> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://support.affinity.co/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Getting Started with Affinity MCP

> Get started: Getting Started with Affinity MCP

<Note>
  **Concept** — background and overview.
</Note>

## What this guide covers

This is a user-friendly orientation to Affinity MCP — what it is, who it's for, and how to decide between deployment options. For setup steps specific to your AI tool, follow the per-client guides at [developer.affinity.co](https://developer.affinity.co/pages/mcp/supported-clients).

## What Affinity MCP does

Affinity MCP (Model Context Protocol) lets you query and update your Affinity CRM from outside Affinity — from inside AI tools like Claude, ChatGPT, Copilot, Notion Custom Agents, or Gemini CLI. Once configured, you can ask things like:

* "Find all companies I first emailed in Q1 2024."
* "Summarize the notes on Acme Corp from this quarter."
* "Set a reminder to follow up with Jane Smith in two weeks."

Affinity returns live, permission-filtered data from your CRM.

<Tip>
  **Looking for AI chat inside Affinity?** Affinity AI Chat (in Beta) is the in-app conversational interface — no setup required. MCP is for connecting Affinity to AI tools *outside* Affinity. See [Affinity AI Chat Overview](/s/article/Affinity-AI-chat-overview) if you'd rather stay inside the Affinity app.
</Tip>

## Who Affinity MCP is for

* **Investment professionals** querying pipeline, relationships, and meeting history from their preferred AI assistant
* **Operators and admins** updating CRM fields and creating reminders without switching contexts
* **Developers** building agentic workflows on top of Affinity data

## Plan requirements

* **Affinity plan:** Scale, Advanced, or Enterprise (required for API and MCP access)
* **AI client plan:** Varies by client (e.g., ChatGPT works on the Free plan and up; Notion requires Business or Enterprise). See the compatibility table below or each per-client guide.
* **Admin setup:** MCP is enabled by default for Claude, ChatGPT, and Notion; an Affinity admin can disable it per client under **Settings → Affinity MCP**. Some AI clients also require their own workspace admin to turn MCP on first (e.g., Notion Business/Enterprise, Claude Team/Enterprise). See per-client guide.

## Choose your deployment

### Hosted (recommended for most users)

Affinity runs and updates the MCP server for you. Setup is minutes.

* **Server URL:** `https://mcp.affinity.co/mcp`
* **Best for:** Anyone who wants the simplest path
* **Authentication:** OAuth (where supported) or API key

### Local (for advanced users)

You run the MCP server yourself via the `affinity-mcp` Python package. Useful when you need to keep MCP traffic within your own infrastructure or want to extend the server.

* **Installation:** `uvx affinity-mcp` (installed and run via [uv](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/))
* **Authentication:** API key only (set `AFFINITY_API_KEY`)
* **Best for:** Teams with specific security or customization requirements
* See [Local Setup at developer.affinity.co](https://developer.affinity.co/pages/mcp/local-setup) for the full guide.

## Set up your AI tool

Follow the dev-docs guide for your AI client:

| Client                           | Setup guide                                                                                            |
| -------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Claude (Desktop / Web / Code)    | [developer.affinity.co/pages/mcp/claude](https://developer.affinity.co/pages/mcp/claude)               |
| ChatGPT (Free and up)            | [developer.affinity.co/pages/mcp/chatgpt](https://developer.affinity.co/pages/mcp/chatgpt)             |
| Copilot (Studio / CLI / VS Code) | [developer.affinity.co/pages/mcp/copilot](https://developer.affinity.co/pages/mcp/copilot)             |
| Notion (Custom Agents)           | [developer.affinity.co/pages/mcp/notion](https://developer.affinity.co/pages/mcp/notion)               |
| Gemini (CLI only)                | [developer.affinity.co/pages/mcp/gemini](https://developer.affinity.co/pages/mcp/gemini)               |
| Anything else                    | [developer.affinity.co/pages/mcp/other-clients](https://developer.affinity.co/pages/mcp/other-clients) |

Each per-client page leads with a compatibility callout, plan + admin requirements, and the exact setup steps.

### Client compatibility at a glance

Every client requires an Affinity **Scale, Advanced, or Enterprise** plan. Beyond that, support differs by surface — including a few that surprise people:

| Client            | AI-client requirement                                                          | Auth             | Where it works                                                                                                 |
| ----------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ---------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Claude**        | Free, Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise (Team/Enterprise: an Owner enables it)     | OAuth            | Desktop, Web, Claude Code                                                                                      |
| **ChatGPT**       | Any plan, Free and up                                                          | OAuth            | ChatGPT web + desktop/mobile apps — *not* the OpenAI API or custom GPTs                                        |
| **Copilot**       | Copilot Studio license, or a GitHub Copilot subscription (CLI / VS Code)       | API key          | Studio, CLI, VS Code — *not* github.com, copilot.com, or mobile. Microsoft 365 Copilot support is coming soon. |
| **Notion**        | Business or Enterprise; a workspace Owner enables custom MCP servers           | OAuth or API key | Custom Agents only — *not* the default Notion AI (Ask AI / Q\&A / search)                                      |
| **Gemini**        | Google account with Gemini CLI                                                 | API key          | Gemini CLI only — *not* the web, mobile, or Workspace versions                                                 |
| **Other clients** | Any client supporting a remote MCP server with a custom `Authorization` header | API key          | Any compatible client                                                                                          |

## Test your connection

Once configured, try one of these in your AI chat to confirm it's working:

* *Find 3 companies I emailed in the last 30 days.*
* *Show me my upcoming meetings.*
* *Summarize recent activity on Acme Corp.*

If Affinity data comes back, you're set. If not, see [Troubleshooting Affinity MCP](/s/article/Troubleshooting-Affinity-MCP) or the [developer troubleshooting guide](https://developer.affinity.co/pages/mcp/troubleshooting).

## What's available

Browse the full tool catalog at [Available tools](https://developer.affinity.co/pages/mcp/available-tools). MCP can both read and write your CRM. High-level capabilities:

* **Relationship intelligence:** Find connections, surface relationship strength, identify warm-intro paths
* **Pipeline:** Search and summarize opportunities, pull list entries and fields, track stage progress
* **Meetings & activity:** Review interactions and upcoming meetings, read meeting transcripts, log calls and messages
* **Notes:** Create, retrieve, and search notes on people / companies / opportunities / meetings
* **Create & update records:** Create companies, people, opportunities, lists, and fields; update field values and records
* **Reminders:** Set, list, and manage follow-up reminders

<Note>
  Some tools depend on features being enabled for your org — note and file search require **Deal Assist**, and meeting tools require **unified events** onboarding. If a tool returns an access error, check with your Affinity admin. See [Troubleshooting Affinity MCP](/s/article/Troubleshooting-Affinity-MCP).
</Note>

## Security and permissions

MCP tool calls run with the same permissions as your Affinity user. You cannot read records you don't have CRM access to, and your AI client cannot escalate privileges through MCP — and you can restrict a connection to read-only. The MCP server is stateless — no CRM data, prompts, or AI responses are stored by Affinity. For details, see [Affinity MCP: Security & data handling](/s/article/Affinity-MCP-security).