Connect Claude Desktop & other MCP clients

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard that lets desktop apps such as Claude Desktop and Cursor connect to other services. You can connect one of these apps to Renewly by signing in and clicking Allow. There is no API key to copy and no settings file to edit.

Connecting apps to Renewly is part of the Business and Enterprise plans.

What you can do once connected

Once connected, you can ask the app questions about your contracts in plain English, such as "Which contracts renew in the next 90 days?" or "How much do we spend with each vendor?". Renewly offers the app 16 tools (things it can ask Renewly to do).

Reading: list and search contracts, see upcoming renewals, contract details, vendor spend, portfolio health, insights, vendor alerts and your term library.
Actions: flag a contract for review, draft a cancellation email, or prepare a renewal negotiation plan. The plan does not contact the supplier. The app can only do these if you give it that permission when you connect.

Connecting Claude Desktop

The steps inside Claude Desktop may look slightly different depending on your version.

In Claude Desktop, open Settings and go to Connectors.
Click Add custom connector.
Enter the Renewly server address:
https://renewly.gg/api/mcp
Claude Desktop opens a browser tab on renewly.gg.
If you are not logged in to Renewly, log in as usual.
Read the approval screen, which lists exactly what the app is asking to do, then click Allow.
Claude Desktop now shows Renewly as connected.

Other MCP apps

Cursor and other apps that support MCP work the same way. Give them the same server address.

What you’re approving

The approval screen lists each permission the app is asking for. By default an app only gets one: View your contracts and renewal data. An app can ask for more when it connects:

Flag contracts and add review notes
Draft cancellation emails (nothing is sent without your approval)
Initiate renewal negotiations on your behalf

If you do not want to give those permissions, click Deny. An app can only use the tools that match the permissions you approved.

Managing connections

To see every app connected to your account, go to Settings › Connections. Each app shows its permissions, when it was last used and when its access expires.

Find the app you want to disconnect.
Click Revoke.
Click Revoke access to confirm.

Revoking cannot be undone

The app loses access to Renewly straight away. To use it again, you have to connect it again and approve it on the approval screen.

API keys vs OAuth

OAuth is the sign-in-and-approve method described on this page. It is the best choice for apps a person uses at their desk.

Renewly also supports API keys, which suit scripts and automated jobs that run with nobody at the keyboard. See API & integrations. You can use both at the same time.

Security model

The app never sees your Renewly password. You sign in on renewly.gg, not inside the app.
Access given to an app works only with Renewly's MCP server and cannot be used anywhere else.
Renewly stores access codes only in scrambled form, so they cannot be read back from our database.
If an old, already-replaced access code is ever used again, Renewly treats it as a warning sign and cuts off that app's access completely.
Renewly keeps a record of every connection, renewal of access and revocation.