Overview: The Claude connector lets you use Buddy Punch directly inside Claude, Anthropic's AI assistant. Once connected, you can ask Claude in plain language to list employees, punch people in and out, review time cards, and manage schedules, locations, positions, and more - and Claude performs those actions in your Buddy Punch account, using only the permissions you approve.
Unlike our payroll integrations, you set this connector up on Claude's side. You sign in with your Buddy Punch account through a secure consent screen - Claude never sees your password, and you choose exactly what it's allowed to do.
Instructions:
Before You Begin
Connect Buddy Punch in Claude
Choose Permissions
What You Can Ask Claude
Manage or Disconnect
Security & Privacy
Before You Begin
You'll need a Buddy Punch Administrator account, and a Claude account that supports custom connectors. You connect from Claude — there is no setup required inside Buddy Punch first.
Connect Buddy Punch in Claude
Important! Individual members can't add custom connectors to a Team or Enterprise organization on their own. An Owner or Primary Owner of the Claude account must set up the connector first via Organization Settings. Once that's done, members connect individually.
1. In Claude, open Settings → Connectors (under Customize) and click Add --> Browse Connectors to open the connector directory:
2. If Buddy Punch appears in the directory, click Connect next to it and jump to step 5. Otherwise, choose Add custom connector:
3. Enter a connector name and the connector URL of https://api2.buddypunch.com/mcp:
4. After clicking Add, you'll be asked to initiate the connection to Buddy Punch by clicking Connect:
5. You'll then be asked to sign into your Buddy Punch account. Once signed in and on the consent screen you can approve the permissions you want to grant (see Choose Permissions), then confirm:
6. You'll return to Claude with Buddy Punch connected. If you have several connectors enabled, start your request with "using Buddy Punch" (the connector name) so Claude picks the right one.
Choose Permissions
You decide exactly what Claude may do when you connect. Most areas of your account offer separate read and write permissions (a few are read-only or write-only, as the list below shows). Claude can only see and use the tools allowed by the permissions you grant — for example, if you grant only employee read access, the tools that create or edit employees aren't even offered to Claude.
Employees — view employees & pay rates; create/update employees
Punches — punch employees in and out
Positions — view; create/update/delete
Department codes — view department codes & their assigned employees; create/update/delete/assign members
Locations — view locations & their assigned employees; create/update/delete/assign members & department codes
Groups — view; create/update/delete
Geofences — view geofences & their assigned employees; create/update/delete/assign members
Shifts / Schedule — view schedule & shifts; create/update/delete shifts
Pay periods — view pay periods & times
Time entries — view; create/update/delete
Time cards — view time cards & times; approve time cards
Time off — view time-off types; reject time-off requests
Tip: Grant only what you need. Read-only access is a safe way to try the connector - Claude can look things up but cannot change any data.
What You Can Ask Claude
Look things up (never changes your data):
"List my employees."
"Show the details and pay rates for employee 1024."
"List my locations, positions, and department codes."
"Show me this week's schedule."
"List my pay periods, then show the time cards for the most recent one."
Take actions (only work if you granted the matching write permission):
"Punch in employee 1024." / "Punch out employee 1024."
"Create a position called Barista."
"Update employee 1024's email to [email protected]."
"Approve time card 88231."
Manage or Disconnect
You can change the permissions you granted, or disconnect Buddy Punch entirely, at any time from Settings → Connectors in Claude. Disconnecting immediately revokes Claude's access to your Buddy Punch account.
Security & Privacy
No password sharing. You sign in directly to Buddy Punch. Claude receives a limited access token, never your credentials.
Least privilege. Claude can only use the tools allowed by the permissions you grant; anything you didn't approve isn't available to it.
Account-scoped. Every action stays within your Buddy Punch account and respects your role and permissions.
Auditable. Actions are recorded in your Buddy Punch account activity.
For details on how we handle your data, see our Privacy Policy. Questions? Contact [email protected].