Personio logo personio.com

Live

Personio API and MCP server

Personio has no API for approving or rejecting time off, or for listing the requests waiting in your Inbox. Sign in to Personio once in your own Cloud Browser, and your AI agent does the work there for you. The same tools work over MCP for agents and as a REST API for scripts.

Sign up free View as Markdown

Not affiliated with Personio.

Personio has no API for this. So we run one for you.

Personio's own API, a GitHub MCP server and Cotlet compared
What you need Personio's APIGitHub MCP serverCotlet
Approvals, Inbox requests No Partly Yes, 13 tools
Acts as you, signed in 24/7 No No Yes, Cloud Browser
Fixed for you when Personio changes N/A No Yes, tested every 6h
Runs with your laptop off N/A No Yes, hosted

Checked Oct 16, 2026. Sources: Personio Help: Personio MCP server, Beta access overview · Personio Developer Hub: Get started with the Personio API · Personio Developer Hub: List absence periods (v2) · Personio Help: Approve an employee request

Your own Cloud Browser, on 24/7. Sign in once. We keep it connected.

  1. 01Sign in to Personio in your own Cloud Browser

  2. 02Connect it for your agents

  3. 03Cotlet keeps it signed in and working

How do I connect Personio to Claude, ChatGPT or my code?

AI agents connect over MCP, scripts call the REST API. Both reach the same 13 tools with one API key.

For AI agents: MCP

Add Cotlet to your agent once. Personio and every other app you connect show up as its tools.

  • Claude
  • ChatGPT
  • OpenClaw
  • Hermes
  • GrokBot
  • Cursor
  • n8n
  • Any MCP client
  1. 1

    Add Cotlet to your agent

    Claude Code
    claude mcp add --transport http cotlet \
  https://cotlet.dev/mcp/v1 \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $COTLET_API_KEY"
    Cursor
    {
  "mcpServers": {
    "cotlet": {
      "url": "https://cotlet.dev/mcp/v1",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer ${COTLET_API_KEY}"
      }
    }
  }
}
    Codex
    # ~/.codex/config.toml
[mcp_servers.cotlet]
url = "https://cotlet.dev/mcp/v1"
bearer_token_env_var = "COTLET_API_KEY"

    Paste the snippet for your client. The same server and key serve every app you connect, so you do this once.

For scripts: REST API

Every tool is an endpoint under /api/v1/personio with its own method and path, such as POST /api/v1/personio/time-off/request, with the same API key. Our open-source repo has ready scripts to start from.

REST API docs

What can the Personio API and MCP server do?

13 tools on your own Personio account. Agents call them as operations of the MCP tools personio_read and personio_write; scripts call each one at its own REST endpoint, with the same inputs and answers.

API reference
Personio tools in Cotlet's MCP server and REST API
Tool What it does Access
list_employees Employees with name, team, job title, supervisor and status, newest first. read
get_employee One employee profile with the fields your role may read. read
list_time_off_types Time off types you can use, with their unit (days or hours). read
get_time_off_balance Remaining balance of one employee for one time off type. read
list_time_off Time off periods in a date window, with status, newest first. read
list_attendance Attendance periods of employees in a date window. read
list_approval_requests Requests waiting for you in the Personio Inbox. read
get_approval_request Details of one request: dates, balance after approval, team overlap. read
request_time_off Request time off for yourself or, with the right permission, for another employee. writeasks first
approve_request Approve one request from your Inbox. writeasks first
reject_request Reject one request from your Inbox, with an optional comment. writeasks first
log_attendance Add a work period with an optional break to an employee's attendance. writeasks first
update_employee Change fields on an employee profile. writeasks first

Scroll the table for all 13 tools.

Ask in plain words. Your agent does the rest.

All Personio use cases

Is it safe to connect Personio?

You sign in yourself in your own Cloud Browser, we never save your password, and anything that reaches your readers waits for your OK. The browser profile is encrypted in the EU. Independent scanners grade cotlet.dev A+.

Security overview

How much do the Personio API and MCP server cost?

One price for both: a tool call costs the same over MCP or REST. Free 7-day trial with 2,000 credits, no card needed. Then one-time credit packs, no subscription, valid 12 months. Most calls use 25 credits, and your Cloud Browser uses 50 credits a day while Personio is enabled for agents, so 20 calls a day come to 550 credits.

See full pricing
Cotlet credit packs: price, credits and calls at 25 credits each
Credits Price, one time Calls at 25 credits Per 1,000 credits
5,000 $29 200 $5.80
15,000 $79 600 $5.27
32,000 $149 1,280 $4.66
60,000 $249 2,400 $4.15

Only successful calls use credits; failed calls and timeouts cost nothing. At a balance of 0 calls pause, never a surprise charge. Authenticate with the Authorization: Bearer header.

Questions

Does Personio have an API?

Personio has a public REST API and an official MCP server in closed beta (checked 16 Oct 2026). The API needs company-wide client credentials from an account with API access rights and has no approvals endpoint; the MCP server is not available to every account, an Administrator has to switch it on, and it is mostly read-only with writes off by default.

How do I get access?

Sign up free, open Personio under Integrations in the console and press Request access. Your free trial starts with your account, no card needed.

Is the MCP server different from the API?

No, only the way in. Cotlet builds each integration as a REST API and puts an MCP server on top, so both have the same 13 tools, the same inputs and answers, one API key and one price. AI agents such as Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor use MCP; scripts, cron jobs and HTTP steps in n8n, Make or Zapier use the REST API.

What is the Cloud Browser?

Your own Chrome that Cotlet runs for you in the EU, around the clock. You open it from the console, sign in to Personio yourself and press Enable for agents. Your agent's calls go through it, from its IP with its cookies, so Personio sees the browser you signed in with. Password saving is off and the profile is stored encrypted with AES-256-GCM.

Can my agent act without asking me?

Not on anything that reaches other people: request_time_off, approve_request, reject_request, log_attendance, update_employee wait for your OK by default. You can switch that off per tool for scheduled runs.

Which Personio permissions does my agent need?

The agent acts with your own permissions. To approve time off you need to be an approver with View permission for the time off type; to book hours or time off for others you need Propose or Edit permissions, and Edit skips approval. Personio's own MCP beta works the same way: each person's access follows their permissions.

Does Personio approve time off automatically?

Only through approval rules. An Administrator sets a default rule and group rules per time off type, and a request with no applicable approval step is approved at once. Rules choose approvers; they do not check balance or team overlap.

Should I use a Personio MCP server from GitHub instead?

Pick one if you want the code on your own computer and do not mind the upkeep: you install it, sign it in and fix it when Personio changes. Pick Cotlet if you want it hosted and kept working for you.

Can I use it in n8n, Make or Zapier?

Yes. Add https://cotlet.dev/mcp/v1 in n8n's MCP Client node, or call the REST endpoints from an HTTP step in Make or Zapier.

Who runs Cotlet?

Cotlet is run by Take Group, a Polish software company working since 2019. Take Group runs about 3,200 websites on its own systems and has its own DevOps team for infrastructure security. We built and used integrations like this inside the company for years before opening them as Cotlet.

Is Cotlet affiliated with Personio?

No. Cotlet is independent and not affiliated with Personio.

Give your agent access to Personio.

Free 7-day trial with 2,000 credits, no card needed.

Sign up free