Read employees, absences, clockings, shifts and overtime in Chronicle Online. For UK employers and HR or payroll teams that run time and attendance in Chronicle Online. Hosted by usefulapi — connect from Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, or any MCP client.
Team and Enterprise: an Owner adds the connector for the organization first.
Run this command, then run /mcp in Claude Code to log in:
Add to Cursor or add this to ~/.cursor/mcp.json:
{
"mcpServers": {
"chronicle-online": {
"url": "https://chronicle-online.usefulapi.io/mcp"
}
}
}Add to VS Code or add this to .vscode/mcp.json:
{
"servers": {
"chronicle-online": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://chronicle-online.usefulapi.io/mcp"
}
}
}No Add custom MCP server option? It depends on your account or workspace settings: see OpenAI's guide.
Run these commands. The second one opens the login page:
Other MCP clients (Windsurf, Cline, Zed and more): add the URL as a remote MCP server (Streamable HTTP). The client then opens the login page in your browser. Do not add an Authorization header: see Before you connect.
List the real clockings and the scheduled shifts for a date range. Ask the assistant which employees clocked in late, and by how many minutes.
chronicleonline_list_real_clockings chronicleonline_list_scheduled_shifts chronicleonline_list_employees
List the absence types, then the absences booked in a period. Check the absentee records to see the absence taken per employee.
chronicleonline_list_absence_types chronicleonline_list_absences chronicleonline_list_absentee_records
List the daily and weekly overtime per employee for a date range. Use the work records to check the worked time behind each figure.
chronicleonline_list_daily_overtime chronicleonline_list_weekly_overtime chronicleonline_list_work_records
List the shift patterns and the shifts scheduled to employees between two dates. Group the staff by cost centre to see each team's cover.
chronicleonline_list_shifts chronicleonline_list_scheduled_shifts chronicleonline_list_cost_centres
List the employees who have left, and the cost centres used to group them. Use the result for a leavers report by team.
chronicleonline_list_leavers chronicleonline_list_cost_centres
The login page asks for your Chronicle API Client ID and Chronicle API Client Secret.
Chronicle issues API credentials on request: ask your Chronicle Online account manager or support team for a Client ID and Client Secret (see chronicle-online.co.uk/api). They are used only to call the Chronicle API on your behalf; they are never shown to anyone.
Add only the URL. Do not add an Authorization header or an API key to the client config. The server signs you in with OAuth: the login page asks for your Chronicle API Client ID and Chronicle API Client Secret. If the config has such a header, remove it: some clients then send that header instead of the login token, and every call fails with 401.
Turn on the Chronicle Online connector, then ask in plain words. The AI picks the tools.
| Tool | Type | What it does |
|---|---|---|
chronicleonline_list_employees | read | List employees List employees (and contractors, visitors, agency staff) with their badge ids, names and cost centre. Good first call to find an employee id. Chronicle API: GET /api/Employees. |
chronicleonline_get_employee | read | Get employee Get one employee by id. Chronicle API: GET /api/Employees/{id}. |
chronicleonline_list_absences | read | List absences List absences configured in Chronicle (for example holiday, sickness and other absence entries). Chronicle API: GET /api/Absences. |
chronicleonline_get_absence | read | Get absence Get one absence by id. Chronicle API: GET /api/Absences/{id}. |
chronicleonline_list_absence_types | read | List absence types List the absence types (holiday, sickness, absence and others) that Chronicle uses. Chronicle API: GET /api/AbsenceTypes. |
chronicleonline_list_absentee_records | read | List absentee records List absentee records: the per-employee records of absence taken. Chronicle API: GET /api/AbsenteeRecords. |
chronicleonline_list_real_clockings | read | List clockings List real clockings: the IN and OUT punches recorded at the terminals and apps. Chronicle API: GET /api/RealClockings. |
chronicleonline_get_real_clocking | read | Get clocking Get one real clocking by id. Chronicle API: GET /api/RealClockings/{id}. |
chronicleonline_list_shifts | read | List shifts List shift patterns defined in Chronicle. Chronicle API: GET /api/Shifts. |
chronicleonline_list_scheduled_shifts | read | List scheduled shifts List shifts scheduled to employees between two dates (both required). Chronicle API: GET /api/ScheduledShifts?startDate&endDate. |
chronicleonline_list_work_records | read | List work records List work records (worked time per employee) between two dates. Optional employee filter. Chronicle API: GET /api/WorkRecords. |
chronicleonline_list_daily_overtime | read | List daily overtime List daily overtime per employee between two dates. Chronicle API: GET /api/DailyOvertime. |
chronicleonline_list_weekly_overtime | read | List weekly overtime List weekly overtime per employee between two dates. Chronicle API: GET /api/WeeklyOvertime. |
chronicleonline_list_cost_centres | read | List cost centres List cost centres used to group employees and time. Chronicle API: GET /api/CostCentres. |
chronicleonline_list_leavers | read | List leavers List employees who have left (leavers). Chronicle API: GET /api/Leavers. |
chronicleonline_usage_status | Usage status (free-tier meter) Report the caller's current usage: the plan, calls used this month, the limit of the plan (the free monthly cap or the Pro fair use limit), remaining, and whether the limit is reached. Read-only; does not count against the meter. | |
chronicleonline_request_feature | Request a missing feature Tell usefulapi that the user needs something the Chronicle Online tools cannot do yet (a missing tool, field or filter). Call it only when the user asks for something none of the tools can do, and tell the user that you send the request. Do not call it for errors or for normal requests. Do not include personal data, credentials or customer records. Stored with the product name and the client type (for example Claude or Cursor), without the user's account. At most 5 requests per day. Does not count against the meter. | |
chronicleonline_upgrade | Upgrade to Pro (unlimited*) Get Pro: unlimited tool calls (fair use limit: 10,000 a month) on Chronicle Online (the free tier caps monthly usage). Plans: "monthly" — $9/month; "yearly" — $90/year (2 months free). Cancel any time: Pro then runs to the end of the paid period, so it also suits a one-time job. *A fair use limit applies. For heavy use (near Pro's limit): "plus" or "plus_yearly" — Pro+, $39/month or $390/year, unlimited tool calls (fair use limit: 100,000 a month); an existing Pro subscription changes to Pro+ in place (needs confirm: true; the price difference for the rest of the period is charged at once). Otherwise returns a short link to open in your browser (it opens Stripe Checkout); after payment the account upgrades automatically. Does not count against the meter. | |
chronicleonline_cancel_subscription | Cancel the Pro subscription Cancel the caller's Chronicle Online Pro subscription at the end of the paid period (no refund for the current period; Pro continues until then, then the free tier applies). Requires confirm: true. Run chronicleonline_upgrade later to undo the cancel before the period ends. Does not count against the meter. |
| Plan | Price | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 50 tool calls / month |
| Proper user | $9/mo · $90/yr | Unlimited* |
*Pro fair use limit: 10,000 tool calls a month on this server. For more, write to [email protected].
Pro covers this Chronicle Online server only. Subscribe with chronicleonline_upgrade (it returns a Stripe Checkout link). Cancel any time with chronicleonline_cancel_subscription: Pro continues to the end of the paid period, with no refund for the current period, and running chronicleonline_upgrade before then undoes the cancel. Or write to [email protected].
Find late clock-ins for a date range. Review absences booked in a period. Check overtime before payroll. Plan staff cover from the shift rota. Report on leavers by cost centre. See what you can do for the details.
No. usefulapi is an independent service. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Chronicle Online. The server calls the Chronicle Online API with your own Chronicle Online access, so it sees only the data that your account can see.
Yes. In Claude, add this server's URL as a custom connector. In ChatGPT, add it as a custom MCP server in Plugins. Then log in once. Cursor, VS Code, Claude Code and Codex work too. See the setup steps.
The login page asks for your Chronicle API Client ID and Chronicle API Client Secret. See Before you connect for where to find them.
No. Add only the URL. Do not add an Authorization header or an API key to the client config. The server signs you in with OAuth: the login page asks for your Chronicle API Client ID and Chronicle API Client Secret. If the config has such a header, remove it: some clients then send that header instead of the login token, and every call fails with 401.
The login stores them encrypted in the authorization grant of your connection. The server uses them to call the Chronicle Online API for you and to derive a private account id for usage metering. usefulapi does not show them on any page or in any reply. To stop all access, remove the connector and change or delete these credentials in Chronicle Online.
All 15 Chronicle Online tools are marked read-only.
The Free plan gives 50 tool calls / month. Pro costs $9/mo or $90/yr, with unlimited tool calls (fair use limit: 10,000 tool calls a month), for this Chronicle Online server only. Cancel any time: Pro then runs to the end of the paid period. Run chronicleonline_usage_status to see how many calls you used.
Ask the AI to run chronicleonline_upgrade: it returns a Stripe Checkout link. To cancel, run chronicleonline_cancel_subscription. Pro continues to the end of the paid period.
Tell the AI what you wanted to do. It can send the request with chronicleonline_request_feature. We store the text with the server name, the type of AI client and the tool you tried, not with your account, and read every request when we plan new tools. You can send up to 5 requests per day.
Any client that supports remote MCP servers (Streamable HTTP) with OAuth login: Claude (web and desktop), Claude Code, ChatGPT, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf and others.
This is a Model Context Protocol endpoint — meant to be connected from an AI client, not opened in a browser. An invalid_token response at the URL is the auth gate working as designed; clients authenticate automatically.
Need a tool this server does not have, or a connection to another system? We build custom integrations and MCP servers.