Overview
The Zoho Campaigns MCP server connects your Zoho Campaigns organization to AI tools such as Claude, ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot in VS Code, and Cursor. After you connect it, you can ask the AI tool in natural language to create email campaigns, update contacts and lists, build segments, and analyze campaign reports. The AI tool then does the work in your Zoho Campaigns organization for you, using only the tools you allow.
You create the server in Zoho MCP, choose various Zoho Campaigns tools to add, and connect the server to your AI tool using its server URL. Zoho MCP is free to use. To get started right away, see Set up the Zoho Campaigns MCP server, or browse the example prompts to see what you can ask.
What is MCP?
Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard that lets AI applications connect to other apps and data. AI tools such as Claude, ChatGPT, Visual Studio Code, and Cursor support it. To learn more about the standard, see the official MCP documentation.
Why MCP is needed
AI tools can write, summarize, and answer questions, but on their own they cannot see your Zoho Campaigns data or make changes in your account. Without MCP, you would open a report, export the data, paste it into the AI tool, and then copy its suggestions back into Zoho Campaigns by hand. Each AI tool would also need its own custom integration with each app.
MCP removes these steps. It gives AI tools one standard way to connect to apps, so the same Zoho Campaigns server works with any AI tool that supports MCP. You ask your question once, and the AI tool reads the data it needs and does the work for you.
What is Zoho MCP?
Zoho MCP is Zoho's service for creating and hosting your own MCP servers without writing code. You add tools from Zoho apps, such as Zoho Campaigns, and from third-party services to a server, and Zoho MCP takes care of the hosting and sign-in. Zoho MCP is not an AI model. It gives your AI tool the tools and context it needs, and the AI tool does the reasoning. For more details, see the Zoho MCP help documentation.
These terms are used throughout this guide:
Term | What it means |
MCP server | A server you create in Zoho MCP. It holds the tools your AI tool is allowed to use. |
Tool | One action the AI tool can take in Zoho Campaigns, such as getCampaign or createSegment. Zoho Campaigns offers 82 tools. |
Server URL | The unique address your AI tool uses to connect to your server. It contains a secure key, so treat it like a password. |
AI tool (MCP client) | The app you chat with, such as Claude, ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot, or Cursor. |
Pricing and limits
Zoho MCP is free. There is no separate subscription, and there is no limit on the number of MCP servers you can create. For details, see the Zoho MCP pricing page.
This means you can create several servers that use Zoho Campaigns tools, each for a different purpose. For example, you can keep one server for campaign reports and another for managing contacts. Zoho MCP does not add limits of its own.
How Zoho Campaigns MCP works
Zoho Campaigns MCP turns a request you type in your AI tool into actions in your Zoho Campaigns account. The diagram below shows the full round trip, from your prompt to the answer.
When you send a request, these steps take place:
- You type a prompt in your AI tool, for example, "Why did my 'Spring Sale' campaign get fewer opens than usual?"
- The AI tool works out what you need and sends tool calls to your Zoho MCP server over the MCP protocol, such as listCampaigns and getEmailCampaignFullReport.
- Your Zoho MCP server checks that you have signed in with your Zoho account and calls Zoho Campaigns through its Web API.
- Zoho Campaigns runs each tool and returns the data or the result. It only returns data that your organization has permission to see.
The AI tool reads the results and replies in plain language. If your request changes data, such as creating a campaign, the change is made in your Zoho Campaigns organization.