Application Development
Runpod MCP connector
Connect Runpod to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, or any MCP client through Elaichi and start, stop, create, and delete Runpod pods, serverless endpoints, and templates from a chat, with each action running as the person who signed in.
-
How it connects. Connects with an API key. The credential goes into a vault nobody reads back.
-
One address. https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp, the same for every user.
-
Their own access. An agent never gets more than the person it acts for.
How to connect
How to connect Runpod to Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor
Two steps, about a minute.
In Elaichi
Connect Runpod once
-
Open Connections, choose Add connection, and pick Runpod.
-
Optionally set Share with to give a team access, then press Connect.
-
Paste a Runpod API key. One person generates a token in Runpod and pastes it once. Everyone else works through Share with, and never sees it.
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.
Connect Runpod to Claude
-
1
Open Customize, then Connectors.
-
2
Press Add.
-
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.
Connect Runpod to ChatGPT
-
1
Open Plugins, then press the + button.
-
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.
-
4
Press Create, then sign in and approve.
Works on the web today. The plugin directory lives at chatgpt.com/plugins.
Connect Runpod to Cursor
-
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 Runpod to any MCP client
-
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 Runpod through Elaichi
Every one of these runs inside the access the person already has, and lands in the same audit log.
-
Machine learning
Stop idle pods before they run up the bill
Ask which Runpod pods are running right now, see who left them on, and stop the ones nobody is using without opening the Runpod console.
-
Engineering
Spin up a pod from an approved template
Create a new Runpod pod from a saved template so the GPU type, container image, and settings match what the team already agreed on.
-
Platform
Roll out a new endpoint version
Update a Runpod serverless endpoint to a new template or worker configuration, then confirm it picked up the change.
-
Finance
Reconcile what is running against the invoice
List every Runpod pod and endpoint in the account at month end and check the running ones against the charges before approving the bill.
-
Research
Restart a stuck training pod
When an experiment hangs, ask for the pod by name, reset or restart it, and get back to the run in a minute.
-
Support
Look up how Runpod handles something
Ask a question about Runpod pods, endpoints, or templates and get an answer drawn from Runpod's own docs and API reference instead of searching for it.
Try asking
- “List running Runpod pods and their GPU types.”
- “Stop idle pods in the ML research workspace.”
- “Which Runpod endpoints were created this week?”
AI tools
Runpod tools for your AI agents
58 tools are ready to call through Elaichi's MCP endpoint the moment you connect Runpod, governed by the same roles, restrictions, and audit log as everything else in Elaichi.
No tools match your search.
See it in Elaichi
What connecting Runpod gets you
6 screens from the product, each doing one job for your Runpod account.
The agent
Ask about pods, read the answer.
Plain language questions return live Runpod pods, endpoints and docs.
- pods
- endpoints
- docs
- templates
Ask Elaichi to work across your apps.
List running Runpod pods and their GPU types.
Stop idle pods in the ML research workspace.
Which Runpod endpoints were created this week?
Also runs in Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor
MCP clients
Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor reach Runpod.
One org MCP endpoint over OAuth, no SDK and no shared API key.
Copy the endpoint
Tool catalog
58 Runpod tools arrive ready to call.
Pods, endpoints, docs and OpenAPI methods listed, with no custom code written.
- List all Runpod openapi jsons
- List all Runpod docs
- List all Runpod pods
- Create a Runpod pod
Toolboxes
Every team gets its own Runpod toolbox.
Toolboxes are scoped per team, so ML research and platform see different tools.
- ML research
- Platform
- Inference
- Data engineering
Shared connections
Teammates run pods without seeing keys.
The connections table shows who connected each Runpod account and its sharing.
- ML research
- Platform EU
- Inference prod
- Data engineering
Audit log
Every pod start has a name on it.
When, who, what happened, type and resource for each Runpod call.
- When
- Who
- What happened
- Type
Launching 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
A schedule fires, a digest posts back.
Six steps fetch Runpod pods, group them, draft, wait for approval, post.
Runpod digest
Run 418 · started 2 minutes ago · on behalf of Emma Laurent
-
✓
Schedule
Every weekday at 08:00
0.2s -
✓
Fetch pods
Runpod
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
Runpod
Queued
Collections and dashboards
Runpod health counted, not asked for.
Four metrics, 14 days of pods created, split by team, refreshed on schedule.
Runpod health
Refreshed 4 minutes ago · every 15 minutes · from the pods collection
Pods
1,284 ↓ 12%
Endpoints
96 ↓ 8%
Needs attention
3 ↑ 2
Updated this week
412 ↑ 9%
Pods created
Last 14 days
By team
Share of activity
ML research 34%
Platform EU 27%
Inference prod 21%
Data engineering 18%
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
How do I connect Runpod to Claude?
In Elaichi, choose Runpod from the connector list and paste in a Runpod API key, which you copy from your Runpod account settings. 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 the endpoint https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp. Sign in as yourself and Runpod is available in the chat.
Does Runpod work with ChatGPT and Cursor as well as Claude?
Yes. Once Runpod 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 Runpod once and every client picks it up.
What can an AI agent actually do with my Runpod account?
With Runpod connected, an agent can list your pods, endpoints, and templates, create new ones, start, stop, reset, or restart a pod, update an endpoint or template, and delete what is no longer needed. It can also answer questions from Runpod's docs and API reference. Because Runpod exposes a lot of actions, short concrete asks like "stop the pod called training-3" work better than long paragraphs.
Does connecting Runpod give the AI access to my whole Runpod account?
The agent can only do what the Runpod API key it was given can do, and every call runs as the person who signed in to Elaichi. Elaichi can narrow that further, for example to viewing and stopping pods but never creating or deleting them. Elaichi never widens access beyond what the Runpod key already allows.
Can I stop an agent from deleting or changing things in Runpod?
Yes. Restrictions in Elaichi apply per action, so you can allow listing and starting Runpod pods while blocking deleting pods, endpoints, or templates. A blocked action is never shown to Claude, ChatGPT, or Cursor at all, so no prompt, however worded, can reach it.
What happens to a Runpod connection when someone leaves?
Offboarding a person in Elaichi ends their access to Runpod immediately across every client they used. A Runpod connection shared with the team keeps working for everyone else. If you want it gone entirely, disconnecting Runpod once in Elaichi removes it from Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, and every other client at the same time.
Put Runpod in front of your team
Fourteen days on Gold, no credit card. Connect it once and pick what each team can call.