Use Certify in Claude, ChatGPT and Copilot with the MCP server

Certify's MCP server connects your Certify account to an AI assistant, such as Claude, ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot. You can then ask about your credentials in plain English, for example "has Ana Silva received her badge yet?", or ask the assistant to issue a credential to a list of people. The assistant always shows you a preview and waits for you to confirm before it issues anything.

The MCP server is included on every Certify plan.

What is an MCP server?

MCP stands for Model Context Protocol, an open standard that lets AI assistants connect to other services. Without it, an assistant can only talk about Certify in general terms. With Certify connected, it signs in as you, can read the credentials your account can see, and can issue new ones if your account is allowed to issue.

The server address

Every assistant uses the same address:

https://api.certify.one/mcp

You paste it in when you add Certify to your assistant, then sign in with your Certify email and password. You don't need a developer, an API token or any code.

How to connect

• Claude: add Certify as a custom connector. It takes about a minute. See Connect Certify to Claude.
• ChatGPT: ChatGPT adds MCP servers as custom connectors. Whether you can add one depends on your ChatGPT plan and, in a company workspace, on your administrator. OpenAI's article on developer mode and MCP connectors sets out the current rules.
• Microsoft Copilot: Copilot connects to MCP servers through Copilot Studio, where they become tools for an agent. This is usually set up by your IT team. See Microsoft's announcement on MCP in Copilot Studio.

What the assistant can do in Certify

Certify gives the assistant six tools.

Looking things up

Everyone who connects gets these:

• View my Certify account: shows which Certify account and organisation the assistant is connected to.
• List credentials: lists the credentials (badges and certificates) set up in your account.
• Find issued credentials: searches the credentials you've already issued, for example by recipient.
• View an issued credential: opens the details of one issued credential.

Issuing

Only accounts that are allowed to issue get these:

• Preview issuance: shows which credential would be issued and to whom, before anything happens.
• Issue credentials: issues the credentials once you've confirmed the preview.

Things you could ask

• "Which Certify account am I connected to?"
• "Has joao@example.com received the Data Protection Essentials badge?"
• "List the credentials in our account."
• "Issue the Course Completion certificate to these people", followed by names and email addresses pasted from a spreadsheet.

How Certify stops the assistant issuing the wrong credential

• Issuing always takes two steps. The assistant first previews the issuance and shows you which credential will go to which recipients. It issues only after you reply to approve it. If something looks wrong, say so and nothing is issued.
• The assistant works as you. You sign in with your own Certify account, so it can only see and do what your account can. There's no shared key that someone else could use.
• You choose what it may do. When you sign in, you choose which actions the assistant may take on your behalf.
• No permission, no issuing tools. If your account isn't allowed to issue, the issuing tools don't appear at all.

Your data and the AI provider

Anything the assistant looks up in Certify, such as a recipient's name and email address, is passed to the AI provider (for example Anthropic, OpenAI or Microsoft) so it can answer you. Check that this fits your organisation's AI and data protection policies before you connect. This isn't legal advice.

When to use an integration instead

The MCP server is for questions and one-off jobs, with a person checking each step. To issue credentials automatically, for example whenever a learner completes a course, with nobody involved, use one of Certify's integrations. See Ways to connect Certify to your other systems.

Troubleshooting

I can't see the issuing tools. Your Certify account isn't allowed to issue credentials. Ask your Certify account administrator to check your permissions. Once they've changed, disconnect Certify in your assistant and connect it again.

The assistant says it's connected to the wrong account. Disconnect Certify in your assistant, connect again and sign in with the right Certify email address.

I can't add a custom connector in ChatGPT or Copilot. Your plan or your workspace administrator decides this. Ask your administrator, or use Claude instead.

Still stuck? Contact Certify support and tell us which assistant you're using and what it said.