How to integrate Apaleo MCP with OpenAI Agents SDK

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Introduction

This guide walks you through connecting Apaleo to the OpenAI Agents SDK using the Composio tool router. By the end, you'll have a working Apaleo agent that can archive a property that's no longer active, clone existing property for new location, create a new unit group for suites, check if a specific unit exists through natural language commands.

This guide will help you understand how to give your OpenAI Agents SDK agent real control over a Apaleo account through Composio's Apaleo MCP server.

Before we dive in, let's take a quick look at the key ideas and tools involved.

TL;DR

Here's what you'll learn:
  • Get and set up your OpenAI and Composio API keys
  • Install the necessary dependencies
  • Initialize Composio and create a Tool Router session for Apaleo
  • Configure an AI agent that can use Apaleo as a tool
  • Run a live chat session where you can ask the agent to perform Apaleo operations

What is open-ai-agents-sdk?

The OpenAI Agents SDK is a lightweight framework for building AI agents that can use tools and maintain conversation state. It provides a simple interface for creating agents with hosted MCP tool support.

Key features include:

  • Hosted MCP Tools: Connect to external services through hosted MCP endpoints
  • SQLite Sessions: Persist conversation history across interactions
  • Simple API: Clean interface with Agent, Runner, and tool configuration
  • Streaming Support: Real-time response streaming for interactive applications

What is the Apaleo MCP server, and what's possible with it?

The Apaleo MCP server is an implementation of the Model Context Protocol that connects your AI agent and assistants like Claude, Cursor, etc directly to your Apaleo account. It provides structured and secure access to your property management operations, so your agent can perform actions like managing properties, handling units, checking availability, and automating setup tasks on your behalf.

  • Property management and archiving: Enable your agent to create, clone, or archive properties, letting you quickly scale or reorganize your portfolio as your business evolves.
  • Unit and unit group operations: Let your agent create new units or unit groups, check if specific units exist, and manage all aspects of your inventory with ease.
  • Attribute and setup automation: Ask your agent to create or verify unit attributes, ensuring your property data is always up-to-date and consistent.
  • Bulk unit creation: Allow your agent to generate multiple units in one go, following custom naming rules, to save you time during onboarding or expansion.
  • Property cloning and rapid deployment: Have your agent clone existing properties with all inventory and rate plans, making it simple to launch new locations based on proven setups.

Supported Tools & Triggers

Tools
Archive a propertyUse this endpoint to archive an existing live property this operation set the isarchived flag to trueyou must have at least one of these scopes: 'properties.
Check if a property existsCheck if a property exists by id.
Check if a unit attribute existsCheck if a unit attribute existsyou must have at least one of these scopes: 'unitattributes.
Check if a unit existsCheck if a unit exists by id.
Check if a unit group existsCheck if a unit group exists by id.
Clones a propertyUse this call to clone a specific property.
Create a unitUse this call to create a new unit.
Create a unit attributeUse this call to create a new unit attribute.
Create a unit groupUse this call to create a new unit group.
Create multiple unitsUse this call to create multiple units, following a naming rule.
Creates a propertyUse this call to create a new property.
Delete a unitUse this call to delete a unit.
Delete a unit groupUse this call to delete a unit group.
Deletes unit attributeDeletes unit attributeyou must have at least one of these scopes: 'unitattributes.
Get a properties listGet the list of properties.
Get a propertyGet a property by id.
Get a unitGet a unit by id.
Get a unit groupGet a unit group by id.
Get a units listGet the list of units.
Get unit attribute by idGet unit attribute by idyou must have at least one of these scopes: 'unitattributes.
Get unit attribute listGet unit attribute listyou must have at least one of these scopes: 'unitattributes.
List Unit GroupsGet the list of unit groups.
Move property to liveUse this endpoint to move an existing test property to live this operation changes the property status to 'live'you must have at least one of these scopes: 'properties.
Replace a unit groupUse this call to modify a unit group.
Reset Property DataThis endpoint deletes transactional data for a property in 'test' status.
Returns a list of supported countriesReturns a list of iso country codes that could be used to create properties.
Returns number of unit groupsReturns number of unit groups matching the filter criteriayou must have at least one of these scopes: 'unitgroups.
Returns number of unitsReturns number of units matching the filter criteriayou must have at least one of these scopes: 'units.
Return total count of propertiesReturn total count of propertiesyou need to be authorized (no particular scope required)

What is the Composio tool router, and how does it fit here?

What is Tool Router?

Composio's Tool Router helps agents find the right tools for a task at runtime. You can plug in multiple toolkits (like Gmail, HubSpot, and GitHub), and the agent will identify the relevant app and action to complete multi-step workflows. This can reduce token usage and improve the reliability of tool calls. Read more here: Getting started with Tool Router

The tool router generates a secure MCP URL that your agents can access to perform actions.

How the Tool Router works

The Tool Router follows a three-phase workflow:

  1. Discovery: Searches for tools matching your task and returns relevant toolkits with their details.
  2. Authentication: Checks for active connections. If missing, creates an auth config and returns a connection URL via Auth Link.
  3. Execution: Executes the action using the authenticated connection.

Step-by-step Guide

Prerequisites

Before starting, make sure you have:
  • Composio API Key and OpenAI API Key
  • Primary know-how of OpenAI Agents SDK
  • A live Apaleo project
  • Some knowledge of Python or Typescript

Getting API Keys for OpenAI and Composio

OpenAI API Key
  • Go to the OpenAI dashboard and create an API key. You'll need credits to use the models, or you can connect to another model provider.
  • Keep the API key safe.
Composio API Key

Install dependencies

pip install composio_openai_agents openai-agents python-dotenv

Install the Composio SDK and the OpenAI Agents SDK.

Set up environment variables

bash
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...your-api-key
COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your-api-key
USER_ID=composio_user@gmail.com

Create a .env file and add your OpenAI and Composio API keys.

Import dependencies

import asyncio
import os
from dotenv import load_dotenv

from composio import Composio
from composio_openai_agents import OpenAIAgentsProvider
from agents import Agent, Runner, HostedMCPTool, SQLiteSession
What's happening:
  • You're importing all necessary libraries.
  • The Composio and OpenAIAgentsProvider classes are imported to connect your OpenAI agent to Composio tools like Apaleo.

Set up the Composio instance

load_dotenv()

api_key = os.getenv("COMPOSIO_API_KEY")
user_id = os.getenv("USER_ID")

if not api_key:
    raise RuntimeError("COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set. Create a .env file with COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_key")

# Initialize Composio
composio = Composio(api_key=api_key, provider=OpenAIAgentsProvider())
What's happening:
  • load_dotenv() loads your .env file so OPENAI_API_KEY and COMPOSIO_API_KEY are available as environment variables.
  • Creating a Composio instance using the API Key and OpenAIAgentsProvider class.

Create a Tool Router session

# Create a Apaleo Tool Router session
session = composio.create(
    user_id=user_id,
    toolkits=["apaleo"]
)

mcp_url = session.mcp.url

What is happening:

  • You give the Tool Router the user id and the toolkits you want available. Here, it is only apaleo.
  • The router checks the user's Apaleo connection and prepares the MCP endpoint.
  • The returned session.mcp.url is the MCP URL that your agent will use to access Apaleo.
  • This approach keeps things lightweight and lets the agent request Apaleo tools only when needed during the conversation.

Configure the agent

# Configure agent with MCP tool
agent = Agent(
    name="Assistant",
    model="gpt-5",
    instructions=(
        "You are a helpful assistant that can access Apaleo. "
        "Help users perform Apaleo operations through natural language."
    ),
    tools=[
        HostedMCPTool(
            tool_config={
                "type": "mcp",
                "server_label": "tool_router",
                "server_url": mcp_url,
                "headers": {"x-api-key": api_key},
                "require_approval": "never",
            }
        )
    ],
)
What's happening:
  • We're creating an Agent instance with a name, model (gpt-5), and clear instructions about its purpose.
  • The agent's instructions tell it that it can access Apaleo and help with queries, inserts, updates, authentication, and fetching database information.
  • The tools array includes a HostedMCPTool that connects to the MCP server URL we created earlier.
  • The headers dict includes the Composio API key for secure authentication with the MCP server.
  • require_approval: 'never' means the agent can execute Apaleo operations without asking for permission each time, making interactions smoother.

Start chat loop and handle conversation

print("\nComposio Tool Router session created.")

chat_session = SQLiteSession("conversation_openai_toolrouter")

print("\nChat started. Type your requests below.")
print("Commands: 'exit', 'quit', or 'q' to end\n")

async def main():
    try:
        result = await Runner.run(
            agent,
            "What can you help me with?",
            session=chat_session
        )
        print(f"Assistant: {result.final_output}\n")
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error: {e}\n")

    while True:
        user_input = input("You: ").strip()
        if user_input.lower() in {"exit", "quit", "q"}:
            print("Goodbye!")
            break

        result = await Runner.run(
            agent,
            user_input,
            session=chat_session
        )
        print(f"Assistant: {result.final_output}\n")

asyncio.run(main())
What's happening:
  • The program prints a session URL that you visit to authorize Apaleo.
  • After authorization, the chat begins.
  • Each message you type is processed by the agent using Runner.run().
  • The responses are printed to the console, and conversations are saved locally using SQLite.
  • Typing exit, quit, or q cleanly ends the chat.

Complete Code

Here's the complete code to get you started with Apaleo and open-ai-agents-sdk:

import asyncio
import os
from dotenv import load_dotenv

from composio import Composio
from composio_openai_agents import OpenAIAgentsProvider
from agents import Agent, Runner, HostedMCPTool, SQLiteSession

load_dotenv()

api_key = os.getenv("COMPOSIO_API_KEY")
user_id = os.getenv("USER_ID")

if not api_key:
    raise RuntimeError("COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set. Create a .env file with COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_key")

# Initialize Composio
composio = Composio(api_key=api_key, provider=OpenAIAgentsProvider())

# Create Tool Router session
session = composio.create(
    user_id=user_id,
    toolkits=["apaleo"]
)
mcp_url = session.mcp.url

# Configure agent with MCP tool
agent = Agent(
    name="Assistant",
    model="gpt-5",
    instructions=(
        "You are a helpful assistant that can access Apaleo. "
        "Help users perform Apaleo operations through natural language."
    ),
    tools=[
        HostedMCPTool(
            tool_config={
                "type": "mcp",
                "server_label": "tool_router",
                "server_url": mcp_url,
                "headers": {"x-api-key": api_key},
                "require_approval": "never",
            }
        )
    ],
)

print("\nComposio Tool Router session created.")

chat_session = SQLiteSession("conversation_openai_toolrouter")

print("\nChat started. Type your requests below.")
print("Commands: 'exit', 'quit', or 'q' to end\n")

async def main():
    try:
        result = await Runner.run(
            agent,
            "What can you help me with?",
            session=chat_session
        )
        print(f"Assistant: {result.final_output}\n")
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error: {e}\n")

    while True:
        user_input = input("You: ").strip()
        if user_input.lower() in {"exit", "quit", "q"}:
            print("Goodbye!")
            break

        result = await Runner.run(
            agent,
            user_input,
            session=chat_session
        )
        print(f"Assistant: {result.final_output}\n")

asyncio.run(main())

Conclusion

This was a starter code for integrating Apaleo MCP with OpenAI Agents SDK to build a functional AI agent that can interact with Apaleo.

Key features:

  • Hosted MCP tool integration through Composio's Tool Router
  • SQLite session persistence for conversation history
  • Simple async chat loop for interactive testing
You can extend this by adding more toolkits, implementing custom business logic, or building a web interface around the agent.

How to build Apaleo MCP Agent with another framework

FAQ

What are the differences in Tool Router MCP and Apaleo MCP?

With a standalone Apaleo MCP server, the agents and LLMs can only access a fixed set of Apaleo tools tied to that server. However, with the Composio Tool Router, agents can dynamically load tools from Apaleo and many other apps based on the task at hand, all through a single MCP endpoint.

Can I use Tool Router MCP with OpenAI Agents SDK?

Yes, you can. OpenAI Agents SDK fully supports MCP integration. You get structured tool calling, message history handling, and model orchestration while Tool Router takes care of discovering and serving the right Apaleo tools.

Can I manage the permissions and scopes for Apaleo while using Tool Router?

Yes, absolutely. You can configure which Apaleo scopes and actions are allowed when connecting your account to Composio. You can also bring your own OAuth credentials or API configuration so you keep full control over what the agent can do.

How safe is my data with Composio Tool Router?

All sensitive data such as tokens, keys, and configuration is fully encrypted at rest and in transit. Composio is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and follows strict security practices so your Apaleo data and credentials are handled as safely as possible.

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ASU
Letta
glean
HubSpot
Agent.ai
Altera
DataStax
Entelligence
Rolai
Context
ASU
Letta
glean
HubSpot
Agent.ai
Altera
DataStax
Entelligence
Rolai

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