Connecting AI Tools to the Time Doctor MCP

Note: The Time Doctor MCP is available on all Time Doctor subscription plans and can be accessed by Owners, Admins, and Managers.

TL;DR:

The Time Doctor MCP connects an AI assistant, such as Claude ChatGPT or Gemini, to your Time Doctor data so reports can be requested in plain language.
Add the Time Doctor MCP to your AI tool, sign in with Time Doctor, and ask the first question. Setup takes about a minute.
Access is read-only. Every answer is limited to the data the connected account is permitted to see, based on its role, the company plan, and any add-ons.
Pick the matching setup guide under Set Up an AI Tool below, then see Getting Started: What to Ask Your Time Doctor MCP Connection for question ideas

What is the Time Doctor MCP?

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is the open standard that AI tools use to connect to external data sources. The Time Doctor MCP is the connection built on that standard., ask a question directly in the AI tool you use and the AI assistant answers using live Time Doctor data.

Access is read-only. The connection reads and reports data; it cannot change, add, or delete anything in Time Doctor. The data you can access matches your Time Doctor seat permissions. Owners and Admins can ask about everyone in the company. Managers can ask about their assigned teams.

Who can connect an AI tool

Owners and Admins control which users can connect to an AI tool. Two settings work together.

Company-Level Setting

Go to the Company Settings page and select the Configuration section from the left-side menu panel, then choose one of three options.

Option	Who can connect
For everyone (default)	All Owners, Admins, and Managers in the company
For selected users	Only the selected accounts. Select them on the Settings / Users page.
For no one	No account in the company can connect an AI tool

Per-User Setting

On the User's Page, the AI Connections column sits directly after the Allow mobile app tracking column. Use it to switch access on or off for individual accounts when the company-level option is set to For selected users.

Regular users and clients cannot connect an AI tool under any setting.

These settings control who can connect. They do not change what a connected account can see; role, plan, and add-ons still govern that. To request access, contact an Owner or Admin.

Two Ways to Connect

Sign in with Time Doctor (recommended). Add the Time Doctor MCP in the AI tool. A browser window opens and prompts to sign in to your Time Doctor account, then asks for read-only approval. There are no keys to copy or store. This is the default for Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini and every tool listed below.

API key (advanced). Use a key when the tool runs on its own and cannot open a sign-in window, for example an autonomous agent, a scheduled script, or a server-side integration.

Find it under the AI Connections page in your Time Doctor account

To connect your AI tool, see Connecting With an API Key below.

Set up an AI tool

Setup takes about a minute. Follow the guide that matches the tool.

AI tool	Setup guide
Claude (desktop app and claude.ai)	Connect Claude to Time Doctor
ChatGPT	Connect ChatGPT to Time Doctor
Claude Code, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI	Connect Command-Line AI Tools to Time Doctor
Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf, Zed	Connect a Code Editor to Time Doctor
Replit, Lovable, Bolt	Connect App Builder Platforms to Time Doctor
Any other MCP-capable tool	Connect a Custom AI Tool to Time Doctor

For background on how custom connectors work in Claude, see Anthropic's guide, Get started with custom connectors using remote MCP.

Connection Details (for Any Tool)

Server URL: https://api2.timedoctor.com/api/2.0/mcp/mcp
Authentication: Sign in with Time Doctor
Transport: Streamable HTTP
Access: Read-only

Use the config template below for tools that read a JSON config file. The tool opens the Time Doctor sign-in page the first time it connects.

{
"mcpServers": {
"timedoctor": {
"url": "https://api2.timedoctor.com/api/2.0/mcp/mcp"
}
}
}

The key isn't tied to a specific tool. The same key works with any MCP-capable client.

Connecting With an API Key (Advanced)

An API key suits autonomous agents, scripts, and developer integrations that pull Time Doctor data without a person signing in each time.

In Time Doctor, go to the AI Connections page and create a key. For security, the key appears only once, at creation.
Send the key as an x-api-key header on the same server URL.

{
"mcpServers": {
"timedoctor": {
"url": "https://api2.timedoctor.com/api/2.0/mcp/mcp",
"headers": {
"x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY"
}
}
}
}

Each key stays valid for three months. Generate a new key from the same page once it expires. Treat a key like a password: keep it private, do not share it, and revoke it at any time from the AI Connections page.

A key is not tied to one tool, so the same key works with any MCP-capable client. For a full walkthrough, see Connect Autonomous AI Agents to Time Doctor.

Managing Connections

Review or remove connected AI tools at any time in the AI Connections page. Disconnecting immediately ends that tool's access to Time Doctor data.

What Time Doctor MCP Can Access

Data	What it includes
Hours and time worked	Tracked, active, and idle time; computer, manual, mobile, and break time; and a timeline of when each work block started and ended
Apps and websites	Time per website and app, with productivity rating and category
Productivity	Productive, unproductive, neutral, and unrated time by app, category, or task
Meetings	Meeting and call time, when each took place, and talk time when meeting insights are enabled
Projects and tasks	The list of projects and tasks, and time spent on each, per user
Attendance and schedules	Scheduled shifts and attendance against schedule: present, late, partially absent, absent, or on leave, with expected versus actual hours and actual start time
Leave and time off	Leave taken, by type and duration
People, teams, and groups	Users, the users a manager manages, and group or tag membership
Unusual activity	Unusual Activity Report data. Included with the Premium plan and available as an add-on for Basic and Standard plans. In companies with 10 or fewer users, only Owners and Admins can access it; above 10 users, Managers can access it too.
Screencast information	Metadata for low-activity screencasts only: ID, user, and timestamps. No images and no download links.

Time Doctor MCP can also compare any of the categories above across two periods, for example this month against last month, and report the change.

What Time Doctor MCP Cannot Access

Time Doctor MCP cannot change data of any kind, and it does not expose raw screenshots, payroll, or billing. It returns only the summarized data listed above.

Availability Depends on Plan and Role

What Time Doctor MCP can access depends on the company subscription plan, any add-ons, and the role of the connected account, so some categories above are not available on every plan. Each connection returns only the data the plan and role allow.

Developers can see the exact set of tools available to a connection, which reflects these plan and role entitlements, by calling tools/list on the server. See Connect Autonomous AI Agents to Time Doctor for details.

Next Step

Once connected, see Getting Started: What to Ask Your Time Doctor AI Connection, including a starter prompt that helps the AI build your first report around your goals.

Should there be any inconsistencies or concerns regarding the article, contact support@timedoctor.com for prompt assistance.