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Set up the BambooHR MCP server

BambooHR hosts an official MCP server for each customer account that lets AI agents look up employees, query reporting datasets and saved reports, manage time off requests and goals, and review hiring pipelines, all within the connecting user's existing BambooHR permissions. This guide covers joining BambooHR's beta, enabling the AI Connectors app, and adding the server to MintMCP.

Closed beta

BambooHR's MCP server and AI connectors are in a closed beta. Your company needs beta access from BambooHR before anyone can connect, and BambooHR issues the OAuth client credentials the connector uses. Request access through the link on BambooHR's MCP server page.

Prerequisites​

  • A MintMCP admin account
  • An active BambooHR account and a BambooHR admin who can change Settings > Apps
  • Beta access from BambooHR, including the client ID and client secret from your beta welcome email

Request beta access​

  1. Open BambooHR's MCP server page and follow its Request access link to submit the beta request.

  2. Tell BambooHR you are connecting through MintMCP and give them the OAuth redirect URL for your MintMCP region, so the credentials they issue work with the gateway:

    MintMCP regionRedirect URL
    US (app.mintmcp.com)https://app.mintmcp.com/oauth/callback
    EU (eu.mintmcp.com)https://eu.mintmcp.com/oauth/callback

    The install panel in MintMCP shows the callback for your organization.

  3. BambooHR sends the client ID and client secret in a beta welcome email. Store them in your password manager, since you enter them once when installing the connector.

BambooHR registers clients by hand during the beta because the server has no dynamic client registration endpoint yet, which is why MintMCP needs pre-configured credentials instead of registering itself on first connect.

Enable the AI Connectors app in BambooHR​

A BambooHR admin controls who at your company can connect an AI assistant.

  1. In BambooHR, go to Settings > Apps.
  2. Find AI Connectors and enable it.
  3. Under Give access to, choose the audience: admins only (the default), specific access levels, or all employees.

Access follows the user's BambooHR access level, not their job title. Users outside the selected audience cannot complete the sign-in, and disabling the app later revokes every existing connection at your company.

Add BambooHR to MintMCP​

BambooHR hosts the server at your own subdomain:

https://<your-subdomain>.bamboohr.com/api/mcp

Replace <your-subdomain> with the part before .bamboohr.com in your BambooHR URL.

  1. In MintMCP, go to MCP store and open the Recommended servers tab.
  2. Select BambooHR to open the Configure BambooHR panel.
  3. In Server URL, enter your endpoint, replacing <your-subdomain> with your BambooHR subdomain.
  4. Confirm Connection type is set to Per-user credentials and Authorization method is set to OAuth.
  5. Open OAuth Client Advanced Settings and paste the Client ID and Client Secret from your beta welcome email. Leave Override OAuth endpoints unchecked, because MintMCP discovers the authorization and token endpoints from the OAuth metadata your BambooHR subdomain publishes.
  6. Click Install.

Each user is sent to BambooHR's sign-in page the first time they connect, approves the access request, and from then on every tool call runs as that user. Access tokens last one hour and MintMCP refreshes them automatically.

What users can do​

The server exposes tools for employees and the company directory, field metadata, reporting datasets, saved reports, time off, goals and goal comments, hiring, global employment, and file listings. Most tools are read-only. The write tools cover updating employee fields, submitting and approving time off requests, managing goals and goal comments, and commenting on job applications, and two tools delete goals and goal comments permanently. BambooHR lists every tool, what it does, and whether it reads, writes, or deletes data in its MCP server documentation.

Results are always bounded by the user's BambooHR permissions:

  • Time off balances need the Time Off view permission for the target employee. Managing someone does not grant it.
  • Hiring tools need access to ATS settings.
  • Saved reports and datasets are only visible to users who already have report or dataset access.

Some tools omit or blank out fields the user cannot read, and list results drop employees the user cannot filter on, without flagging that anything was withheld. Treat an empty or short result as "nothing this user can see" rather than "nothing exists". A 403 is the only signal that access was denied.

Security considerations​

  • Every call runs as the signed-in user with their BambooHR access level, so the connector cannot expose data a user could not see in BambooHR itself.
  • The client secret lets anyone holding it start an authorization flow against your BambooHR account. Keep it in MintMCP only and ask BambooHR for a new one if it leaks.
  • A BambooHR admin can cut off all AI access at once by disabling the AI Connectors app, or narrow it by changing the audience under Give access to.
  • Use tool customization to hide the write and delete tools, such as goal deletion or time off approvals, from roles that only need read access.

Troubleshooting​

SymptomCause and fix
The install panel asks for a client ID and secretBambooHR has no dynamic client registration. Use the credentials from your beta welcome email, or request beta access if you do not have them
Sign-in fails with a redirect URI errorThe credentials BambooHR issued are not registered for MintMCP's callback. Contact BambooHR with the redirect URL for your region from the table above
Sign-in fails or access is denied for one userThe user's access level is outside the audience selected under Give access to in the AI Connectors app, or the app is disabled
Tool list is empty or shows old tool namesRefresh the connector's tools in MintMCP. If that does not help, reconnect the connector
403 on a tool callThe user lacks the BambooHR permission that tool needs, such as Time Off view for the target employee or ATS settings access for hiring tools
Fewer rows or fields than expected, with no errorBambooHR withholds data the user cannot read without flagging it. Compare with what the user sees signed in to BambooHR

Next steps​