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Connect Cube to AI Apps via MCP Server

  • Updated

The Cube MCP Server lets you connect your governed financial data directly to AI platforms like Claude and ChatGPT. Instead of exporting data and pasting it into AI chats, the MCP Server provides a live, secure connection that respects your Cube permissions on every request.

Overview

With the Cube MCP Server, you can:

  • Query live Cube data from Claude, ChatGPT, and other MCP-compatible AI tools: actuals, budgets, forecasts, variances, and more
  • Ask an AI to generate board decks, run variance analysis, or build financial summaries using your real Cube data
  • Read your planning Tables, such as headcount rosters and asset registers, at line-item detail
  • See your source connections and import history, and refresh actuals on demand rather than waiting for the next scheduled import
  • Review your close and planning workflows and the tasks inside them
  • Have an AI write updated figures back into a scenario, populate a planning Table, create a scenario, build and update Boards, draft workflows and tasks, and create tags, when you grant write access
  • Drill into transaction-level detail and dimension breakdowns directly from an AI chat
  • Maintain full security: Cube's role-based access control (RBAC) security model enforces your user permissions on every AI request. If you can't see it in Cube, the AI can't see it either

For every call an AI tool can make, what write access allows, and what each call costs in AI credits, see What AI Tools Can Do Through the Cube MCP Server.

How it works

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard that lets AI tools connect to external data sources. Cube's MCP Server acts as a secure gateway between your AI tool and your Cube data.

When you (or an AI agent acting on your behalf) send a query through MCP, Cube validates your identity, checks your Data Access Scope, and returns only the data you are authorized to see. The AI tool receives governed, calculated, multi-currency-normalized financials, not raw exports. The same governed connection also lets the AI build live Boards, populate planning Tables, and draft workflows in your workspace from that data.

This means:

  • Every response uses your Cube Source of Truth: consolidated, calculated, and current
  • Your Cube business rules, formulas, and multi-currency logic are applied before data reaches the AI
  • No data leaves Cube without passing through your organization's permission model

What the AI can do

Once connected, an AI tool can read your Cube data within your Data Access Scope and, if you have write access, build Boards and Tables, write data back to scenarios opened for AI, and draft workflows and tags. Access comes in two permission levels:

  • Use MCP (Read Only): the AI can query and read your data. It cannot change anything.
  • Use MCP (Write): the AI can also write data back and build in Cube, subject to write-back rules that keep it from overwriting scenarios you rely on.

Data calls and writes use your company's AI credits. For the full list of calls, the write-back rules, and credit costs, see What AI Tools Can Do Through the Cube MCP Server.

Prerequisites

Before connecting, confirm the following:

  • You have a Cube account with an active login.
  • You have access to an AI tool that supports MCP connectors. Note that MCP functionality may require a specific subscription tier depending on the tool:
    • Claude: MCP connectors are available on Claude Pro, Team, and Enterprise plans. Free plans do not support custom connectors. Check Anthropic's plan details for the latest information.
    • ChatGPT: MCP connectors require a Plus, Pro, Team, Business, Enterprise, or Edu plan. Developer Mode must be enabled by a workspace admin for Business and Enterprise plans. Check OpenAI's plan details for the latest information.
    • Other tools: Refer to your tool's documentation for MCP support and plan requirements.
  • To write data back, build or update Boards, or create tags, your Cube user needs Use MCP (Write). To query and read, Use MCP (Read Only) is enough.
  • Your company has AI credits available. Data calls and writes use credits from your company's shared pool. See How AI Credits Work.

Connect to Claude

Enterprise and Team plans: admin setup first

If your organization is on a Claude Enterprise or Team plan, individual members cannot add Cube on their own. An Owner or Primary Owner needs to add Cube as a custom connector at the organization level first. This is a one-time setup.

An Owner or Primary Owner should:

  1. Sign in to Claude and go to Organization settings > Connectors.
  2. Click Add, then choose the option to add a custom connector.
  3. Enter the connector details:
  4. Click Add to save the connector.
Screenshot 2026-06-05 154313.png

Cube now appears in your organization's connector list with a Custom label. Members can then connect individually using the steps below.

Owners can also control which Cube tool calls are available to members. In Organization settings > Connectors, you can allow Cube to read data while restricting the tools that build or update Boards, applied across everyone in the organization. This is optional. If you want members to use the full set of Cube capabilities, no change is needed.

Once an Owner has added Cube at the organization level, each member connects their own account:

  1. Go to https://claude.ai/customize/connectors.
  2. Click Add custom connector.
  3. Enter the following:
    • Name: Cube
    • URL: https://mcp.cubesoftware.com/
  4. Click Add.
  5. You will be prompted to authenticate with Cube via OAuth. Sign in with your Cube credentials.
  6. Once connected, Cube will appear in your list of connectors.

Start querying:

Open a new conversation in Claude and ask a question about your financial data. Examples:

  • "Build me a board deck showing this quarter's performance. Include revenue by quarter, gross margin trends, opex breakdown by department, and headcount growth. Compare actuals to budget."
  • "Create a summary comparing Actuals vs. Forecast for Revenue by entity for the last 12 months."
  • "If we cut Sales & Marketing spend by 15% in the back half of the year, how would that change our Net Income? Compare to what we actually spent."

Claude will call the Cube MCP Server to retrieve your data, apply your permissions, and return results grounded in your Source of Truth.

Connect to ChatGPT

ChatGPT supports custom MCP connectors through its Apps & Connectors settings. This feature requires a ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Team, Business, Enterprise, or Edu plan.

You can add Cube directly as a ChatGPT app instead of creating a custom connector. This is the fastest way to get started.

Requirements: ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Team, Business, Enterprise, or Edu plan.

  1. Open this link: Add Cube to ChatGPT
  2. ChatGPT will open the Cube app page. Click Connect.
  1. Review the permissions summary, then click Continue to Cube.
  2. Sign in with your Cube credentials to authorize the connection.
  3. Once connected, Cube will appear in your list of apps under Settings > Apps & Connectors.
  4. To start querying, open a new chat, click the + button (or Connected apps) in the chat tools menu, enable Cube, and ask a question about your financial data.

If you prefer to configure the connection manually, or if the app link above doesn't work for your ChatGPT plan, follow the steps below.

Step 1: Enable Developer Mode

  1. In ChatGPT, go to Settings > Apps & Connectors > Advanced settings.
  2. Enable the Developer Mode toggle.

Step 2: Add the Cube connector

  1. Return to Settings > Apps & Connectors.
  2. Click Create (or + Create New Connector).
  3. Enter the following:
    • Name: Cube
    • Description: Query governed financial data from Cube, including actuals, budgets, forecasts, variances, and transaction-level detail.
    • MCP Server URL: https://mcp.cubesoftware.com/
    • Authentication: OAuth
  4. Check the box to confirm you trust this application.
  5. Click Create.
  6. You will be redirected to Cube's login page. Sign in with your Cube credentials to authorize the connection.
  7. Once connected, Cube will appear in your list of connectors under Apps & Connectors.

Step 3: Start querying

  1. Open a new chat in ChatGPT.
  2. Click the + button (or Connected apps) in the chat tools menu and enable the Cube connector.
  3. Ask a question about your financial data. Examples:
    • "Use deep research to analyze our company's financial performance in the context of current market conditions. Pull our revenue, margins, and opex from Cube, then research comparable SaaS benchmarks and write a board-ready market positioning report."
    • "Pull our quarterly P&L from Cube for 2024 and 2025 and open it in Canvas. Build a variance analysis with charts showing actuals vs budget by department, and let me edit the commentary inline before exporting to PDF."
    • "Connect to Cube and pull our current headcount, personnel costs, and revenue by department. Then model three scenarios: (1) 10% RIF in Sales, (2) 20% Engineering hiring ramp, (3) flat headcount with 5% raises. Show the net income impact of each."

ChatGPT will display a confirmation prompt before executing any tool call, so you can review what data is being requested.

Troubleshooting an "Unknown Tool" related error: 

  1. Click your name in the lower left-hand corner of the screen.
  2. Select Settings from the menu.
  3. Select Apps from the new window.
  4. Select Cube from your list of apps.
  5. You see something that says Information. To the right of that, there should be a Refresh button. Click that button.

Connect to other MCP-compatible tools

The Cube MCP Server works with any tool that supports the Model Context Protocol. The general pattern is:

  1. Open your tool's MCP or Connectors settings.
  2. Add a new connector with the URL https://mcp.cubesoftware.com/.
  3. Authenticate with your Cube credentials when prompted.

Refer to your specific tool's MCP documentation for exact configuration steps.

Things to keep in mind

  • Every MCP request is validated against your Cube user permissions. There are no master keys or backdoors.
  • The MCP Server delivers governed, calculated data. Cube's rules engine, multi-currency logic, and multi-source consolidation are applied before data reaches any AI tool.
  • If your Data Access is modified in Cube, the change takes effect on the next MCP request in real time.
  • AI tools may interpret or summarize data in their responses. Always verify AI-generated content against your Cube Source of Truth before using it in formal reporting or decision-making.
  • Data calls and writes use your company's AI credits. Check the MCP tier on the Usage page to see how much your AI tools are using.
  • See how to get started with example prompts here.

Troubleshooting

  • If your connection has stopped working, or is presenting unexpected errors, try to disconnect and reconnect to the server. If that doesn't work, contact our Support team.
  • If an AI reports that it cannot write to a scenario, the target scenario is almost always not open to AI write-back. See What AI Tools Can Do Through the Cube MCP Server for how to open a scenario for AI.
  • If the AI reports that "Your company has run out of Cube AI credits," the connection is fine. Your company's balance is too low for that call. See What Happens When You Run Out of AI Credits.

 

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