The Workiva MCP connects Claude to your Workiva content so it can read and analyze your documents and data on your behalf. You ask a question in Claude, and it reads across your Workiva documents and data, runs the analysis, and responds with the sources it used.
This guide walks you through the three setup steps, who does each one, and how to ask your first question grounded in your Workiva content.
Note: Workiva MCP is a custom connector and won't appear when searching in Claude by default. Your Claude administrator needs to add it as a custom connector before you can access it (see Step 1). Once added, it appears alongside your other connectors.
This feature is currently available to select customers as part of the Limited Availability preview. The preview feature is provided to you for technical testing and evaluation to July 1, 2027. Workiva may extend or end the testing period of the preview features at its discretion. If your team is interested in using this feature, please contact your Customer Success Manager.
Who does what
Three people usually take part in setup. Each step below is written for one of them, in the order the steps need to happen.
| Step | Who | Where | What they do |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Claude admin (Owner or Primary Owner of your Claude Team or Enterprise plan) | Claude, Organization settings | Adds Workiva as a connector so people in your organization can find it |
| 2 | Workiva Organization Security Admin | Workiva Admin console | Turns on MCP and chooses which users and workspaces it can reach |
| 3 | Each person using Claude | Claude, Customize > Connectors | Connects their own Claude account to Workiva and asks a first question |
Prerequisites
Before you begin, ensure you have the following:
- An active Workiva account with access to the workspaces you want to interact with through MCP.
- Access to claude.ai (Claude is a supported connect path at EAP launch).
- The names of two people at your company: your Claude Owner and your Workiva Organization Security Admin. If those roles belong to someone else, send them this article.
Note: At launch, the Workiva MCP is read-only. Claude can read documents and retrieve data from Workiva, but cannot create, edit, update, or delete artifacts.
Step 1: Claude admin adds the Workiva connector
Who this is for: the Owner or Primary Owner of your Claude Team or Enterprise plan. On Enterprise, anyone with a custom role that includes Manage access to Libraries can also do this.
Anthropic's guide Get started with custom connectors using remote MCP covers this step in full. In short:
- In Claude, go to Organization settings > Connectors.
- Click Add, hover over Custom, and select Web.
- Fill in the connector using the Workiva values below, then click Add.
| Setting | Use this for Workiva |
|---|---|
| Name | Include Workiva, since that's what people will search for. Adding the region helps, for example Workiva US Production. |
| Remote MCP server URL | US: https://mcp.app.wdesk.com/mcpEU: https://mcp.eu.wdesk.com/mcpAPAC: https://mcp.apac.wdesk.com/mcp
|
| Authentication | Sign in when needed, so each person signs in with their own Workiva account |
| OAuth client | Automatic registration |
| Request headers | Leave empty |
Note: Don't add an API key or token under Request headers. Anything entered there is shared by everyone who uses the connector, and Workiva access needs to follow each person's own permissions.
For enterprise plans with custom roles: Make sure the roles that should use Workiva include this connector, or people on those roles won't see it. See Anthropic's Set up role-based permissions on Enterprise plans.
Step 2: Workiva Organization Security Admin turns on MCP
Who this is for: a Workiva Organization Security Admin. Only this role can manage these settings.
Note: MCP is off by default for every Workiva organization. Until this step is done, people can connect Claude to Workiva, but Claude can't reach any data. Do this before people connect, so their first try works.
- In Workiva, open the Admin console and go to Organizations. Select your organization.
- Open the Overview tab, then the Configuration sub-tab, and select Model Context Protocol (MCP) in the left list.
- Turn on Enable MCP for this organization. This is the master switch. While it's off, nothing else on this screen applies.
- Under User access, choose who can use MCP:
- All users: everyone in the enabled workspaces can use MCP. No other step is needed.
- Only users with the Workiva MCP User role: you grant the role to each person who should have access (see below).
-
Under Workspace access, check each workspace MCP should reach. Unchecked workspaces stay unreachable through MCP, even for users who have access.
Note: Enable org-level tool access also appears on this screen. No current Workiva MCP tool relies on it, so you can leave it at its default.
If you chose "Only users with the Workiva MCP User role"
- Go to Identity & access management > People and select the user.
- On the Profile tab, click into Organization Roles.
-
Select Workiva MCP User from the list, then click the checkmark to confirm.
- Repeat for each person who needs access.
Step 3: Connect your Claude account to Workiva
Who this is for: each person who will use Workiva in Claude.
Note: Before you start, check that your Claude admin has added the connector (Step 1) and your Workiva admin has turned on MCP for your workspaces (Step 2).
Connect
- In Claude, go to Customize > Connectors.
-
Find Workiva in the list and select it. It may carry a Custom label.
-
Select Connect.
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You'll be redirected to the standard Workiva sign-in page. Use the same credentials you use to log in to Workiva.
-
A confirmation screen will appear showing what Claude will be able to access on your behalf. Review and approve.
- Once approved, Claude connects under your identity and acts on your behalf, only within your existing Workiva permissions. Claude can never access more than you can.
Note: You don't need to select organizations, workspaces, or permissions at this step. Your Workiva admin already set those in Step 2.
Configure it for how you work
- Turn it on for a chat. Click the + button at the lower left of the chat, choose Connectors, and switch Workiva on.
-
Set tool permissions. In Customize > Connectors, select Workiva. Under Tool permissions, choose for each tool whether Claude can use it without asking (checkmark), must ask you first (hand), or can't use it (blocked).
-
Approve tool calls. The first time Claude uses a Workiva tool, it asks for permission. Choose Allow once to approve this call, Always allow to skip the prompt for that tool from now on, or Deny.
Ask your first question
Before diving into real work, confirm Claude can see your Workiva data. Try this:
"Using Workiva's MCP show me the workspaces I have access to."
Once Claude returns your workspaces, follow up with:
"List the documents in [workspace name]."
If Claude returns results, you're connected and ready to go. If not, see Troubleshooting.
| Use case | What you can ask |
|---|---|
| Earnings Q&A prep | Pull the current 10-Q, 10-K, earnings release, MD&A, and prior scripts, and surface a Q&A view with citations and consistency flags. |
Troubleshooting
- I can't find Workiva in my connectors list. Your Claude admin hasn't added it yet. Send them Step 1.
- I connected but can't see my data. This is almost always an access issue. Your Workiva Organization Security Admin needs to turn on MCP, check your workspace, and (if they chose the role option) give you the Workiva MCP User role. Send them Step 2.
- Claude says it can't act in a workspace. That workspace isn't checked under Workspace access. Ask your Workiva admin to add it.
- My session expired. Access tokens are short-lived by design. Reconnect and sign in again to start a new session.