Setting up the Thrive MCP Server

This guide walks you through connecting the Thrive MCP Server to your AI tool of choice. Once connected, you can manage content, users, skills, and more through natural conversation – no more clicking through admin screens.

It's just as powerful for your learners. Your users can ask their AI assistant to find the right course, surface content matched to their skills and goals, or simply tap into the knowledge in your portal – all in plain language, without hunting through menus.

Setup takes a few minutes and only needs to be done once per tool.

Who should do this?

This is a one-time setup carried out by an administrator – typically your IT, platform, or AI admin – not something each end user does individually. You'll need admin permissions in your AI tool (Claude, Microsoft Copilot, or Gemini Enterprise) to add a connector. Once the admin has connected Thrive, it becomes available to your users; they simply sign in with their own Thrive account and start using it.

Before You Start: Get Your Credentials

To connect, you'll need at least three things from Thrive:

• Your MCP Server URL – a unique web address for your platform, in the form https://<your-mcp-server>/t/<your-tenant>/mcp

• A Client ID – identifies your AI tool to Thrive

• A Client Secret – a password-like value that authorises the connection

If you're not using Claude, you'll also need two more URLs from Thrive:

• An Authorization URL – where your tool sends users to sign in

• A Token URL – where your tool exchanges the sign-in for a secure token

Claude discovers these two automatically from the MCP Server URL, so you only need them for Microsoft Copilot, Gemini Enterprise, and most other tools.

Note:

To get your credentials and configuration details, please speak to our Support team. They will ensure the connection for your tool is set up and send you the values above.

Important:

Keep your Client Secret private - treat it like a password.

When you first connect, you'll be asked to log in through your normal Thrive sign-in page.

The AI tool never sees your password – it only receives a secure token after you've logged in, and you can revoke access at any time.

Getting Set Up in Claude

You can connect from Claude on the web (claude.ai), the Claude desktop app, or Claude Code. The steps below cover claude.ai; the desktop app is almost identical.

1. Open claude.ai and sign in.

2. Click your profile in the bottom-left, then go to Organization Settings > Connectors.

3. Click Add custom connector and select Web.
   

4. Give it a name (for example, Thrive).

5. Paste your MCP Server URL into the URL field.
   

6. Expand Advanced settings and enter the Client ID and Client Secret from Thrive.

7. Click Add, then Connect.

8. A browser window opens to your Thrive sign-in page. Log in as you normally would.

9. Once you're returned to Claude, the connector shows as connected. Thrive's tools are now available in your conversations.

To check it’s working: ask Claude something like “Do I have any assigned learning on Thrive?”

Getting Set Up in Microsoft Copilot

Thrive connects to Copilot as a custom connector/agent. Depending on your organisation, this may be set up by an administrator in Copilot Studio and then shared with your team.

1. Open Copilot Studio (or the Copilot connector setup area provided by your IT team).

2. Go to Tools.

3. Click on New Tool and select Model Context Protocol.

4. Enter a Server Name, Server Description, and set the Server URL to the MCP URL provided to you by Thrive.
   

5. Select OAuth 2.0 for Authentication, then Manual.

6. Enter the Client ID and Client Secret supplied by Thrive, along with the Authorization URL and Token URL.

7. Save the tool.

8. Go to Agents, and create a new Agent.

9. Find the Tools section, and select Add tool.

   

10. Find the tool you just created with its name, then add it.

11. You will be asked to create a connection, and login to Thrive as part of this.

12. Once you go through the login flow, your agent should be ready to use.

Note:

Microsoft Copilot's connector setup varies by licence and admin configuration. If you don't see the options above, your IT team or Thrive contact can help complete the setup.

To check it's working: ask your Copilot Agent something like "Do I have any assigned learning on Thrive?"

Getting Set Up in Gemini Enterprise

Thrive connects to Gemini Enterprise as an MCP tool/data source within your agent configuration.

1. Open your Gemini Enterprise admin area.

2. Click on Data Stores and choose to Create data store.

   

3. Select Custom MCP Server preview.

4. Enter all the URLs and credentials as provided by Thrive.

5. For Scopes, set email openid profile - all lowercase, single space between them.

6. Do not check "Enable PKCE Support".

7. You'll be taken to your Thrive sign-in page. Log in as normal.

8. Once the Data Stores is connected to your app, you will be able to ask questions about Thrive through your Gemini Enterprise chat interface.

To check it's working: ask your Gemini Enterprise app something like "Do I have any assigned learning on Thrive?"

Troubleshooting