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Hands-on test · run on 2026-11-12monday.com’s MCP server, tested with Claude Code: everything worked on the Free plan, nothing worked after an expired trial
On 12 November 2026 we connected Claude Code, Anthropic’s coding agent, to monday.com’s hosted MCP server and asked it to build a small board: columns, items, a comment, a status change and a count per status. The first run happened to hit an account whose Pro trial had ended, and the server refused almost everything with a bare “403”. After we moved the account to monday’s Free plan, the same steps all worked.
On monday’s Free plan, Claude Code built a board through the MCP server in 13 calls: two columns, two items, a dated status, a comment and a count per status. On the same account with an expired Pro trial, the server still created and deleted boards but refused columns and items with a 403 that did not say why.AIBuilder Marketplace, hands-on test, 12 November 2026
How we tested
- Connection. We added
https://mcp.monday.com/mcpto Claude Code as a remote (HTTP) server, the endpoint monday publishes in its machine-readable card atmonday.com/.well-known/mcp.json, and signed in once through monday’s OAuth page. - Our own test account, from our earlier monday test, with one member. Its Pro trial had ended; we only found that out from the first run (below).
- Plain-language instructions. Claude Code (on Anthropic’s Sonnet model) got numbered steps and picked the tools itself. We logged each call, its input and the answer, and checked the board in monday afterwards.
What happened, step by step
Run 1: the Pro trial had expired
| Step | What we saw | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Who am I | get_user_context returned the user and account, with an empty plan tier ("tier": null). | no plan shown |
| Board | A private board was refused (“User unauthorized to perform action”, 403); a public board was created. | partly |
| Columns and items | A status column, a date column and both items were all refused: FORBIDDEN_EXCEPTION and “User unauthorized to perform action”, 403 each time. Nothing in the answer mentioned the trial or the plan. | refused |
| Delete | The server has no tool to delete a board or an item, but it does offer all_monday_api, which runs any GraphQL request. A delete_board mutation through it worked. | worked |
Opening monday in the browser explained it: a full-screen notice that the Pro trial had ended, asking us to pick a plan before using the account. The app said so plainly; the MCP server only said 403.
Run 2: the same account on the Free plan
| Step | What we saw | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Who am I | get_user_context now showed "tier":"free". | worked |
| Board | create_board made a public board “AIBM MCP test”; get_board_info read back one Name column and one group. | worked |
| Columns | A status column and a date column were created. The status labels came out in Dutch (“Ermee bezig”, “Klaar”, “Vastgelopen”) because the account is set to Dutch: the server follows the account’s language. | worked |
| Items | “Check pricing page” with status “working on it” and due date 20 November, and “Check signup flow” without values. | worked |
| Comment | create_update posted an update on the first item; it shows as a speech bubble with a 1 on the board. | worked |
| Status change | change_item_column_values set the second item to “done”; reading the items back confirmed both values. | worked |
| Count per status | board_insights grouped by the status column: one item “working on it”, one “done”. Labels nobody uses are left out rather than shown as zero. | worked |
What it means if you use monday.com
monday says in its own MCP FAQ that MCP is available on all plans at no extra cost, and on the Free plan that held up: everything we asked for worked, in 13 calls. The board in monday also showed “AI credits used up” while the MCP calls went through, so in our test the MCP work did not draw on monday’s own AI credits.
The weak spot is the error message. When an account is in a state the app blocks, such as an ended trial, the server answers with a generic 403, and an agent cannot tell a missing permission from a missing plan. Two more things to know before you connect an agent: there is no delete tool, but all_monday_api can run any GraphQL request your account is allowed to make, deletes included; and labels follow your account language, so an agent working in English may get Dutch, German or French status names back.
Want to try it yourself? Everything above worked on monday’s Free plan: start with monday.com (our affiliate link). If you are offered a free Pro month that needs a card, the Free plan is the small link at the bottom of that screen.
Screens from the test
One more thing we noticed on the way to the Free plan: monday’s downgrade path first offers another 30 days of Pro for €0, with card details required and billing from day 31 unless you cancel. The Free plan is a small link at the bottom of that screen.
What this test does not show
- Paid-plan features. Automations, dashboards, private boards and guests through MCP on Standard or Pro: not tested.
- Monday’s agent and Vibe tools. The server also offers tools for monday’s own agents and Vibe apps; we did not use them.
- Large boards. Two items; we did not test paging through thousands.
- Other clients. Only Claude Code.
Our monday.com review: monday.com. Our other MCP tests: ClickUp · Miro. How we separate researched reviews from hands-on ones: how we review.
AIBuilder Marketplace, “monday.com’s MCP server, tested with Claude Code”, hands-on test run on 2026-11-12. Free to quote and reproduce with attribution (CC BY 4.0).