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The Research Desk MCP Server lets you work with your Research Desk account through an AI assistant. Instead of clicking through the platform UI or building an API integration, you can ask an assistant in Claude, ChatGPT, or any other MCP-compatible AI tool to look up projects, check survey status and fielding performance, and set up or update research projects in Research Desk. It is built on the Model Context Protocol (MCP), an open standard for connecting AI assistants to software platforms.
The MCP server is included with your Research Desk account at no additional charge. Contact your account manager or clientsuccess@repdata.com to get started.

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Requirements

  • A Research Desk account. Any Research Desk user can connect. There are no separate credentials, API keys, or provisioning steps needed.
  • An MCP-compatible AI assistant. Verified with Claude and ChatGPT; works with any client that supports remote MCP servers with OAuth.

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Connect your assistant

Add this server URL to your assistant as a custom connector:
1

Add the connector

In your assistant, add a new MCP server / custom connector and paste the URL above. In company workspaces this step is typically done once by an admin:
2

Sign in

Your assistant opens a browser window. Sign in with your normal Research Desk credentials and approve the connection. Each person connects using their individual credentials.
3

Verify

Ask your assistant to list your Research Desk projects. If it returns your projects, you’re connected.

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How authentication works

Sign-in uses standard OAuth 2.0 — your assistant handles the whole flow and refreshes tokens automatically. Three things follow from this:
  • Your Research Desk permissions apply. The assistant can see and change only what your Research Desk role allows in the UI, and all activity is attributable to you.
  • The endpoint is shared. There are no per-customer URLs; access is determined entirely by who signs in.
  • Tokens lapse. If a working connection starts failing with authentication errors, disconnect and reconnect the connector to force a fresh sign-in.

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Developers and custom clients

The server speaks MCP over streamable HTTP. From Claude Code:
For other clients, point them at the URL with no pre-configured credentials — the server advertises its authorization server via OAuth protected-resource metadata (https://mcp.researchdesk.com/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource/mcp) and clients run authorization code + PKCE from there. Request the offline_access scope for refresh tokens.
The server supports client-ID metadata documents but not Dynamic Client Registration. Clients that require DCR cannot complete sign-in.
For systematic, high-volume, or scheduled integrations, use the Research Desk Demand API instead. The MCP server is designed for assistant-driven, human-in-the-loop work.

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Next steps

Tools

What the server can do, and what to know before writing changes.

FAQ

Pricing, safety, limitations, and troubleshooting.