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What is the Kalent MCP Server?

Find and contact top talent without leaving your AI workspace. Search +200M professional profiles with AI-powered matching, access verified emails and mobile numbers, and launch personalized outreach campaigns effortlessly. Built for recruiting firms, staffing agencies, and HR teams, Kalent delivers up to 60% reply rates powered by 50+ data sources. Discover developers, sales reps, accountants, or any role worldwide. Research candidates, build strong talent pipelines, and fill positions faster — all directly within your favorite AI assistant. Turn any LLM into a full recruiting platform with Kalent.

Natural language search

Describe the talent you need in everyday language — the AI translates your request into structured filters automatically.

Rich profile data

Get full professional profiles including experience, education, skills, languages, and certifications.

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API vs MCP — When to use what

REST APIMCP Server
InterfaceHTTP endpoints with JSON payloadsAI assistant (Claude, Cursor, etc.)
AuthenticationAPI key via headerOAuth 2.0 (one-time browser flow)
How you searchBuild a JSON filter arrayDescribe the candidate in natural language
Best forProgrammatic integrations, ATS pipelines, automationsInteractive sourcing, ad-hoc searches, conversational exploration
Filter translationYou build the filters manuallyThe AI builds them for you from your prompt
Use the REST API when you need to integrate Kalent into your own software. Use the MCP server when you want to search talent interactively from an AI assistant like Claude.

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Setup with Claude Desktop

1

Open Claude settings

In Claude Desktop, click on your profile icon and go to Settings.
2

Navigate to connectors

Select the Integrations tab (or Connectors, depending on your Claude version).
3

Add a custom connector

Click Add custom MCP connector and enter the following server URL:
https://app.kalent.ai/api/mcp
4

Authenticate via OAuth

Claude will redirect you to Kalent’s login page. Sign in with your Kalent credentials and authorize the connection. Once approved, you are redirected back to Claude — the connector is now ready to use.
The OAuth flow uses OAuth 2.0 with PKCE. Your AI client handles the entire handshake automatically — you only need to sign in and click Authorize.

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Authentication

The Kalent MCP server uses OAuth 2.0 to authenticate your AI assistant. This is different from the REST API, which uses a static API key.

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How it works

  1. Your AI client (Claude, Cursor, etc.) connects to https://app.kalent.ai/api/mcp.
  2. The server responds with a 401 and points to its OAuth metadata.
  3. The client opens a browser window where you sign in to Kalent.
  4. You see a consent screen asking you to authorize the connection to your workspace.
  5. After clicking Authorize, the client receives an access token and the MCP session starts.
The entire flow is handled transparently by your AI client. You only interact with the Kalent login and consent pages.
Each MCP session is scoped to a single Kalent workspace. If you have access to multiple workspaces, the connection uses the workspace associated with your API key.

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Available Tools

The Kalent MCP server currently exposes the following tool:

search_talents

Search the Kalent talent database using natural language. The AI translates your prompt into structured filters and returns matching professional profiles with full career details.
See the search_talents tool reference for the complete list of supported filter types and parameters.

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Example Prompts

Once connected, you can search for talent by simply describing what you need. Here are some examples:
Prompt:
Find software engineers who have worked at OpenAI for at least 3 years.
The AI will create filters for:
  • JOB_TITLE = “Software Engineer”
  • COMPANY_NAME = “OpenAI” with history = “CURRENT_OR_PAST”
  • DURATION_IN_JOB = “3-5” (or higher)
Prompt:
I need to find talent in Paris (within 20km radius) with expertise in SEO and marketing strategies.
The AI will create filters for:
  • LOCATION = “Paris” with radius = 20
  • SKILL = “SEO”
  • SKILL = “Marketing Strategy”
Prompt:
Find talent with 10+ years of experience as a UX designer who has worked for a YC startup.
The AI will create filters for:
  • JOB_TITLE = “UX Designer”
  • YEARS_OF_EXPERIENCE = “10-15” (or higher)
  • KEYWORD = “Y Combinator”
About location radius: The radius parameter is always in kilometers. If you mention miles in your prompt (e.g., “within 10 miles”), the AI will automatically convert to kilometers before making the search. You don’t need to worry about unit conversion.

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Response Format

For each search, the MCP server returns two content blocks:
  1. Structured JSON — Complete profile data (experiences, educations, skills, languages, certifications) that the AI uses for reasoning and follow-up questions.
  2. Markdown table — A formatted summary with name, job title, company, location, and LinkedIn profile link, displayed directly in the conversation.
Up to 5 matching profiles are returned per search.

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Supported AI Clients

The Kalent MCP server implements the Model Context Protocol standard and is compatible with any MCP-compliant client, including:
  • Claude Desktop — Full OAuth support with built-in connector management
  • Claude Code — Add via CLI: claude mcp add --transport http kalent https://app.kalent.ai/api/mcp
  • Cursor — Configure as a custom MCP server in settings
  • Any other MCP-compatible AI client