C1 MCP

Connect AI assistants like Claude Desktop, Codex, Cursor, and VS Code to query your C1 data using the Model Context Protocol (MCP).

Connect AI assistants like Claude Desktop, Codex, Cursor, and VS Code to query your C1 data using the Model Context Protocol (MCP).

This page covers querying C1’s own identity governance data from your AI client. If you’re looking to govern AI access to external tools like Salesforce or GitHub, see AI access management.

AI Connections are read-only. Connected AI assistants can view your C1 data but cannot create, modify, or delete any configuration.

Security considerations

AI Connections is designed with security as a priority:

• Read-only access: AI assistants cannot modify any data or configuration.
• User-scoped authorization: Each user authorizes their own connections.
• IP restrictions: Optional IP allow listing for network-level control.
• Audit logging: All AI queries are logged in the system log.
• Revocable access: Connections can be revoked at any time.

Prerequisites

Before users can connect AI assistants, a C1 administrator must complete the following setup.

Turn on AI connections

A Super Admin must enable AI connections in your tenant settings:

1. Navigate to AI > C1 Gateway and click Settings.

2. Find AI connections, click Edit, and toggle Enable AI connections to on.

3. Click Save.

Once enabled, the MCP server URL is not shown on this settings page. Each user must navigate to their user profile menu and click AI & API > AI connections to find their MCP server URL.

Optional: Configure IP restrictions

For additional security, you can restrict which IP addresses can use AI connections:

1. Navigate to Settings in the left sidebar.

2. Under the Security sub-section, select SSO & sessions.

3. Scroll down to the Global IP allow list configuration.

4. Find the AI connections section.

5. Add allowed CIDR ranges.

6. Click Save.

If you configure IP restrictions, AI assistants will only work from the specified IP ranges. This is useful for restricting usage to corporate networks or VPNs.

Connect an AI assistant

Follow these steps to connect your AI assistant to C1 via MCP.

1. Get the MCP server URL

   In C1, navigate to your user profile menu and click AI & API > AI connections. Copy the MCP server URL displayed at the top of the page:

   https://<your-tenant>-mcp.conductor.one/v1
   
2. Configure your AI assistant

   Add the MCP server URL to your AI assistant’s configuration:

   Claude Desktop

   1. Open Claude Desktop settings.
   2. Navigate to the MCP servers section.
   3. Add a new server with the C1 MCP URL.
   4. Save and restart Claude Desktop.

   Claude Code

   1. From your terminal, add the C1 MCP server using the claude mcp add command:

      claude mcp add --transport http c1 https://<your-tenant>-mcp.conductor.one/v1
      

      Replace <your-tenant> with your C1 tenant subdomain.

   2. Start Claude Code and run the /mcp slash command.

   3. Select the c1 server and choose Authenticate. Your browser opens to C1 to complete the authorization step described below.

   4. Once authenticated, the server status appears as connected in the /mcp view.

   By default, claude mcp add registers the server in your local project scope. Use --scope user to make the connection available across all projects, or --scope project to share the configuration with collaborators via a checked-in .mcp.json file.

   Codex

   1. From your terminal, add the C1 MCP server using the codex mcp add command:

      codex mcp add c1 --url https://<your-tenant>-mcp.conductor.one/v1
      

      Replace <your-tenant> with your C1 tenant subdomain.

   2. Verify the server is configured:

      codex mcp list
      

   3. Start Codex in the CLI or IDE extension and connect to the c1 MCP server. Your browser opens to C1 to complete the authorization step described below.

   Codex shares MCP configuration between the CLI and IDE extension. You can also add the server directly in ~/.codex/config.toml:

   [mcp_servers.c1]
   url = "https://<your-tenant>-mcp.conductor.one/v1"
   

   Cursor

   1. Open Cursor settings.
   2. Navigate to the Tools and MCP configuration.
   3. Add the C1 MCP server URL in the JSON editor.
   4. Save your configuration.
3. Authorize the connection

   When your AI assistant first connects, you’ll be redirected to C1 to authorize the connection:

   1. Review the connection details.
   2. Optional. Customize the connection name.
   3. The connection is granted Read-Only Admin access.
   4. Click Allow to authorize.
4. Start querying

   Once authorized, your AI assistant can query C1 data. The connection appears in your user profile under AI & API > AI connections.

Available tools

Connected AI assistants have access to the following query tools:

Tool	Description
find_api_objects	Query objects by identifiers, search text, or filters
count_api_objects	Count objects matching specific criteria
list_object_types	List all available object types
describe_object_filters	Get filterable fields for an object type
get_object_schema	Get the JSON schema for an object type

Queryable objects

AI assistants can query 20 different object types across your C1 tenant.

Identity and applications

Object	Description
User	Identity accounts in your directory
App	Applications and directories connected to C1
Connector	Data sync connectors for applications
Task	Access requests, reviews, and other tickets
Policy	Approval workflows and access policies

Application data model

Object	Description
AppUser	Application accounts linked to identities
AppResourceType	Categories of resources within applications
AppResource	Specific resources within applications
AppEntitlement	Permissions and roles within applications
Grant	Entitlement assignments to users

Access reviews

Object	Description
AccessReview	Access review campaigns
AccessReviewTemplate	Templates for recurring reviews
AccessReviewSelection	Individual items within a review

Access conflicts and separation of duties

Object	Description
ConflictMonitor	Separation of duties policies
AccessViolation	Detected SoD violations

Supporting objects

Object	Description
RequestCatalog	Collections of requestable entitlements in an Access Profile
Webhook	Event notification configurations
Directory	Account sync configurations
ProfileType	Attribute mapping configurations
RoleBinding	C1 role assignments

Example queries

Here are some examples of questions you can ask your AI assistant.

Access analysis

• “Who has access to Salesforce?”
• “What apps does [e-mail] have access to?”
• “Show me all users with admin access to AWS”
• “List all entitlements for the Engineering group”

Access requests

• “Show me all pending access requests”
• “How many access requests were created this week?”
• “Find all denied access requests for the Finance app”
• “What requests are waiting for my approval?”

Access reviews

• “List access review campaigns that are in progress”
• “How many items are in the Q4 access review?”
• “Show me completed access reviews from this month”
• “Which access reviews are past their due date?”

Compliance

• “Find all separation of duties violations”
• “Which users have conflicting access?”
• “Show me all active conflict monitors”
• “List users who violate the Finance-Engineering SoD policy”

Managing connections

View connections

Navigate to your user profile menu and click AI & API > AI connections to see all AI connections you’ve authorized. Each connection shows:

• AI assistant name and icon
• Client ID
• Connection date
• Last used date

Revoke a connection

1. Navigate to your user profile menu and click AI & API > AI connections.

2. Find the connection you want to revoke.

3. Click Revoke.

4. Type the connection name to confirm.

5. Click Confirm.

Revoking a connection immediately prevents the AI assistant from accessing your C1 data. You can re-authorize the connection later if needed.

Admin management

Super Admins can navigate to AI > C1 Gateway > Connected clients to view and revoke all connections across the tenant.

System log events

All MCP activity is recorded in the C1 system log. You can use these event types to monitor and alert on AI connection activity:

Event	Activity Name	Description
MCP Session Start	mcp_session_start	Logged when an AI assistant establishes a connection
MCP Session End	mcp_session_end	Logged when an AI assistant disconnects (includes session statistics)
MCP Tool Call	mcp_tool_call	Logged for each tool invocation (query, count, and so on)

System log matching rules

Use these filters in Settings > System Log to monitor AI connection activity:

All MCP activity:

activity_name starts with "mcp_"

Session connections only:

activity_name = "mcp_session_start"

Tool calls only:

activity_name = "mcp_tool_call"

Failed tool calls:

activity_name = "mcp_tool_call" AND outcome = "FAILURE"

Activity by specific user:

activity_name starts with "mcp_" AND actor.user.email = "[e-mail]"

Session event details

Each MCP session event includes:

Field	Description
Session ID	Unique identifier for the connection
User	The C1 user who authorized the connection
Source IP	IP address of the AI assistant
User Agent	Client identifier (for example, Claude Desktop, Codex, or Cursor)
Duration	Session length (in session end events)
Tool call counts	Success/failure statistics (in session end events)

Tool call event details

Each tool call event includes:

Field	Description
Tool name	Which tool was invoked (for example, find_api_objects)
Object type	The API object being queried (for example, User or App)
Result count	Number of objects returned
Duration	Query execution time
Outcome	Success or failure status

Frequently asked questions about AI connections

Can the AI modify my C1 configuration?

No. AI Connections are granted Read-Only Admin access. Connected AI assistants can view and query your data, but they cannot create, update, or delete any configuration, users, or access assignments.

Who can authorize AI connections?

Only users with Super Admin or Read-Only Admin roles can authorize AI connections for their own use at this time.

What AI tools are compatible?

Any tool that supports the Model Context Protocol (MCP) can connect to C1, including:

• Claude Desktop
• Claude Code
• Codex
• Cursor
• VS Code (with MCP extensions)
• Other MCP-compatible AI assistants

Cursor currently gives the best experience because it handles large tool call results more gracefully than other clients. Queries that return many objects — Task queries in particular — can use a lot of context window. We’re working on improving this for all clients.

How do I restrict where AI connections can be used?

Administrators can configure IP allow lists in Settings > IP Allowlist > AI connections to restrict access to specific IP ranges. This is useful for limiting usage to corporate networks or VPNs.

Can I see what queries the AI is making?

Yes. AI connection activity is logged in your C1 system log. See System log events for details.

What happens if I revoke a connection?

The AI assistant immediately loses access to your C1 data. Any ongoing queries will fail. You can re-authorize the same AI assistant later by going through the connection flow again.

Is my data sent to AI providers?

When you query data through an AI assistant, the query results are sent to the AI provider (for example, Anthropic for Claude) to generate responses. Only the data specifically requested by your queries is transmitted. C1 does not send your data to any AI providers in the MCP flow — it is sent by clients under your control.