Workato Dev MCP

A local MCP server that lets you author and debug Workato recipes from Claude (Code, Desktop, or any MCP client).

The official Workato Developer API MCP (app.workato.com/mcp) is management/read-only — it can't create or update recipe code or start/stop recipes. This server does, by wrapping the Workato Developer REST API operations a recipe developer actually needs.

Zero dependencies — standard library only, any Python 3.8+. No pip install.

Quick install (Claude Code)

From the repo, one command registers the server with Claude Code:

WORKATO_TOKEN=your-developer-api-token bash bin/install.sh

Or bootstrap from scratch (clone + register) with one line:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/krishnagutta/workato-dev-mcp/main/bin/quickstart.sh | bash

Then start a new Claude session and try: "list my Workato recipes".

Even simpler — project-scoped auto-detection

This repo ships a .mcp.json. If a teammate opens the repo folder in Claude Code with WORKATO_TOKEN exported in their shell, Claude Code detects the server automatically — no claude mcp add needed. Approve it once when prompted.

export WORKATO_TOKEN=your-developer-api-token   # add to ~/.zshrc to persist
cd workato-dev-mcp
claude                                           # Claude Code picks up .mcp.json

Prerequisites

• Python 3.8+ (python3 --version) — already on macOS/Linux.
• A Workato Developer API token — Workato → Workspace admin → API clients. The Recipe operator role is enough for recipe CRUD. Copy the token (starts with wrkaus-).
• For Claude Code: the claude CLI installed (only needed for bin/install.sh).

Manual setup (any MCP client)

If you'd rather wire it by hand (Claude Desktop, or pinning an absolute path):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "workato-dev": {
      "command": "python3",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/workato-dev-mcp/server.py"],
      "env": {
        "WORKATO_TOKEN": "your-developer-api-token",
        "WORKATO_API_BASE": "https://www.workato.com/api"
      }
    }
  }
}

• Claude Desktop config: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS).
• Claude Code user scope: ~/.claude.json.

Restart the client, start a new chat, and you should see the workato-dev tools.

What it gives you (33 tools)

Recipes

Tool	Purpose
list_recipes / get_recipe / get_recipe_steps	Find and inspect recipes (incl. the parsed code tree)
create_recipe / update_recipe	Author recipe code (JSON)
start_recipe / stop_recipe	Activate/deactivate (start = the validator)
copy_recipe / delete_recipe	Duplicate / remove
list_recipe_versions	Version history for tracking / rollback awareness
list_jobs / get_job	Debug — per-step input/output/error from job history

Workspace & config

Tool	Purpose
whoami	Confirm which workspace/user your token is in
list_connections / list_folders / list_projects	Browse for config wiring
create_folder	Create a folder (optionally nested)
get_properties / upsert_properties	Read/write account properties (config + feature flags)

API Platform — Workato MCP servers

A Workato MCP server built on API Platform is an API collection exposed as MCP; its tools are API endpoints, each backed by a recipe. These tools let the dev MCP introspect that surface. (The AI-Hub-native MCP / Genie layer has no Developer API — manage it in the UI.)

Tool	Purpose
list_api_collections	List API collections (each can be exposed as an MCP server)
list_api_endpoints	List a collection's endpoints — the MCP server's tools, with method/path/active/recipe
list_api_clients	List API clients (the credentialed consumers)
list_api_access_profiles	List access profiles (client ↔ collection scope bindings)
enable_api_endpoint	Activate an endpoint (turn a tool ON). Start its recipe first. Mutates a live MCP server.
disable_api_endpoint	Deactivate an endpoint (turn a tool OFF). Mutates a live MCP server.
create_api_collection	Create a collection to expose as an MCP server (endpoints are still added in the UI)

Not yet covered — AI-Hub-native MCP servers. Workato documents a server-management API at /api/mcp/mcp_servers (create/list servers, assign_tools, edit tool descriptions), but with the current Developer API token that path returns the HTML login page on both www/app hosts — i.e. the API client lacks MCP scope (or the feature isn't enabled on the plan). Grant the API client API-platform/MCP scope in the Workato UI and those tools become a quick follow-up. Endpoint enable/disable above works today because it lives on the standard /api_endpoints router.

Lookup & data tables

Tool	Purpose
list_lookup_tables / query_lookup_table	Browse lookup tables; read rows (e.g. captured logs)
add_lookup_table_row	Append a row (capture/log writes)
list_data_tables	List Workato Data Tables

Knowledge base (two-tier, like the Studio MCP)

Tool	Purpose
workato_recipe_tips	Curated cheat sheet of recipe-authoring gotchas (the promoted tier)
log_learning	Append a newly discovered gotcha to learnings.md (the intake queue)
get_learnings	Read learnings.md back, optionally filtered by category

Auth & data residency

• WORKATO_TOKEN (required) — your personal Developer API token. Each dev uses their own; nothing is shared or hosted.
• WORKATO_API_BASE (optional) — defaults to https://www.workato.com/api (US). Set per your data center, e.g. https://app.eu.workato.com/api.

The recipe edit loop

get_recipe(id, include_code=true)   # pull the code tree
  → edit the JSON in conversation
  → stop_recipe(id)                 # running recipes can't be updated
  → update_recipe(id, code=<json>)
  → start_recipe(id)                # start = the compiler; read validation errors
  → list_jobs / get_job             # after a test run, inspect real step I/O

Run workato_recipe_tips and get_learnings once before building — they capture the datapill format, the trigger extended_output_schema requirement, the HTTP string-body trick, custom-code schema gotchas, valid condition operands, and the job-log debugging pattern. These are the things that otherwise cost hours.

Capturing learnings (two-tier, like the Studio MCP)

The knowledge base grows as you use it:

• learnings.md (repo root) is the intake queue — append-only, low-friction. When Claude discovers a gotcha that isn't already in workato_recipe_tips, it calls log_learning to append a dated, categorized entry. Then commit the file so teammates inherit it.
• workato_recipe_tips (the _TIPS block in server.py) is the curated tier. During periodic review, raw learnings are promoted into it and marked **Status**: promoted in learnings.md.

log_learning / get_learnings are pure local file operations — no Workato API call, no token needed. The file is anchored to the repo via __file__; override the location with WORKATO_LEARNINGS_PATH if needed.

Notes / limits

• This is a dev tool — it can create, edit, start/stop, and delete recipes. Use a token scoped to a dev/impl workspace; be careful with delete_recipe.
• It does not touch the AI Hub layer (adding tools to an MCP server, server instructions, MCP Apps, or a tool's param-schema refresh) — those remain manual in the Workato UI. After a recipe param-set change, the MCP client that consumes that tool needs an app restart to see the new schema.
• Sharing: commit this folder to an internal git repo; teammates clone and either run bin/install.sh or export WORKATO_TOKEN and let .mcp.json auto-detect it.