Read CATS candidates, jobs and pipelines, and make explicitly confirmed recruiting changes. Hosted by usefulapi: connect it to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or any MCP client.
Turn on the CATS connector, then ask in plain words. The AI picks the tools.
For recruiters and hiring teams managing candidates and job pipelines in CATS.
Search candidate records or apply field filters, then open the matching record for review.
Inspect job details and the candidates linked to its pipeline, including their current stages.
Review activity, tasks and attachment metadata for a chosen candidate without downloading files.
After explicit confirmation, create a recruiting task with an assignee and due date. CATS may notify the assignee.
Changes dataApply a stage you have chosen after confirmation. The connector requests trigger suppression; independent account webhooks may still run.
Changes dataThe login page asks for your CATS API key.
Create it in CATS under Settings → Administration → API (a v3 key; old Transaction Codes do not work). Authorize UsefulAPI and your chosen AI client to process only the recruiting data you are entitled to share. Keep government IDs, health data, personal financial data and other CATS Prohibited Data out of this workflow. Use an authorized key appropriate for this workflow; the key-generation form offers no read-only scope selector. CATS documents a rolling 500 API requests per hour (the counter scope is unspecified). Writes require explicit confirmation and may cause configured account automation or webhooks. Requests are not replayed automatically. Your key is used only to call the CATS API on your behalf; it is never shown to anyone.
Team and Enterprise: an Owner adds the connector for the organization first.
No Add custom MCP server option? It depends on your account or workspace settings: see OpenAI's guide.
Run this command, then run /mcp in Claude Code to log in:
Add to Cursor or add this to ~/.cursor/mcp.json:
{
"mcpServers": {
"cats-ats": {
"url": "https://cats-ats.usefulapi.io/mcp"
}
}
} Add to VS Code or add this to .vscode/mcp.json:
{
"servers": {
"cats-ats": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://cats-ats.usefulapi.io/mcp"
}
}
} Run these commands. The second one opens the login page:
Windsurf, Cline, Zed and other MCP clients: add this URL as a remote MCP server (Streamable HTTP). The client then opens the login page in your browser.
Add only the URL. Do not add an Authorization header or an API key to the client config. The server signs you in with OAuth: the login page asks for your CATS API key. If the config has such a header, remove it: some clients then send that header instead of the login token, and every call fails with 401.
| Plan | Price | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Freeper connected CATS site | $0 | 50 tool calls / month |
| Proper connected CATS site | $9/mo · $90/yr | 10,000 tool calls / month |
| Pro+per connected CATS site | $39/mo · $390/yr | 100,000 tool calls / month |
Each paid plan covers this CATS server only. Ask your AI to run cats_upgrade and choose Pro or Pro+, billed monthly or yearly (it returns a Stripe Checkout link). If you already have Pro, ask to change it to Pro+. The change requires your confirmation, keeps your billing interval and charges the price difference for the rest of the period immediately. Cancel any time with cats_cancel_subscription: your paid plan continues to the end of the paid period, with no refund for the current period, and asking to resume the same plan with cats_upgrade before then undoes the cancel. Or write to [email protected].
cats_get_sitecats_list_userscats_list_candidatescats_get_candidatecats_search_candidatescats_filter_candidatescats_list_candidate_pipelinescats_list_candidate_activitiescats_list_candidate_taskscats_list_candidate_attachmentscats_list_jobscats_get_jobcats_search_jobscats_list_job_pipelinescats_list_job_statusescats_list_pipelinescats_get_pipelinecats_filter_pipelinescats_get_pipeline_status_historycats_list_workflowscats_list_workflow_statusescats_list_companiescats_get_companycats_search_companiescats_list_contactscats_get_contactcats_search_contactscats_list_taskscats_get_taskcats_list_activitiescats_add_candidate_activitycats_create_taskcats_change_pipeline_statuscats_create_candidatecats_usage_statuscats_request_featurecats_upgradecats_cancel_subscriptionFind a specific candidate. Review a job’s pipeline. Read candidate history. Create a follow-up task. Record a human-selected stage. See what you can do for the details.
No. usefulapi is an independent service. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by CATS. The server calls the CATS API with your own CATS access, so it sees only the data that your account can see.
Yes. In Claude, add this server's URL as a custom connector. In ChatGPT, add it as a custom MCP server in Plugins. Then log in once. Cursor, VS Code, Claude Code and Codex work too. See the setup steps.
The login page asks for your CATS API key. See Before you connect for where to find it.
No. Add only the URL. Do not add an Authorization header or an API key to the client config. The server signs you in with OAuth: the login page asks for your CATS API key. If the config has such a header, remove it: some clients then send that header instead of the login token, and every call fails with 401.
The login stores them encrypted in the authorization grant of your connection. The server uses them to call the CATS API for you and to derive a private account id for usage metering. usefulapi does not show them on any page or in any reply. To stop all access, remove the connector and change or delete these credentials in CATS.
Yes, if you approve it. 4 of the 34 CATS tools can create or change data. The other 30 are marked read-only. Most MCP clients ask you to approve a tool call before it runs.
The Free plan gives 50 tool calls / month. Pro costs $9/mo or $90/yr, with 10,000 tool calls / month. Pro+ costs $39/mo or $390/yr, with 100,000 tool calls / month. Each subscription covers this CATS server only. Cancel any time: your paid plan then runs to the end of the paid period. Run cats_usage_status to see how many calls you used.
Ask the AI to run cats_upgrade and choose Pro or Pro+, billed monthly or yearly: it returns a Stripe Checkout link. If you already have Pro, ask to change it to Pro+. After you confirm, your existing subscription changes in place, keeps its billing interval and charges the price difference for the rest of the period immediately. To cancel, run cats_cancel_subscription. Your paid plan continues to the end of the paid period.
Tell the AI what you wanted to do. It can send the request with cats_request_feature. We store the text with the server name, the type of AI client and the tool you tried, not with your account, and read every request when we plan new tools. You can send up to 5 requests per day.
Any client that supports remote MCP servers (Streamable HTTP) with OAuth login: Claude (web and desktop), Claude Code, ChatGPT, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf and others.
This is a Model Context Protocol endpoint — meant to be connected from an AI client, not opened in a browser. An invalid_token response at the URL is the auth gate working as designed; clients authenticate automatically.
Need a tool this server does not have, or a connection to another system? We build custom integrations and MCP servers.