MCP in Markonex: how to connect ChatGPT or Claude to the B2B platform

What is MCP, in plain words?

Think of MCP as a standard wall socket. Any appliance with the right plug works in any socket, with no special adapters. In the same way, any MCP-compatible AI assistant, such as ChatGPT and Claude, can "plug into" an application that has an MCP server, without anyone writing special code for each assistant.

Without MCP, ChatGPT knows nothing about your RFQs, offers or partners in Markonex: it can only give general advice. With MCP, the assistant gets controlled access to your company account: it can read what you allow and prepare actions that you confirm. The Markonex MCP server acts as the "translator" between what you type in the chat and the platform, always within your own rights.

You connect once, with an authorisation on the Markonex page (OAuth), without giving your password to the AI assistant. MCP is available to companies verified by the platform.

What can you do from ChatGPT or Claude through MCP?

Almost everything you do on the marketplace every day, by typing in plain language. The Markonex MCP server gives the assistant tools for:

• RFQs: search published requests, see your own requests and the matching suppliers, create drafts with one product or a product list extracted from text, and publish them after confirmation.
• Offers and negotiations: see offers received and sent, compare offers line by line, send a priced offer, make a counter-offer, accept, reject or close an offer and award the lines of a request.
• Agreements and contracts: see agreements and contracts and confirm an agreement.
• Companies and products: search companies and products and read a company profile, with ANAF data and financial statements.
• Catalogue: add or edit products in the company catalogue.
• Messages: read conversations and send messages to partners.
• CRM: see partners, history and prices, compare prices across partners and add partners, notes, tags or contacts.
• Invoices: see invoices issued and received on agreements, read-only.
• Dashboard: see what you have to do today, notifications and what expires soon.

What can you actually type in ChatGPT or Claude? 10 examples

The examples below show what a user can type in the chat and what the assistant does through MCP. Wherever something changes, the assistant first shows you a summary and waits for your confirmation.

• "Find RFQs for M8 bolts in Cluj from the last week." - the assistant searches by meaning, not just keywords, and shows the matching requests with quantity and deadline.
• "Create an RFQ for 500 bags of 40 kg cement, delivered to Brașov." - the assistant saves a draft and publishes it only after you confirm.
• "Turn this materials list into a multi-line RFQ: ..." - the assistant extracts the lines and quantities from the text, and you check them before publishing.
• "Add the product EUR pallet 1200x800, price between 45 and 55 lei, category Other, to the catalogue." - the assistant prepares the product and saves it after confirmation.
• "Send an offer of 12 lei per piece on the RFQ for plasterboard in Cluj." - the assistant prepares the offer, shows you the price, quantity and request, then sends it after confirmation.
• "Compare the offers I received on my building site materials request, line by line." - the assistant shows who is cheapest on each line and with which lead times.
• "What changed in the last round of the negotiation with the PPR pipe supplier?" - the assistant summarises the differences in price, quantity and lead time.
• "Is the company that sent me the offer ANAF-verified? What was its turnover last year?" - the assistant reads the company profile and the public financial statements.
• "Which invoices did I receive this month on my Markonex agreements?" - the assistant lists the invoices, read-only.
• "Add a note to the partner record: on-time delivery, good packaging." - the assistant prepares the note and saves it after confirmation.

How does confirmation work before any change?

The assistant can read and can save on its own only things with no commercial effect: draft RFQs, following filters and marking notifications as read. For any other change, such as publishing an RFQ, sending or accepting an offer, confirming an agreement, a new product, a message or a CRM change, Markonex first prepares the action and sends the assistant a summary.

The assistant shows you the summary in the chat, and the action runs only after you say "yes". The confirmation is valid for 5 minutes, can be used once and is tied to the exact parameters shown: if the price or quantity changes, a new confirmation is prepared. Accepting an offer and confirming an agreement also require both companies to be verified by the platform.

1. You

   Send an offer of 12 lei per piece on the RFQ for plasterboard in Cluj, delivery in 3 days.

2. ChatGPT

   I have prepared the offer. Please check the summary below before I send it.

3. Markonex - confirmation

   Confirmation required: new offer on the RFQ "Plasterboard 12.5 mm - 800 pcs", price 12 lei/pc, total 9,600 lei excluding VAT, delivery in 3 days. Do you confirm sending it?

4. You

   Yes, send it.

5. ChatGPT

   The offer has been sent. You will find it in Markonex under Offers, and the activity log shows it as sent by you, via ChatGPT.

Step 1: check what you need

Your company must be verified by the platform, and MCP must be enabled for the company: in Markonex, under AI → MCP → "Details", a user with the right to manage MCP chooses "Enabled" and saves. MCP is off by default.

The user connecting the assistant must be the company administrator or have the right to manage connections and API tokens. If you have just been given new rights, log out and log in again. For ChatGPT you need a plan that allows developer mode (Plus, Pro, Business or Enterprise).

Step 2: connect ChatGPT to Markonex

In ChatGPT, open Settings → Apps & Connectors → Advanced and turn on developer mode. Then create a custom connector: give it a name, for example "Markonex", paste the MCP server address from Markonex (you will find it under AI → MCP → "Connection and usage"), choose OAuth authentication and leave Client ID and Client Secret empty.

Press "Create", then "Connect". ChatGPT menu labels change often, so the up-to-date steps are always in Markonex, on the "Connection and usage" tab.

Step 3: or connect Claude to Markonex

In Claude, on the web or in the desktop app, add a custom connector from the settings with the MCP server address from Markonex and press "Connect". The up-to-date steps for Claude are also on the "Connection and usage" tab in Markonex.

For technical teams there is also Claude Code: in Markonex you create a personal token, valid for at most 90 days and shown only once, which you add to the MCP server configuration.

Step 4: authorise access and choose the permissions

ChatGPT or Claude sends you to the Markonex page, where you log in with your account. The consent page shows every permission: read permissions are ticked by default and write permissions are unticked, so you explicitly choose what the assistant may prepare. Press "Approve" within 10 minutes.

The assistant receives only the overlap between your Markonex rights and the ticked permissions: if you are not allowed to send offers, neither is the assistant, even if you tick the permission.

Step 5: turn on the connector in the chat and send your first request

In a new conversation, enable the Markonex connector from the assistant's tools menu. Start with a simple question, for example "What do I have to do in Markonex today?", and the assistant reads your dashboard: the actions waiting for you, new offers and what expires soon.

You can check the connection in Markonex under AI → MCP → "Connected apps" and "MCP activity".

Which permissions can you give the AI assistant?

There are 15 permissions, which you choose at authorisation and can withdraw at any time. A write permission only means the assistant can prepare the action; running it still requires your confirmation.

• Profile and dashboard - read (profile:read): who you are, the company, your role, notifications and what expires soon.
• RFQs - read and write (rfq:read, rfq:write): search, your requests, matching suppliers; drafts, lines, following filters and publishing.
• Companies and products - read (companies:read): searching companies and products and a company profile.
• Offers - read and write (offers:read, offers:write): offers and line comparison; sending, counter-offer, accepting, rejecting, closing and awarding lines.
• Agreements - read and write (agreements:read, agreements:write): agreements and confirming an agreement.
• Contracts - read (contracts:read): contracts attached to agreements.
• Messages - read and write (messages:read, messages:write): conversations and sending messages.
• Catalogue - write (catalog:write): adding and editing products.
• CRM - read and write (crm:read, crm:write): partners, history and prices; new partners, notes, tags, relationship type and contacts.
• Invoices - read (invoices:read): invoices issued and received on agreements and the e-Factura copy.

What can the assistant never do through MCP?

Whatever permissions are ticked, some things stay on the platform only, in the hands of people in your company:

• It does not issue, edit, credit or cancel invoices and sends nothing to e-Factura; invoices are read-only.
• It makes no payments and does not see or change payment data or subscriptions.
• It does not administer the company, its users, roles or permissions.
• It does not manage tokens, connected apps or the MCP and Agents settings.
• It does not change passwords, emails or phone numbers and does not download files.
• It does not sign documents.

Where do you see what the assistant did, and how do you stop access?

Everything the assistant does is done in your name and appears in the company activity log as "First Last (via ChatGPT)", and you see yourself as "You (via ChatGPT)". In Markonex, under AI → MCP, "Connected apps" shows which assistants have access and "MCP activity" shows every call, with its result and date.

You can withdraw access at any time with "Revoke" in "Connected apps". For protection, every connection has usage limits: at most 60 calls per minute and 2,000 per day.

MCP or AI agents: what is the difference?

With MCP you do the work, in a conversation with ChatGPT or Claude, and confirm every change in the chat. With Markonex Agents, a Claude agent works on its own, on a schedule, with your company's Anthropic key, and a colleague approves the actions it prepares in Markonex Agents. Both use the same Markonex MCP server and the same safety rules.

For complete examples, see the case studies: five MCP scenarios, from an RFQ created in ChatGPT to an offer sent from Claude, and five scenarios with AI agents.