How to recruit inside Claude and ChatGPT

Updated 2026-09-28

You recruit inside Claude or ChatGPT by connecting a recruiting MCP server: a service that holds your roles and candidates and gives the assistant tools to find people, explain why each one fits and draft outreach. This page covers what such a server does, the setup steps for Claude, ChatGPT, Codex and Cursor, and what to check before you connect one.

What is an MCP server?

MCP, the Model Context Protocol, is an open standard that lets an AI assistant call tools on a separate server over the network, the way your browser calls a website. You give Claude or ChatGPT a server's address, sign in once, and after that the assistant can read and write through the tools that server defines, inside the limits you approved at sign-in. The spec itself is at modelcontextprotocol.io.

Is there a recruiting MCP server?

Yes. A recruiting MCP server gives your assistant tools built for hiring. It holds your open roles and your candidate records, so the assistant has real context instead of guessing from chat history. Ask it to work a role and it finds people, shows why each one fits against the requirements you set, and writes a first outreach message. It does not send that message. You read it, edit it, and send it yourself.

How do you add a remote MCP server to Claude?

Claude, ChatGPT, Codex and Cursor all support remote MCP servers, and each one calls the setup something a little different.

Claude (web or desktop)

1. Open Settings, then Connectors.
2. Choose Add custom connector and paste the server's address, for example https://recruiter.rails.so/mcp.
3. Choose Add, then Connect, and sign in when the server's page opens.

On a Claude Team or Enterprise plan, an Owner usually adds the connector under Organization settings before anyone else on the team can connect it.

ChatGPT

1. Open Settings, then Apps.
2. Under Advanced settings, turn on Developer mode.
3. Choose Create app, name it, paste the server's address, and set authentication to OAuth.
4. Start a new chat and select the app from the tools list.

On a ChatGPT Business, Enterprise or Edu workspace, an admin may need to turn on custom apps before Developer mode shows up for you.

Codex

codex mcp add recruiter --url https://recruiter.rails.so/mcp
codex mcp login recruiter

Cursor

Cursor takes a one-click install link that carries the server's address, or you can add the same address by hand under Cursor's MCP settings.

What should you check before you connect one?

A remote MCP server runs outside your assistant's sandbox, so treat adding one like handing out an API key.

• What it can read. Look for a plain list of what the server's tools touch: your calendar, your contacts, your role and candidate records. If the list is vague, ask before you connect.
• Whether it can send on your behalf. A server that drafts outreach is different from one that can send it. Check whether every outbound message needs your explicit approval, or whether the server can act on its own.
• Where your data lives. Tied to one account and one installation, or pooled somewhere you can't see? Ask, or read the server's privacy page.
• How approvals work. Look for tools marked read-only versus tools that change state, and for anything that says a person has to confirm before it runs.

How Rails Recruiter does it

Rails Recruiter is a remote MCP server at recruiter.rails.so/mcp. Add it the same way as any connector above: paste that address into Claude's Add custom connector dialog, or run codex mcp add recruiter --url https://recruiter.rails.so/mcp in Codex, then sign in with the code Rails texts to your phone when the page opens.

What it does: finds people for your open roles, shows why each one fits, and drafts outreach for you to review. If you connect Google Calendar, it also reads your free times to suggest call slots and adds a confirmed call to your calendar. What it never does: it never sends a message and never submits a candidate anywhere without your yes for that exact recipient or that exact submission. It never sends invitations for you, never keeps copies of LinkedIn profiles, and never uses another connector to get around a refusal.

Every read-only tool, like looking up a role or a candidate, is marked as such, so you can tell at a glance what changes state and what doesn't. No Recruiter tool sends outreach or submits an application. Recruiter prepares the message or the submission packet. Before a submission goes anywhere, your approval is recorded against a hash of its exact contents, and it lapses if those contents change. Your role and candidate records stay bound to your own installation; nobody else's recruiting data mixes with yours.