what happened and which employee or payroll record it touched.
- When
- Who
- What happened
- Type
ElaichiAudit logLaunching soon
From answering questions to doing the work
A person no longer has to ask. A trigger starts the work, inside the same permissions and the same audit log as everything else. Automations and live dashboards are launching soon, on the Black plan.
Automations
Payroll reminders run on a schedule, with approval.
A schedule fetches Gusto time off requests, drafts a digest, a person approves, it posts back.
Gusto digest
Run 418 · started 2 minutes ago · on behalf of Emily Carter
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✓
Schedule
Every weekday at 8:00 AM
0.2s -
✓
Fetch employees
Gusto
1.4s -
✓
Group by owner
Transform
0.1s -
✓
Draft the digest
Agent step
Ran with 4 tools, returned a structured summary
6.2s -
Approve the digest
Needs approval
Assigned to Michael Brennan
Approve Deny -
Post the digest
Gusto
Queued
Collections and dashboards
Gusto headcount and payroll numbers, refreshed on schedule.
Four metrics, 14 days of employees added and a team breakdown, computed without a model.
Gusto health
Refreshed 4 minutes ago · every 15 minutes · from the employees collection
Employees
1,284 ↓ 12%
Contractors
96 ↓ 8%
Needs attention
3 ↑ 2
Updated this week
412 ↑ 9%
Employees created
Last 14 days
By team
Share of activity
People team 34%
Payroll 27%
Finance 21%
Contractors 18%
Related connectors
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FAQ
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 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.
Put Gusto in front of your team
14 days on Gold, no credit card. Connect it once and pick what each team can call.
- Works with
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and any other MCP client, or the Elaichi Agent.
- When the trial ends
- Nothing is deleted. Connections, roles and the audit log stay where they are, so subscribing picks up exactly where you left off.