How to integrate Grist MCP with Claude Agent SDK

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Introduction

This guide walks you through connecting Grist to the Claude Agent SDK using the Composio tool router. By the end, you'll have a working Grist agent that can add new sales data to q2 table, create a document for project planning, delete outdated rows from inventory sheet through natural language commands.

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

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

Also integrate Grist with

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 Grist
  • Configure an AI agent that can use Grist as a tool
  • Run a live chat session where you can ask the agent to perform Grist 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 Grist MCP server, and what's possible with it?

The Grist MCP server is an implementation of the Model Context Protocol that connects your AI agent and assistants like Claude, Cursor, etc directly to your Grist account. It provides structured and secure access to your spreadsheets and documents, so your agent can perform actions like adding records, creating tables, managing documents, and handling attachments on your behalf.

  • Automated data entry and record management: Instruct your agent to add, update, or delete records in specific Grist tables, streamlining your workflows and reducing manual input.
  • Table and document creation: Let your agent create new tables or entire documents in your workspaces, helping you quickly set up and expand your data structures as your needs grow.
  • Attachment and file management: Ask your agent to remove unwanted attachments from Grist documents, keeping your files organized and storage efficient.
  • Custom webhook integration: Have your agent register or delete webhooks for documents, enabling real-time notifications and integrations with other tools or services you rely on.
  • User and access provisioning via SCIM: Direct your agent to create or delete SCIM users as needed, making it easy to manage who has access to your Grist environment.

Supported Tools & Triggers

Tools
Add RecordsAdd one or more records to a Grist table.
Create DocumentCreates a new Grist document in a specified workspace.
Create SCIM UserTool to create a new SCIM user.
Create TableTool to create tables in a document.
Create Document WebhookTool to create a new webhook for a specified document.
Remove Unused AttachmentsRemove unused attachments from a Grist document to free up storage space.
Delete ColumnTool to delete a column from a Grist document table.
Delete Grist Table RecordsTool to delete records from a specified Grist table.
Delete SCIM UserDelete a user from the Grist organization by their numeric user ID.
Delete WebhookPermanently removes a webhook from a Grist document.
Download All Attachments ArchiveDownload all attachments from a Grist document as a single archive file (.
Download AttachmentDownload a file attachment from a Grist document.
Fetch Document MetadataTool to fetch metadata for a specified Grist document.
Fetch Table MetadataTool to retrieve metadata for a specified table in a Grist document.
Get Org AccessRetrieves the list of users who have access to a Grist organization along with their access roles (owners, editors, viewers).
Get UsersTool to retrieve a list of users via SCIM v2.
List AttachmentsTool to list all attachments in a Grist document.
List ColumnsTool to list all columns in a specified Grist table.
List OrganizationsTool to list all organizations accessible to the authenticated user.
List RecordsTool to retrieve records from a specified table within a Grist document.
List TablesTool to list all tables within a specified document.
List WebhooksList all webhooks configured for a Grist document.
List WorkspacesTool to list all workspaces and documents accessible to the authenticated user on the current site.
Run SQL QueryTool to execute a read-only SQL SELECT query on a Grist document.
Update Column MetadataUpdates metadata (label, type, description, formula, etc.
Update Document MetadataTool to update metadata for a specified Grist document.
Update RecordsUpdate existing records in a Grist table by their row IDs.
Update Table MetadataUpdate metadata properties for a table in a Grist document.
Update WebhookUpdate an existing webhook configuration for a Grist document.
Upload AttachmentUpload one or more file attachments to a Grist document.

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

What is Composio SDK?

Composio's Composio SDK 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 Composio SDK

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

How the Composio SDK works

The Composio SDK 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 Grist 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 Grist 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 Grist
    mcp_server = composio.create(
        user_id=os.getenv("USER_ID"),
        toolkits=["grist"]
    )

    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 Grist
  • 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 Grist 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 Grist
  • 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 Grist 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 Grist
    mcp_server = composio.create(
        user_id=os.getenv("USER_ID"),
        toolkits=["grist"]
    )

    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 Grist 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 Grist 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.

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FAQ

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

With a standalone Grist MCP server, the agents and LLMs can only access a fixed set of Grist tools tied to that server. However, with the Composio Tool Router, agents can dynamically load tools from Grist 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 Grist tools.

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

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

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