How to integrate Apollo MCP with Claude Agent SDK

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Introduction

This guide walks you through connecting Apollo to the Claude Agent SDK using the Composio tool router. By the end, you'll have a working Apollo agent that can bulk enrich profiles for new leads, add contacts to outreach sequence now, create a new sales deal for acme, list all opportunity stages in pipeline through natural language commands.

This guide will help you understand how to give your Claude Agent SDK agent real control over a Apollo account through Composio's Apollo 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 Claude/Anthropic and Composio API keys
  • Install the necessary dependencies
  • Initialize Composio and create a Tool Router session for Apollo
  • Configure an AI agent that can use Apollo as a tool
  • Run a live chat session where you can ask the agent to perform Apollo operations

What is Claude Agent SDK?

The Claude Agent SDK is Anthropic's official framework for building AI agents powered by Claude. It provides a streamlined interface for creating agents with MCP tool support and conversation management.

Key features include:

  • Native MCP Support: Built-in support for Model Context Protocol servers
  • Permission Modes: Control tool execution permissions
  • Streaming Responses: Real-time response streaming for interactive applications
  • Context Manager: Clean async context management for sessions

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

The Apollo MCP server is an implementation of the Model Context Protocol that connects your AI agent and assistants like Claude, Cursor, etc directly to your Apollo account. It provides structured and secure access to your CRM and lead generation data, so your agent can create contacts, enrich organizations, manage deals, update account stages, and automate tasks for your sales pipeline—all on your behalf.

  • Contact and account creation: Instantly add new contacts or accounts to Apollo, linking them to organizations and stages to keep your CRM up to date with zero manual entry.
  • Bulk data enrichment: Rapidly enrich multiple people or organizations at once, leveraging Apollo's database to fill gaps and update your records with the latest information.
  • Sales opportunity and pipeline management: Let your agent create new deals, retrieve opportunity stages, and move accounts through your sales funnel to optimize pipeline performance.
  • Automated outreach sequencing: Add contacts to email sequences, making it easy to launch targeted campaigns and follow-ups without lifting a finger.
  • Task creation and label organization: Generate actionable Apollo tasks for your team and organize contacts or accounts with labels, so nothing slips through the cracks.

Supported Tools & Triggers

Tools
Add Contacts to SequenceAdds contacts to a specified apollo email sequence by initiating an asynchronous background job and returning its details.
Bulk organization enrichmentEnriches data for up to 10 organizations simultaneously by providing a list of their base company domains (e.
Bulk people enrichmentUse to enrich multiple person profiles simultaneously with comprehensive data from apollo's database.
Bulk update account stageBulk updates the stage for specified existing apollo.
Create an Apollo accountCreates a new account in apollo.
Create Apollo contactCreates a new contact in apollo.
Create Apollo dealCreates a new sales opportunity (deal) in apollo.
Create Apollo TaskCreates a distinct apollo.
Get LabelsRetrieves all labels from apollo.
Get opportunity stagesRetrieves all configured opportunity (deal) stages from the apollo.
Get Organization Job PostingsRetrieves paginated job postings for a specified organization by its id, optionally filtering by domain; ensure `organization id` is a valid identifier.
Get typed custom fieldsRetrieves all typed custom field definitions available in the apollo.
List Apollo account stagesRetrieves all available apollo.
List apollo contact stagesRetrieves all available contact stages from an apollo account, including their unique ids and names.
List Apollo dealsRetrieves a list of deals from apollo, using apollo's default sort order if 'sort by field' is omitted.
List email accountsRetrieves all email accounts and their details for the authenticated user; takes no parameters.
List Apollo UsersRetrieves a list of all users (teammates) associated with the apollo account, supporting pagination via `page` and `per page` parameters.
Enrich organization dataFetches comprehensive organization enrichment data from apollo.
Search organizations in ApolloSearches apollo's database for organizations using various filters; consumes credits (unavailable on free plans), retrieves a maximum of 50,000 records, and uses `page` (1-500) and `per page` (1-100) for pagination.
Enrich person with ApolloEnriches and retrieves information for a person from apollo.
Apollo people searchSearches apollo's contact database for people using various filters; results are limited to 50,000 records and this action does not enrich contact data.
Search Apollo AccountsSearches for accounts within your existing apollo.
Search Apollo contactsSearches apollo contacts using keywords, stage ids (from 'list contact stages' action), or sorting (max 50,000 records; `sort ascending` requires `sort by field`).
Search sequencesSearches for sequences (e.
Search tasksSearches for tasks in apollo.
Update an Apollo accountUpdates specified attributes of an existing account in apollo.
Update Apollo contactUpdates specified attributes of an existing apollo.
Update contact ownershipUpdates the ownership of specified apollo contacts to a given apollo user, who must be part of the same team.
Update contact stageUpdates the stage for one or more existing contacts in apollo.
Update contact status in sequenceUpdates a contact's status within a designated apollo sequence, but cannot set the status to 'active'.
Update Apollo dealUpdates specified fields of an existing apollo.

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 Claude/Anthropic API Key
  • Primary know-how of Claude Agents SDK
  • A Apollo account
  • Some knowledge of Python

Getting API Keys for Claude/Anthropic and Composio

Claude/Anthropic API Key
  • Go to the Anthropic Console and create an API key. You'll need credits to use the models.
  • Keep the API key safe.
Composio API Key
  • Log in to the Composio dashboard.
  • Navigate to your API settings and generate a new API key.
  • Store this key securely as you'll need it for authentication.

Install dependencies

pip install composio-anthropic claude-agent-sdk python-dotenv

Install the Composio SDK and the Claude Agents SDK.

What's happening:

  • composio-anthropic provides Composio integration for Anthropic
  • claude-agent-sdk is the core agent framework
  • python-dotenv loads environment variables

Set up environment variables

bash
COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_composio_api_key_here
USER_ID=your_user_id_here
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your_anthropic_api_key_here

Create a .env file in your project root.

What's happening:

  • COMPOSIO_API_KEY authenticates with Composio
  • USER_ID identifies the user for session management
  • ANTHROPIC_API_KEY authenticates with Anthropic/Claude

Import dependencies

import asyncio
from claude_agent_sdk import ClaudeSDKClient, ClaudeAgentOptions
import os
from composio import Composio
from dotenv import load_dotenv

load_dotenv()
What's happening:
  • We're importing all necessary libraries including the Claude Agent SDK and Composio
  • The load_dotenv() function loads environment variables from your .env file
  • This setup prepares the foundation for connecting Claude with Apollo functionality

Create a Composio instance and Tool Router session

async def chat_with_remote_mcp():
    api_key = os.getenv("COMPOSIO_API_KEY")
    if not api_key:
        raise RuntimeError("COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set")

    composio = Composio(api_key=api_key)

    # Create Tool Router session for Apollo
    mcp_server = composio.create(
        user_id=os.getenv("USER_ID"),
        toolkits=["apollo"]
    )

    url = mcp_server.mcp.url

    if not url:
        raise ValueError("Session URL not found")
What's happening:
  • The function checks for the required COMPOSIO_API_KEY environment variable
  • We're creating a Composio instance using our API key
  • The create method creates a Tool Router session for Apollo
  • The returned url is the MCP server URL that your agent will use

Configure Claude Agent with MCP

# Configure remote MCP server for Claude
options = ClaudeAgentOptions(
    permission_mode="bypassPermissions",
    mcp_servers={
        "composio": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": url,
            "headers": {
                "x-api-key": os.getenv("COMPOSIO_API_KEY")
            }
        }
    },
    system_prompt="You are a helpful assistant with access to Apollo tools via Composio.",
    max_turns=10
)
What's happening:
  • We're configuring the Claude Agent options with the MCP server URL
  • permission_mode="bypassPermissions" allows the agent to execute operations without asking for permission each time
  • The system prompt instructs the agent that it has access to Apollo
  • max_turns=10 limits the conversation length to prevent excessive API usage

Create client and start chat loop

# Create client with context manager
async with ClaudeSDKClient(options=options) as client:
    print("\nChat started. Type 'exit' or 'quit' to end.\n")

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

        # Send query
        await client.query(user_input)

        # Receive and print response
        print("Claude: ", end="", flush=True)
        async for message in client.receive_response():
            if hasattr(message, "content"):
                for block in message.content:
                    if hasattr(block, "text"):
                        print(block.text, end="", flush=True)
        print()
What's happening:
  • The Claude SDK client is created using the async context manager pattern
  • The agent processes each query and streams the response back in real-time
  • The chat loop continues until the user types 'exit' or 'quit'

Run the application

if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(chat_with_remote_mcp())
What's happening:
  • This entry point runs the async chat_with_remote_mcp() function using asyncio.run()
  • The application will start, create the MCP connection, and begin the interactive chat session

Complete Code

Here's the complete code to get you started with Apollo and Claude Agent SDK:

import asyncio
from claude_agent_sdk import ClaudeSDKClient, ClaudeAgentOptions
import os
from composio import Composio
from dotenv import load_dotenv

load_dotenv()

async def chat_with_remote_mcp():
    api_key = os.getenv("COMPOSIO_API_KEY")
    if not api_key:
        raise RuntimeError("COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set")

    composio = Composio(api_key=api_key)

    # Create Tool Router session for Apollo
    mcp_server = composio.create(
        user_id=os.getenv("USER_ID"),
        toolkits=["apollo"]
    )

    url = mcp_server.mcp.url

    if not url:
        raise ValueError("Session URL not found")

    # Configure remote MCP server for Claude
    options = ClaudeAgentOptions(
        permission_mode="bypassPermissions",
        mcp_servers={
            "composio": {
                "type": "http",
                "url": url,
                "headers": {
                    "x-api-key": os.getenv("COMPOSIO_API_KEY")
                }
            }
        },
        system_prompt="You are a helpful assistant with access to Apollo tools via Composio.",
        max_turns=10
    )

    # Create client with context manager
    async with ClaudeSDKClient(options=options) as client:
        print("\nChat started. Type 'exit' or 'quit' to end.\n")

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

            # Send query
            await client.query(user_input)

            # Receive and print response
            print("Claude: ", end="", flush=True)
            async for message in client.receive_response():
                if hasattr(message, "content"):
                    for block in message.content:
                        if hasattr(block, "text"):
                            print(block.text, end="", flush=True)
            print()

if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(chat_with_remote_mcp())

Conclusion

You've successfully built a Claude Agent SDK agent that can interact with Apollo through Composio's Tool Router.

Key features:

  • Native MCP support through Claude's agent framework
  • Streaming responses for real-time interaction
  • Permission bypass for smooth automated workflows
You can extend this by adding more toolkits, implementing custom business logic, or building a web interface around the agent.

How to build Apollo MCP Agent with another framework

FAQ

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

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

Can I use Tool Router MCP with Claude Agent SDK?

Yes, you can. Claude Agent 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 Apollo tools.

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

Yes, absolutely. You can configure which Apollo 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 Apollo data and credentials are handled as safely as possible.

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