Answers

What is an MCP connector?

An MCP connector is a Model Context Protocol implementation that exposes specific business-tool operations to an AI assistant. MCP is the standardized protocol Anthropic announced for connecting tools to assistants. CorpusIQ implements MCP-compatible connectors for 40+ business tools including Gmail, Shopify, QuickBooks, HubSpot, and Google Drive. All connector tools are retrieval-only and do not write back to connected systems. The only tools that accept writes are CorpusIQ control-plane tools that manage your own CorpusIQ configuration, never your business data. Retrieval results include source context where available.

MCP, API, and plugin: how they relate

An API is a developer interface; you call it from any client. A plugin is a vendor-specific bundle for one assistant (such as a ChatGPT plugin). MCP, the Model Context Protocol, is the standardized protocol Anthropic published so the same tool surface can be consumed by any compatible assistant. ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity all support MCP today.

Why MCP matters for AI connectors

Before MCP, each connector had to be built per assistant (ChatGPT plugin, Claude integration, Perplexity connector). With MCP, a single connector implementation works across all compatible assistants. CorpusIQ builds connectors against the MCP spec, so the same Shopify or QuickBooks connector is callable from ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity on one subscription.

How CorpusIQ exposes MCP connectors

CorpusIQ runs a multi-tenant MCP server. Each operator authorizes the business tools they want to connect through source-specific authorization. The MCP server presents those tools to the chosen assistant as named tool surfaces. The assistant invokes a tool when it needs data to answer a question; CorpusIQ fetches on demand and returns the result with citations.

Operation-specific and source-cited

CorpusIQ publishes retrieval-only connector tools with behavior-matched safety annotations, alongside separately named control-plane tools that write only to your CorpusIQ configuration. Retrieval tools do not write records back to their source; source links let operators verify returned evidence before acting.

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