MCP stands for Model Context Protocol, the open standard AI assistants use to connect to outside tools. You will see "MCP server" in the settings of AI apps, usually next to words like connectors, apps or plugins.
This page explains the idea in plain words, using WhatsApp as the example: what the client and the server each do, where the WhatsApp data comes from, what "hosted" means, how sign-in and permissions work, and which AI apps can connect.
What are the client and the server?
The client is the AI app you talk to: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Cursor and others. The server is the piece that holds the tools: small, named actions such as "list conversations" or "send message", each with a description the AI can read.
When you connect the two, the client asks the server which tools it has. From then on, when your question needs outside data, the AI picks a tool, the server runs it and returns the result, and the AI answers you with it.
- 1
You ask
"Which customers asked about prices this week and have not had a reply?"
- 2
The AI calls a tool
It calls a search tool on the WhatsApp MCP server and gets back the matching chats.
- 3
It reads
It opens the ones that look unanswered and reads the last messages.
- 4
It answers
It answers you with a short list, and offers draft replies.
- 5
You decide on sends
If you say "send them", the send goes back through the server, which applies your rules. On Spun, by default each send waits for a person to approve it.
Where does the WhatsApp data come from?
A WhatsApp MCP server needs a WhatsApp connection behind it. Spun links to the number you already use as a linked device, the way WhatsApp Web does. There is no new number and no WhatsApp Business API application.
The AI therefore sees what your connected number has: your chats and the groups the number is in, messages since you linked plus the history handed over when you linked. Members who hide their number stay hidden.
What does a hosted MCP server mean?
An MCP server can run on your own computer or on a server you manage, or it can be hosted for you at a web address. Spun chose the hosted design: the server runs at api.spun.com and Spun already manages your WhatsApp connection.
In practice that means there is no Docker container, no local process and no QR session for you to keep alive. You give your AI app one address. Setup is still per user or workspace: Spun hosts the server, but it cannot add itself to your ChatGPT, IDE or automation account.
How do sign-in and permissions work?
On claude.ai, ChatGPT and the Gemini app you paste the server address and sign in with your Spun account, with no key needed. Apps that run on your computer and sign in through a browser window, such as Claude Code, Cursor desktop, Gemini CLI, Goose and OpenClaw, also sign in with your Spun account, or use an API key instead. Other clients take the same address plus an API key you create in Spun.
Sign-in uses OAuth 2.1. A consent screen opens, and only a manager of your Spun organization can approve it. The manager picks the organization and an access level, and can revoke any connected app later.
Access can be narrowed further with scopes, a list of allowed WhatsApp channels, label scoping and a switch for groups. Text that comes from other people, such as message bodies and contact names, is labeled as untrusted before the AI reads it.
| Access level | What the AI can do | Can it send? |
|---|---|---|
| Read-only analyst | Read conversations, groups and contacts | No |
| Assistant, no sends | Also organize chats and draft replies | No |
| Assistant with sends | Also propose and schedule messages | Only through your approval settings |
The access levels on the Spun consent screen.
What is the difference between read tools and actions?
Read tools return data: a list of chats, a contact, a pipeline board. Actions change something: a sent message, a new label, a contact moved to another stage. The access level decides which of the two the AI may use, and sends go through an approval queue by default.
On the smaller plans, each read that returns your data is a counted call: 100 a month on Free MCP and 2,000 a month on Starter, while Pro and Max are unlimited within fair rate limits. Sends never count, and neither do orientation reads such as your permissions and usage so far, or questions about Spun itself.
Spun groups its tools into families. The plan column is read from the current tool list, so it stays in step with what Free MCP includes.
| Tool family | What it covers | Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Orientation | Your channels, your permissions, usage so far and questions about Spun itself | Partly on Free MCP, the rest on paid plans |
| Reading chats | List and open conversations, read messages and search messages and contacts | Partly on Free MCP, the rest on paid plans |
| Sending messages | Send, schedule, edit or forward messages, media, polls and reactions | On Free MCP |
| Organizing chats | Assign conversations, labels, pins, stars and chat status | On Free MCP |
| Contacts | Look up, create and edit contacts and see a contact's timeline | On Free MCP |
| Hidden-number chats | Work out who is behind a chat whose number is hidden | On Free MCP |
| Pipeline boards | Read boards and stages, and move contacts between stages | Partly on Free MCP, the rest on paid plans |
| Circles | Read, create and edit contact circles | On Free MCP |
| Alarms | List alarms, and create or dismiss them | Partly on Free MCP, the rest on paid plans |
| Keep in touch | List keep-in-touch reminders, and set or clear them | Partly on Free MCP, the rest on paid plans |
| Quick replies | Read your saved quick replies | On Free MCP |
| Groups and communities | Read and manage WhatsApp groups and communities | Paid plans |
| Tasks and calendar | Projects, tasks and calendar events | Paid plans |
| Summaries and reports | Chat summaries, period reports and message statistics | Paid plans |
| Bots and knowledge base | Auto-reply rules, bots and knowledge-base articles | Paid plans |
Tool families on the Spun MCP server. "Partly" means some tools in the family are on Free MCP and the rest need a paid plan.
Is a WhatsApp MCP server a chatbot for my customers?
No. Your customers keep talking to you, on your number. The MCP server is for you and your team: your own AI app reads and helps answer, and sends only what your settings allow.
Automatic replies to customers are separate Spun features: auto replies and an optional AI chatbot that you set up on purpose.
Which AI apps can connect?
Any app that supports remote MCP servers can connect in principle. Spun marks each one in one of two ways. "Verified" means Spun signed in, listed tools and ran real tool calls from that client on the stated date. "Documented by vendor" means the vendor's own documentation describes support for remote MCP servers, but Spun has not run that client end to end yet.
| Client | Status as of November 2026 |
|---|---|
| claude.ai (web / mobile) | Verified 2026-08-16: sign-in, tool calls, send approvals and disconnect |
| ChatGPT (web / Desktop) | Verified 2026-10-18: sign-in, tool calls and queued sends. Plus, Pro, Business and Enterprise; a workspace admin enables connectors on Business and Enterprise |
| Claude Code | Verified 2026-10-18: sign-in and tool calls; API key path verified 2026-08-16, including queued sends |
| OpenClaw | Transport checked 2026-08-23; tool calls with a real key pending |
| Claude Desktop | Documented by vendor: same connector as claude.ai, not separately walked through yet |
| Gemini app, Gemini CLI, Cursor, VS Code (GitHub Copilot agent mode), Windsurf, Goose, LM Studio, n8n, Microsoft Copilot Studio, LibreChat, Open WebUI | Documented by vendor, not yet verified by Spun |
| Anthropic API (MCP connector), OpenAI Responses API / Agents SDK | Documented by vendor, not yet verified by Spun |
| Make, Zapier | Vendor beta, not yet verified by Spun |
Statuses copied from the Spun MCP page on the date this guide was written. The MCP page has the current list and setup steps for each client.
Related: Spun MCP: client list and setup
Is there a free option?
Yes. Every account starts with 7 days of everything, no card. If your AI client is connected during the trial and you save a card, nothing is charged and your account continues on Free MCP, a hosted WhatsApp MCP server with nothing to install, for as long as you use it.
Free MCP includes 100 AI calls a month from ChatGPT, Claude or another MCP client, up to 200 different contacts a month, 7 days of message history and a read-and-approve inbox, and every send goes through your AI and waits for your approval. It has no scheduled workflows, automations or REST API, and one number. For media and voice notes, the AI sees that one arrived, not what is in it.