An MCP (model context protocol) server lets AI clients like Claude and ChatGPT interact directly with your Planning Center data to search people, view lists, workflows, and more. You can use it for reporting and insights, or in conjunction with other MCP servers, such as Notion or Slack, to connect it with your favorite tools.

<aside> 🧪

The Planning Center MCP is a PicoLabs experiment. That means it's functional and available to everyone, but still evolving. Expect new tools, improvements, and the occasional rough edge. Support for PicoLabs follows a different process than for our core products — for questions and feedback, please use our Circle community.

</aside>

What you'll need

• A Planning Center login with access to People
• An AI client that supports MCP connectors (e.g. paid accounts for ChatGPT, Claude, or Claude Code)

Connect the Planning Center MCP

Server URL: https://mcp.planningcenteronline.com/mcp

Use the official docs for setup in your AI client:

• Claude: Connector setup and MCP overview at https://support.claude.com/en/articles/11175166-getting-started-with-custom-connectors-using-remote-mcp
• ChatGPT: Custom connectors and MCP setup guides at https://platform.openai.com/docs/guides/developer-mode

We have tested the server with Claude and ChatGPT, but it should work with any AI tool that supports custom MCP servers.

When you connect, you'll go through a standard OAuth flow to authorize your Planning Center account.

Quick sanity check

After connecting, try a prompt like this in your AI client:

• "Using the Planning Center MCP, search People and see how many profiles are in my database."

Available tools