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> **🚀 Don't want to self-host?** [Join the waitlist for our fully managed solution →](https://mcpengage.com/bamboohr)
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> Zero setup. Zero maintenance. Just connect and automate.
---
# 🚀 BambooHR MCP Server — 2026 Complete Version
## 💡 What This Unlocks
**This MCP server gives AI direct access to your entire BambooHR workspace.** Instead of clicking through interfaces, you just *tell* it what you need.
### 🎯 HR Power Moves with BambooHR
The AI can directly control your BambooHR account with natural language:
1. **Onboarding Automation** — "Pull all new hires from last month and generate personalized welcome emails with their start date, department, and manager info"
2. **Time-Off Intelligence** — "Show me all pending PTO requests for the engineering team this quarter, flag conflicts, and suggest optimal approval schedules"
3. **Performance Review Prep** — "For employee #4523, get their goals, recent performance notes, and time-off history — create a comprehensive review brief"
4. **Directory Lookups** — "Find all employees in the Seattle office hired in the last 6 months with 'engineer' in their title"
5. **Compliance Reporting** — "Export complete employee records for everyone in California with I-9 documents, filter by hire date, and format for audit"
### 🔗 The Real Power: Combining Tools
AI can chain multiple BambooHR operations together:
- Query employee directory → Filter by department → Generate org charts
- Check time-off balances → Identify burnout risk → Schedule 1-on-1s
- Pull goals data → Match with performance notes → Create review summaries
## 📦 What's Inside
**7 API tools** covering core BambooHR HR operations:
- `list_employees` — Get all employees with directory info
- `get_employee` — Detailed employee record with custom fields
- `list_time_off_requests` — PTO/leave requests with status filtering
- `request_time_off` — Submit time-off requests
- `list_goals` — Employee goals and performance tracking
- `get_directory` — Full company directory with contact info
- `list_files` — Employee documents and attachments
All with proper error handling, automatic authentication, and TypeScript types.
## 🚀 Quick Start
### Option 1: Claude Desktop (Local)
1. **Clone and build:**
```bash
git clone https://github.com/BusyBee3333/BambooHR-MCP-2026-Complete.git
cd bamboohr-mcp-2026-complete
npm install
npm run build
```
2. **Get your BambooHR API credentials:**
- Log into your BambooHR account
- Go to Account > API Keys
- Generate a new API key
- Note your company subdomain (e.g., `yourcompany` from `yourcompany.bamboohr.com`)
3. **Configure Claude Desktop:**
On macOS: `~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`
On Windows: `%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json`
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"bamboohr": {
"command": "node",
"args": ["/ABSOLUTE/PATH/TO/bamboohr-mcp-2026-complete/dist/index.js"],
"env": {
"BAMBOOHR_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here",
"BAMBOOHR_COMPANY_DOMAIN": "yourcompany"
}
}
}
}
```
4. **Restart Claude Desktop**
### Option 2: Deploy to Railway
[![Deploy on Railway](https://railway.app/button.svg)](https://railway.app/template/bamboohr-mcp)
1. Click the button above
2. Set `BAMBOOHR_API_KEY` and `BAMBOOHR_COMPANY_DOMAIN` in Railway dashboard
3. Use the Railway URL as your MCP server endpoint
### Option 3: Docker
```bash
docker build -t bamboohr-mcp .
docker run -p 3000:3000 \
-e BAMBOOHR_API_KEY=your-key \
-e BAMBOOHR_COMPANY_DOMAIN=yourcompany \
bamboohr-mcp
```
## 🔐 Authentication
BambooHR uses **API Key authentication** (Basic Auth with API key as username).
**Get your API credentials:**
1. BambooHR account → Account → API Keys
2. Generate new API key
3. Copy your company subdomain (from `yourcompany.bamboohr.com`)
**API Documentation:** https://documentation.bamboohr.com/reference
The MCP server handles authentication automatically via Basic Auth headers.
## 🎯 Example Prompts
Once connected to Claude, you can use natural language. HR-specific examples:
- *"Show me all employees in the engineering department hired in 2025"*
- *"Get pending time-off requests for next month"*
- *"Pull employee #1234's contact info, job title, and manager"*
- *"List all employees with 'Director' in their title"*
- *"Check time-off balances for the marketing team"*
- *"Show me Sarah Chen's performance goals and recent documents"*
- *"Generate a directory report of the SF office sorted by hire date"*
## 🛠️ Development
### Prerequisites
- Node.js 18+
- npm or yarn
- BambooHR account with API access
### Setup
```bash
git clone https://github.com/BusyBee3333/BambooHR-MCP-2026-Complete.git
cd bamboohr-mcp-2026-complete
npm install
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your BambooHR credentials
npm run build
npm start
```
### Testing
```bash
npm test # Run all tests
npm run test:watch # Watch mode
npm run test:coverage # Coverage report
```
## 🐛 Troubleshooting
### "Authentication failed"
- Verify your API key is correct (regenerate if needed)
- Check that your company domain is just the subdomain (not the full URL)
- Ensure your API key has the necessary permissions
### "Tools not appearing in Claude"
- Restart Claude Desktop after updating config
- Check that the path in `claude_desktop_config.json` is absolute
- Verify the build completed successfully (`dist/index.js` exists)
### "Company domain error"
- Use only the subdomain: `yourcompany` NOT `yourcompany.bamboohr.com`
- Check for typos in your company domain
## 📖 Resources
- [BambooHR API Documentation](https://documentation.bamboohr.com/reference)
- [MCP Protocol Specification](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/)
- [Claude Desktop Documentation](https://claude.ai/desktop)
## 🤝 Contributing
Contributions are welcome! Please:
1. Fork the repo
2. Create a feature branch (`git checkout -b feature/amazing-tool`)
3. Commit your changes (`git commit -m 'Add amazing tool'`)
4. Push to the branch (`git push origin feature/amazing-tool`)
5. Open a Pull Request
## 📄 License
MIT License - see [LICENSE](LICENSE) for details
## 🙏 Credits
Built by [MCPEngage](https://mcpengage.com) — AI infrastructure for business software.
Want more MCP servers? Check out our [full catalog](https://mcpengage.com) covering 30+ business platforms.
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