SAP API facts that shape an MCP server
| Fact | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| S/4HANA and ECC: SAP’s route | SAP Integration Suite can create an MCP Server artifact that runs on its MCP gateway, built from an API artifact, an API proxy, an HTTP endpoint with an OpenAPI spec, an RFC-based backend, or another remote MCP server. SAP says availability depends on your Integration Suite service plan (SAP Note 2903776). | SAP Help: Creating an MCP Server (Integration Suite) |
| ECC over RFC | SAP lists MCP over RFC as fully supported for SAP ECC 6.0 (NetWeaver 7.0 to 7.5), ECC 5.0 and S/4HANA. It needs SAP Cloud Connector, the Integration Cell runtime and API Management, with BAPIs such as RFC_FUNCTION_SEARCH and BAPI_TRANSACTION_COMMIT allowed in Cloud Connector. | SAP Help: MCP server from an RFC-based backend |
| Rules for third-party servers | SAP allows third-party MCP servers against SAP APIs if the SAP API Policy is followed in full, every connection is authenticated, API rate limits are respected and the server is hardened. SAP warns that raw transactional APIs without semantic enrichment bring "a significant risk of incorrect business transactions" for writes. | SAP Architecture Center: Third-party MCP access |
| Token handling | SAP’s guidance says an MCP server must never pass the caller’s token straight to an SAP API. It should exchange it (OAuth 2.0 Token Exchange, RFC 8693) for a credential scoped to the tool that carries both the agent’s and the user’s identity. | SAP Architecture Center: Third-party MCP access |
| SAP and Anthropic | On May 12, 2026, SAP and Anthropic announced plans to embed Claude in SAP Business AI Platform, with agents working across S/4HANA, SuccessFactors, Ariba and other systems via MCP. The release names no availability date. | SAP News: SAP and Anthropic (May 12, 2026) |
| Copilot Studio pattern | SAP’s reference architecture connects Copilot Studio to the MCP gateway over Streamable HTTP with OAuth 2.0. Microsoft Entra ID is federated with SAP Cloud Identity Services, so each tool call runs as the signed-in SAP user under existing SAP authorizations. | SAP Architecture Center: Copilot Studio and the MCP gateway |
| S/4HANA Cloud API access | In S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition, an external OData API is opened through a communication arrangement with an inbound communication user, a technical user that the integration signs in with. | SAP Help: S/4HANA Cloud communication arrangement |
| Business One | As of SAP Business One 10.0 FP 2608, SAP provides MCP server sample code that exposes almost all Service Layer OData entities as tools, with confirmation before writes and redaction of personal data. | SAP Help: MCP Server for SAP Business One (sample code) |
| Business ByDesign APIs | ByDesign exposes data through custom OData services built in its OData Service Modeler. A caller sees exactly the records it could see in the assigned work center view, unless someone ticks "No Authorization Checks". | SAP Help: ByDesign OData User Guide |
| ECC support window | SAP committed mainstream maintenance for SAP Business Suite 7 core applications, including SAP ERP 6.0 (ECC), to the end of 2027, with optional extended maintenance to the end of 2030. | SAP News: Business Suite 7 maintenance |
Every way to connect SAP to AI
| Option | Type | Fits when | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| MCP gateway in SAP Integration Suite | Official | You run S/4HANA or ECC, already license Integration Suite, and want SAP-governed tools with OAuth or OIDC, rate limiting, monitoring and versioning, including non-SAP APIs. | Depends on your service plan. You still choose and describe the tools, and SAP warns that raw transactional APIs need semantic enrichment. On-premise systems need SAP Cloud Connector. |
| MCP servers generated by Joule Studio | Official | You build Joule agents on SAP BTP and want SAP to generate and run MCP servers from its semantic API catalog, including spec upgrades and security patching. | Built for Joule agents. SAP’s guidance doesn’t describe pointing Claude, ChatGPT or Copilot at these servers, so confirm with SAP before you plan on it. |
| SAP Business One sample code (FP 2608) | Official | Business One on FP 2608 or later, for learning and prototypes. Our SAP Business One MCP server page covers it in detail. | SAP calls it a sample for reference and learning, not necessarily production-ready. It is self-hosted, and SAP’s setup guides cover only Cline, GitHub Copilot, Goose and MCP Inspector. |
| Community OData-to-MCP bridges | Community | Developers testing against S/4HANA or ECC OData services: oisee/odata_mcp_go (OData v2 and v4, read-only modes, stdio or HTTP) or lemaiwo/btp-sap-odata-to-mcp-server (Cloud Foundry on BTP with the Destination service and principal propagation). | Community-maintained under MIT licenses. They expose entity-level create, update and delete, which SAP flags as risky for writes, and you own hosting, security and upgrades. |
| CData for ByDesign | Community | ByDesign reporting where nothing official exists. CData’s open-source server gives Claude Desktop read-only, SQL-style access. | Local and read-only, and it needs a licensed CData JDBC driver (a trial works for testing). Writes need CData’s commercial MCP Server or its Connect AI service. |
| Custom MCP server | Custom | You need tools that follow your SAP rules (pricing, credit, release strategies), span editions or systems, run on-premise, or cover ByDesign. | The operator carries full responsibility for security, availability and upgrades, as SAP’s guidance states, and must follow the SAP API Policy. Build time comes before value. |
Tools a SAP MCP server should expose
Start with read-only tools and add write actions once the team trusts the answers. Every write action below runs with a confirmation or approval step.
| Tool | Access | Risk | Purpose | Guard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
find_business_partner | Read | Low | Look up a customer or supplier by name, number or tax ID and return core master data. | Runs as the signed-in SAP user; returns only the fields the tool declares. |
get_sales_order_status | Read | Low | Return delivery, billing and credit-block status for one sales order. | Read-only; one order per call; SAP authorizations decide visibility. |
check_stock_availability | Read | Low | Show unrestricted, reserved and on-order stock for a material by plant, or an item by warehouse in Business One. | Read-only; a plant or warehouse filter is required. |
list_open_items | Read | Medium | List open receivables or payables for a business partner with due dates. | Company-code scope enforced by SAP roles; results capped and paged. |
trace_document_flow | Read | Low | Show the chain from sales order to delivery to invoice for one document. | Read-only; follows SAP document flow, with no free-form queries. |
create_sales_order | Write | Medium | Prepare a standard sales order and return a priced preview before saving. | Saves only after the user confirms the preview; pricing, credit and availability checks run in SAP; an idempotency key blocks duplicates. |
post_goods_receipt | Write | High | Post a goods receipt for a purchase order item. | Requires explicit approval; checks open quantity and tolerances first; logged with user and agent identity. |
release_purchase_order | Write | High | Release a purchase order under the user’s release strategy. | Approval only by a user who holds the release code in SAP; shows the order value and history, then asks the user to confirm. |
Connect it to Claude, ChatGPT or Copilot Studio
Claude
Add the server as a custom connector with its remote URL; for OAuth, enter the client ID and secret under Advanced settings. Claude connects from Anthropic’s cloud, so a server inside your network needs Anthropic’s IP ranges allowlisted. On Team and Enterprise plans an Owner adds the connector and each user then signs in, which keeps SAP authorizations per person. claude.ai and Claude Desktop cap tool results at about 150,000 characters, so page large SAP result sets.
ChatGPT
Turn on developer mode (Settings, then Security and login) and add the server under ChatGPT Plugins with its /mcp URL. Developer mode is for Pro, Plus, Business, Enterprise and Education accounts on the web, supports Streamable HTTP and SSE, and accepts OAuth or no authentication. ChatGPT treats any tool without a readOnlyHint as a write and asks for confirmation. For SAP systems that must stay private, OpenAI’s Secure MCP Tunnel runs a client inside your network that makes only outbound HTTPS calls.
Microsoft Copilot Studio
SAP publishes this exact pattern: Copilot Studio calls the Integration Suite MCP gateway over Streamable HTTP with the OAuth 2.0 authorization code flow, and Entra ID federation with SAP Cloud Identity Services maps each user to their SAP identity. Turn on generative orchestration, note that Copilot Studio uses MCP tools and resources (not prompts), and expect Power Platform data policies to govern the connection.
Claude implementation · Copilot implementation · ChatGPT implementation
Permissions, identity and audit
- S/4HANA Cloud integrations sign in as a communication user through a communication arrangement. Treat it as a service account limited to the communication scenarios your tools need.
- For per-user access, federate Microsoft Entra ID or your identity provider with SAP Cloud Identity Services and let the MCP gateway validate each token, as in SAP’s Copilot Studio architecture. SAP roles then decide what each person can read or post.
- Never forward a user’s token to SAP unchanged. SAP’s guidance calls for token exchange to a credential scoped to the tool, carrying both agent and user identity so actions are attributable.
- ECC and on-premise S/4HANA over RFC use the identity configured on the RFC destination, so scope it tightly. In Cloud Connector, allow the discovery and commit BAPIs SAP lists plus only the function modules your tools expose.
- Business One checks a b1_mcp:access scope and then applies the user’s B1 authorizations in Service Layer. ByDesign OData services follow the user’s work center view; leave "No Authorization Checks" off.
Hosting and network
- SAP names two patterns for custom servers: Pattern 1 runs on your own platform outside SAP BTP, and Pattern 2 runs on SAP BTP (Cloud Foundry, Kyma or containers). In both, the operator owns security, availability and upgrades.
- On-premise ECC and S/4HANA stay in your network. The MCP gateway reaches them through SAP Cloud Connector; a custom server can use Cloud Connector too, or run next to the system.
- Claude and ChatGPT call remote servers from their own clouds, so the endpoint must be public and protected, allowlisted, or reached through ChatGPT’s Secure MCP Tunnel.
- Log every tool call with user, agent, parameters (personal data redacted), SAP API, status and latency, as SAP’s guidance lists. Keep MCP rate limits at or below each SAP API’s published limits.
Cost and timeline
- A focused MCP server for one SAP system, for example read-only order and stock tools on S/4HANA or Business One, typically takes two to four weeks including security and evaluation.
- Servers that span SAP editions or other systems, such as ECC plus a Business One subsidiary or SAP plus a CRM, and agent workflows with approvals take longer and are scoped after a short discovery.
- The MCP gateway comes with Integration Suite where your service plan includes it, so check the entitlement (SAP Note 2903776) before comparing it with a custom build. CData’s commercial MCP Server and Connect AI are licensed separately.
- We start with read-only tools under the signed-in user’s identity and add write tools one at a time behind confirmation.
SAP MCP questions
Does SAP have an official MCP server?
Not one for all of SAP. SAP Integration Suite includes an MCP gateway that turns your SAP APIs, RFCs and other APIs into governed MCP servers, Business One has official sample code from FP 2608, and Joule Studio can generate MCP servers for Joule agents. ByDesign has nothing official, and the Claude integration SAP announced with Anthropic had no release date.
Which route fits my SAP edition?
S/4HANA (cloud, private or on-premise): the Integration Suite MCP gateway if you license it, or a custom server that follows SAP’s governance checklist. ECC 5.0 and 6.0: the gateway’s RFC route through SAP Cloud Connector. Business One: the FP 2608 sample or a production build on Service Layer. ByDesign: a custom server over its OData services, or CData for read-only reporting.
Can an MCP server post transactions in SAP?
Yes. MCP tools can call the same APIs, BAPIs and Service Layer entities any integration uses. SAP warns that writes through raw transactional APIs risk incorrect business transactions, so we expose narrow write tools with validation and a confirmation step, never a generic "update any entity" tool.
Does it work with Claude and Microsoft Copilot?
Yes. SAP publishes a reference architecture for Copilot Studio with the MCP gateway, and any remote MCP server that Anthropic’s cloud can reach can be added to Claude as a custom connector. ChatGPT connects in developer mode, and OpenAI’s Secure MCP Tunnel covers servers that must stay private.
Does it work with SAP ECC or on-premise S/4HANA?
Yes. The MCP gateway supports RFC backends on ECC 5.0, ECC 6.0 and S/4HANA through SAP Cloud Connector, and a custom server can call OData services or BAPIs directly. SAP’s mainstream maintenance for SAP ERP 6.0 ends in 2027 (extended maintenance runs to 2030), so design tools that can move to S/4HANA APIs.
Is there a free SAP MCP server?
The Business One sample is free to download under an MIT license, and the community OData bridges are open source. The MCP gateway is part of Integration Suite where your plan includes it. A free server still needs hosting, a security review and upkeep.
Is SAP’s ABAP MCP server for business data?
No. The ADT MCP server runs locally in ADT for Eclipse (port 2234 by default) to help developers with ABAP tasks. Business users’ questions about orders or stock need one of the routes above.
Build or buy?
Use the MCP gateway if you already run Integration Suite and your tools map to existing APIs. Build when you need business rules across systems, guarded writes, on-premise hosting you control, or an edition the official routes don’t cover, such as ByDesign. AIONDATA is an independent provider, so we recommend the official route when it is enough.
