HR & Recruiting · Breathe HR + Claude
Breathe HR MCP with Claude: Simpler Employee Records and Absence Tracking
The short answer
Claude works with Breathe HR through the Model Context Protocol, an open standard that acts as a secure adapter between the two. Once connected with an API key, Claude can read and update employee records, check absences and help run onboarding and performance reviews, using permissions the organisation sets and controls.
What is Breathe HR?
Breathe HR is cloud-based HR software designed for small and medium-sized businesses. It holds employee data, tracks holiday and sickness absences, and supports performance management. HR teams, office managers and business owners use it to keep records accurate without heavy administration. It is built to simplify day-to-day HR work for organisations that do not have a large people team.
How Claude connects to Breathe HR through MCP
The Model Context Protocol, or MCP, is an open standard that lets Claude use other software safely. Think of it as a universal adapter between Claude and a tool like Breathe HR. It defines how Claude asks for information and how it takes actions, so the connection is consistent and easy to manage.
Once connected, Claude can read employee details, look up who is off and when, and help draft updates to records. It can support onboarding by preparing new starter tasks and performance reviews by summarising past notes, all through plain-language requests from your team.
Permissions and approvals keep people in charge. Access is granted with an API key and limited to the actions your organisation chooses. Consequential changes, such as altering pay-related or disciplinary information, can require a named person to approve before anything is saved, and every action is logged for audit.
What you can automate
Keeping employee records accurate
HR staff can ask Claude to find a record, check that contact details and job titles match what the business expects, and flag gaps such as missing documents. Changes are proposed clearly and confirmed by a person before they are saved, which reduces errors caused by manual re-keying.
Tracking absences and holidays
Managers can ask, in plain English, who is off next week or how much holiday a team member has left. Claude can pull this from Breathe HR and present a short summary, helping rota planning and reducing back-and-forth e-mails between managers and HR.
Automating new starter onboarding
When a new hire is confirmed, Claude can help prepare the employee record, list the onboarding tasks for IT, payroll and the line manager, and remind owners of deadlines. This typically shortens the time between an offer being accepted and the first working day.
Preparing performance reviews
Before a review, Claude can gather the relevant records and notes for an employee and produce a structured summary for the manager. The manager then edits and owns the final review, so the process stays fair and personal while requiring less preparation time.
Answering routine employee questions
An internal assistant built on Claude can answer questions such as how to request leave or where to find a policy, drawing on approved information. Requests that need a decision are passed to HR, so staff get quick answers without HR being overwhelmed.
An end-to-end workflow: New starter onboarding from offer to first day
TriggerA candidate accepts an offer and the hiring manager marks the role as filled in the recruiting tracker.
Claude creates a draft employee record in Breathe HR with the agreed start date, role and manager, for HR to check.
Claude lists onboarding tasks for IT (equipment and accounts), payroll (bank and tax details) and the manager (welcome plan).
Once HR approves the record, Claude updates the onboarding checklist in Microsoft 365 and notifies each owner by e-mail.
Claude sets reminders for tasks due before the start date and flags any that are at risk.
On the first day, Claude confirms the record is complete and produces a short summary for the manager.
OutcomeTypically, a smoother first week for the new starter, fewer missed tasks, and less manual coordination for HR and the hiring manager.
How we set it up
Free automation audit
We review how your HR, operations and hiring teams work today and identify the workflows in Breathe HR worth automating first.
Secure connection
We connect Claude to Breathe HR using an API key, with least-privilege access so Claude can only do what your workflows need.
Workflow design
We design the end-to-end process across Breathe HR and your other systems, including which actions need human approval before they take effect.
Testing and launch
We test against real past cases, then launch with monitoring and audit logs so you can see every action Claude takes.
Team training
We train HR, managers and IT on how to use the workflows, what to approve, and how to handle exceptions.
Who benefits
- HR manager
- Spends less time on admin and more on people matters, with records that stay accurate.
- Office or operations manager
- Gets quick answers on absences and rota cover without chasing HR.
- Hiring manager
- Sees onboarding progress clearly and knows new starters are ready on day one.
- Business owner or finance lead
- Gains a clearer audit trail and fewer errors in people data that feeds payroll.
Security and control
- Access is granted with an API key limited to the actions each workflow needs.
- People approve consequential changes, such as pay or disciplinary information, before they are saved.
- Every action Claude takes is logged so it can be reviewed and audited.
- Personal data is handled only as your policies allow, and sensitive fields can be excluded from Claude's access.
- Staff are trained on what Claude can and cannot do, and on when to escalate to HR.
For teams in the US, UK, India and the Middle East
Organisations in the United States and the United Kingdom are supported with data handling designed around their local privacy requirements, including UK GDPR. Businesses in India are supported in line with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. Companies in the UAE and Saudi Arabia are supported under their respective data protection laws. The hosting region for your Claude deployment is chosen to meet your own legal and contractual requirements.
Learn more about Claude and MCP
Anthropic's AI model and assistant.
Secure links between Claude and business tools.
How engineers build and change software with Claude.
Hosted agents that run multi-step work.
The open standard Claude uses to connect to tools.
Frequently asked questions
What does the Breathe HR MCP server do?
The Breathe HR MCP server is the bridge that lets an AI assistant such as Claude talk to Breathe HR. Using the Model Context Protocol, it allows Claude to read permitted employee information and, where you allow it, make updates. It works within the permissions you set, so Claude only sees and changes what your workflows require.
Is connecting Claude to Breathe HR secure?
Security depends on how the connection is set up. We use an API key with least-privilege access, restrict the actions Claude can take, require human approval for sensitive changes, and log every action. We also review data flows against your privacy obligations before launch. No connection is risk-free, so ongoing monitoring is part of the service.
What can Claude actually do in Breathe HR?
Typically, Claude can look up employee records, check absence and holiday balances, help prepare onboarding tasks, and draft performance review summaries. Exactly what it can do depends on the permissions and workflows agreed for your organisation, and consequential changes can be set to need approval first.
How long does setup take?
Timelines vary with the number of workflows and connected systems. A focused project covering one or two workflows often moves from audit to launch in a few weeks. We confirm a realistic timeline after the free automation audit, once we understand your current processes and data.
Which plan or permissions do I need?
You need an active Breathe HR account and an API key with permissions that match the workflows you want. Requirements can depend on your current subscription and how your administrator sets up access, so we check this during the audit and confirm exactly what is needed before any work begins.