Use Algolia Productivity MCP (Model Context Protocol) for exploration and analysis by people in your organization across the Algolia applications and indices allowed by their permissions.
To expose a curated set of indices to external or customer-facing AI assistants instead, use Algolia Public MCP.
To compare both, see the MCP overview.
Algolia Productivity MCP provides read-only access.
It can search and analyze your data, but it can’t create, update, or delete indices, records, or settings.
Before you begin
To use Algolia Productivity MCP, make sure you have:
- An Algolia account with access to the applications and indices you want to work with.
- An MCP client such as ChatGPT, Claude, Claude Code, Cursor, Gemini CLI, VS Code, or OpenAI Playground.
Algolia Productivity MCP scopes to your Algolia account, not to individual applications.
Enable it once for the account, and it applies across all applications your permissions allow.
Enable Algolia Productivity MCP
Each user signs in separately, and their Algolia permissions determine what they can access.
- Go to Algolia dashboard > Generative AI > MCP Servers > Productivity
- Enable Algolia Productivity MCP for your account
Keep the Productivity MCP enabled while you use MCP clients.
Disabling it stops connected workflows immediately.
Connect from your MCP client
Open your MCP client and add a new MCP server or connector.
Use the Productivity MCP URL from the Algolia dashboard, then sign in when prompted so the MCP can inherit your Algolia permissions.
You don’t need to provide an OAuth client ID or client secret.
If your MCP client asks for these fields, leave them empty.
ChatGPT
Claude
Claude Code
Codex
Cursor
VS Code
Gemini CLI
- Open Connectors settings, then click Create.
- Fill in the following:
- Server URL:
https://mcp.algolia.com/mcp
- Label: Algolia
- Description: add a description that helps the LLM understand the tool’s purpose.
- Authentication: specify OAuth
- Check I trust this application.
- Click Create and sign in when prompted.
- Enable the Algolia MCP connection from the prompt bar.
- Open Connectors settings, click +, then click Add custom connector.
- Fill in the following:
- Remote MCP server URL:
https://mcp.algolia.com/mcp
- Name: Algolia
- Click Add and sign in when prompted.
- Enable the Algolia MCP connection from the prompt bar.
On Claude Team and Enterprise plans, an organization owner adds the connector from Organization settings > Connectors.
Other members then click Connect on it in Customize > Connectors.
- Run the following command in your terminal to register the MCP server:
- Start a Claude Code session and run
/mcp to authenticate with Algolia.
- Sign in when prompted to authorize Algolia.
Configure the Algolia MCP server with the CLI or in ~/.codex/config.toml, then run codex mcp login algolia and sign in when prompted to authorize Algolia.
- Run the following command in your terminal:
- Or add the following to your
~/.codex/config.toml file:
To add the MCP server manually instead:
- Open Settings > Cursor Settings, then click Tools & MCPs.
- Click Add Custom MCP.
- Paste the MCP server configuration into the
mcp.json file that opens, then save your changes.
- Click Connect, then sign in when you’re prompted.
Alternatively, you can add the same configuration to ~/.cursor/mcp.json on macOS and Linux, or to %USERPROFILE%\.cursor\mcp.json on Windows. To add the MCP server manually instead:
- Open the Command Palette (⇧⌘P on macOS, Ctrl+Shift+P on Windows and Linux) and run MCP: Add Server.
- Select HTTP as the transport.
- Enter the Server URL:
https://mcp.algolia.com/mcp
- Set the Server ID to
algolia (or your preferred name).
- Choose Workspace or Global as the target.
Alternatively, add the following to your ~/.vscode/mcp.json file on macOS and Linux,
or to %USERPROFILE%\.vscode\mcp.json on Windows: Configure the Algolia MCP server with the CLI or in ~/.gemini/settings.json, then sign in when prompted to authorize Algolia.
- Run the following command in your terminal:
- Or add the following to your
~/.gemini/settings.json file:
What you can do
Algolia Productivity MCP is designed for internal, user-scoped workflows:
- Run searches across the applications and indices you can access.
- Ask business intelligence-style questions like top searches, no-results queries, and trends.
- Explore index data and validate changes before making updates elsewhere.
Algolia Productivity MCP exposes a tool per index and analytics-specific tools.
ChatGPT requires two extra tools (see OpenAI MCP docs):
Guidelines
- Authentication required. Productivity MCP uses your Algolia identity and permissions.
- Read-only access. Use it for analysis and exploration. Data changes still happen in the dashboard or APIs.
- Data scope. Anything you can access in Algolia is available to the MCP, so treat prompts and outputs as internal data.
