Skip to content

Shapes MCP connector

The Shapes connector brings your people data, headcount, attrition risk and compensation, to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and any MCP client, so each person can ask questions in plain language within their own Shapes permissions.

  • How it connects. Connects over OAuth. 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 Shapes to Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor

Two steps, about a minute.

1

In Elaichi

Connect Shapes once

  1. Open Connections, choose Add connection, and pick Shapes.

  2. Optionally set Share with to give a team access, then press Connect.

  3. Approve it in Shapes. Shapes'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.

shapes
Shapes
360learning
7shifts
ADP Workforce Now
Altera Payroll
BambooHR
2

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.

Shapes MCP connector for Claude

  1. 1

    Open Customize, then Connectors.

  2. 2

    Press Add.

  3. 3

    Name it, paste the MCP server URL, then Continue.

    https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp
  4. 4

    Sign in and approve.

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

Shapes MCP connector for ChatGPT

  1. 1

    Open Plugins, then press the + button.

  2. 2

    Name it and paste the endpoint into Server URL.

    https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp
  3. 3

    Leave Authentication on OAuth, then tick the risk acknowledgement.

  4. 4

    Press Create, then sign in and approve.

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

Shapes MCP connector for Cursor

  1. 1

    Open ~/.cursor/mcp.json.

  2. 2

    Add the endpoint under mcpServers.

    https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp
  3. 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 Shapes to any MCP client

  1. 1

    Add the endpoint as a remote MCP server.

    https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp
  2. 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 Shapes through Elaichi

Every one of these runs inside the access the person already has, and lands in the same audit log.

  • People

    Answer a headcount question before the meeting

    Ask how many people sit in each department in Shapes, how that changed this quarter, and where the open roles are. The answer comes from the live record, not from a spreadsheet exported last month.

  • Finance

    Check compensation gaps across a department

    Ask Shapes where pay sits outside the band for a level or location and get the figures back before the budget review, limited to the compensation you are already allowed to see.

  • Managers

    Spot attrition risk on your team

    Ask which people on your team Shapes flags as attrition risks and why, so the conversation happens before the resignation letter does.

  • Leadership

    Pull a headcount trend for the board deck

    Ask for headcount by region over the last four quarters and have the numbers summarized in plain language, ready to paste into the deck.

  • Recruiting

    Find where the organization is thinly staffed

    Ask Shapes which teams are under their planned headcount and which roles have stayed open longest, so hiring effort goes where it is needed.

  • People analytics

    Compare pay across levels and locations

    Ask Shapes how compensation compares between two offices or two levels and get the comparison back in a sentence or a table, inside your Shapes permissions.

Try asking

  • “What is our current headcount by department?”
  • “Which teams show the highest attrition risk this quarter?”
  • “Show compensation gaps between levels in Engineering.”

Compare

Elaichi vs Zapier MCP vs Composio for Shapes

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

Elaichi compared with Zapier MCP and Composio for Shapes, by what to check
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 Shapes tools Allow or restrict single Shapes 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 Shapes 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 Shapes gets you

5 screens from the product, each doing one job for your Shapes account.

The agent

Ask about headcount and get a live answer.

Type a plain question and get figures from the employee records in Shapes.

  • employees
  • departments
  • compensation records
  • headcount reports

Ask Elaichi to work across your apps.

What is our current headcount by department?

Which teams show the highest attrition risk this quarter?

Show compensation gaps between levels in Engineering.

Also runs in Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor

MCP clients

One Shapes endpoint for every AI client.

Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor connect over OAuth, with no SDK and no shared API key.

ElaichiMCP clients
Claude ChatGPT Cursor

Copy the endpoint

https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp
Client Connected by Status Last used
Claude
E

Emily Carter

• Connected 4 minutes ago
Cursor
M

Megan Brooks

• Connected 2 hours ago
ChatGPT
R

Ryan Hayes

• Connected Yesterday

Toolboxes

Each team gets its own Shapes toolbox.

People, Finance and managers each work from a toolbox scoped to their job.

  • People
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Managers
ElaichiToolboxes
Name Source template Tools Created

People toolbox

Shapes · employees and departments

Shapes starter 18 Mar 4, 2026

Finance toolbox

Shapes · compensation and headcount budget

— 9 Mar 2, 2026

Leadership toolbox

Shapes · headcount trends and attrition

— 24 Feb 27, 2026

Managers toolbox

Shapes · their own team's records

Shapes starter 6 Feb 19, 2026

Recruiting toolbox

Shapes · open roles and staffing gaps

— 31 Jan 30, 2026

People analytics toolbox

Shapes · pay bands and attrition risk

— 12 Jan 22, 2026

Shared connections

Teammates use Shapes without touching a credential.

One person connects Shapes, shares it with a team, and the log still names each user.

  • People team
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • EMEA
ElaichiConnections
Connection Scope Status Access
SH

Shapes (People team)

Connected by Emily Carter

Personal • Active 1 team · 6 members
SH

Shapes (Finance)

Connected by Jake Morgan

Organization • Active 3 teams · 24 members
SH

Shapes (Leadership)

Connected by Megan Brooks

Organization • Active 2 teams · 11 members
SH

Shapes (EMEA)

Connected by Tyler Reed

Personal • Needs re-auth 1 team · 3 members
SH

Shapes (North America)

Connected by Ryan Hayes

Personal • Active Not shared
SH

Shapes (Engineering managers)

Connected by Ashley Parker

Personal • Active 2 teams · 9 members

Audit log

Every Shapes question is logged with a name.

See when, who, what happened and which employee record was touched, in one place.

  • When
  • Who
  • What happened
  • Type
ElaichiAudit log
When Who What happened Type

2 minutes ago

Mar 6, 2026, 3:10 PM

E

Emily Carter

[email protected]

Restriction Created Access

8 minutes ago

Mar 6, 2026, 3:04 PM

J

Jake Morgan

[email protected]

Restriction Updated Access

14 minutes ago

Mar 6, 2026, 2:58 PM

M

Megan Brooks

[email protected]

Role Assigned Access

20 minutes ago

Mar 6, 2026, 2:52 PM

T

Tyler Reed

[email protected]

Shapes Users Updated MCP

26 minutes ago

Mar 6, 2026, 2:46 PM

R

Ryan Hayes

[email protected]

Shapes Employees Created MCP

32 minutes ago

Mar 6, 2026, 2:40 PM

A

Ashley Parker

[email protected]

Shapes Employees List Toolbox

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 drafts the digest, a person approves.

Headcount records are fetched from Shapes, grouped, summarized and posted back after sign-off.

Shapes digest

Run 418 · started 2 minutes ago · on behalf of Emily Carter

  1. ✓

    Schedule

    Every weekday at 8:00 AM

    0.2s
  2. ✓

    Fetch employees

    Shapes

    1.4s
  3. ✓

    Group by owner

    Transform

    0.1s
  4. ✓

    Draft the digest

    Agent step

    Ran with 4 tools, returned a structured summary

    6.2s
  5. Approve the digest

    Needs approval

    Assigned to Michael Brennan

    Approve
  6. Post the digest

    Shapes

    Queued

Collections and dashboards

Shapes headcount numbers, computed without a model.

Four metrics, a 14 day chart and a team breakdown, refreshed on a schedule.

Shapes health

Refreshed 4 minutes ago · every 15 minutes · from the employees collection

Live

Employees

1,284 ↓ 12%

Departments

96 ↓ 8%

Needs attention

3 ↑ 2

Updated this week

412 ↑ 9%

Employees created

Last 14 days

By team

Share of activity

People team 34%

Finance 27%

Leadership 21%

EMEA 18%

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

How do I connect Shapes to Claude?

First, connect Shapes in Elaichi: choose Shapes from the catalog, sign in to Shapes in the browser window that opens and approve access. There is no client ID or secret to generate. Then open Claude, go to Customize, then Connectors, then Add, and paste the endpoint https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp. Claude will ask you to sign in to Elaichi, and from then on your Shapes people data is available in the conversation.

Does Shapes work with ChatGPT and Cursor as well as Claude?

Yes. Once Shapes 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 Shapes once and every client picks it up.

What can an AI agent actually do with my Shapes data?

It can answer questions about the people data you already have in Shapes: headcount by department or region, who is flagged as an attrition risk, and where compensation falls outside a band. What it can reach depends on what your Shapes account has set up and on your own Shapes permissions. Short, concrete asks such as "headcount in Sales by country" work better than long paragraphs.

Does connecting Shapes give the AI access to everyone's records and pay?

No. Every call to Shapes runs as the person who signed in, so the AI sees only the employees, departments and compensation that person can already see in Shapes. Elaichi can narrow that further with roles and restrictions, and it can never widen it beyond what Shapes allows.

Can my team share one Shapes connection?

Yes. One person connects Shapes in Elaichi and shares the connection with a team, and nobody else on the team ever handles a credential. Each person still signs in to Elaichi as themselves, so every question asked of Shapes is logged under their own name.

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

Yes. Restrictions in Elaichi apply per action, so you can allow questions about Shapes people data while blocking anything that would change a record. A restricted action is never shown to Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor at all, so no prompt can reach it.

What happens to a Shapes connection when someone leaves?

Offboarding a person in Elaichi ends their access to Shapes through every client at once, with no separate steps in Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor. If they connected a shared Shapes account, that connection keeps working for everyone else on the team. Disconnecting Shapes once in Elaichi removes it from every client.

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

Yes. Shapes 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 Shapes?

Yes. Both let Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor use Shapes. 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 Shapes call.

How is Elaichi different from Composio for Shapes?

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 Shapes: one address, restrictions per role or user, and $15 per user per month. Both have role permissions and a log of every call.

Put Shapes in front of your team

14 days on Gold, no credit card. Connect it once and pick what each team can call.

Works with
Claude ChatGPT Cursor 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.