An MCP server lets ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot and your own agents ask your ERP a fixed set of approved questions instead of guessing. In September 2026 Business Central and Odoo ship official servers, Sage X3 has one in early access and SAP Business One offers sample code, while we found none from Cegid for PHC, Primavera or Eticadata. A read-only server built on the ERP's own connection takes from hours to about three weeks, and GETMILK builds one from €2,900.
An MCP server is a small, secured service that lets ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot and your own agents ask your ERP a fixed list of approved questions, such as "stock of item X" or "open orders for customer Y", instead of guessing. In September 2026, Business Central and Odoo ship official servers, Sage X3 has one in early access and SAP Business One offers sample code; we found none from Cegid for PHC, Primavera or Eticadata, so there it is built on the ERP's own connection for outside software, read-only first. A first version takes from a few hours to about three weeks, depending mostly on whether the ERP runs in the cloud or on a server in the factory.
Key facts
- The Model Context Protocol's current revision is dated 28 July 2026, and it says a person should always be able to refuse an action the assistant wants to take [1] [2].
- Official ERP servers: Business Central (generally available since update 28.0, online only, read-only by default), Odoo (since Odoo Online 19.4, July 2026), Sage X3 (early access, select partners) and SAP Business One (sample code, 10.0 FP 2608) [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8].
- For PHC CS the only MCP product we found comes from a partner, TotalSoft, announced on 10 August 2026 [10].
- Licences come before code: connecting outside software to Odoo needs the Custom plan, and to Primavera the Plus edition or higher [11] [12].
- AI Act transparency duties apply from 2 August 2026; Annex III high-risk rules now start on 2 December 2027 [43] [16].
What is an MCP server, in plain terms?
The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard for connecting AI assistants to outside systems [1] [2]. For an ERP, think of it as a list of questions you have already decided may be asked, such as "what is the stock of this item?", "which orders are open for this customer?" or "what is the usual lead time?". The assistant never gets into your database; it only sees the answer to an approved question.
One server serves every compatible client: Claude as a custom connector on all plans [17], ChatGPT in developer mode on paid plans [18], and Microsoft Copilot Studio as an agent tool [19]. For the wider case, including buyers' agents looking for suppliers, see why every manufacturer should build an MCP server.
Which ERPs have an official MCP server today?
| ERP | Official MCP server | How we would connect | Licence condition | Read-only first version (GETMILK estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dynamics 365 Business Central (online) | Yes, generally available since 28.0; read-only until an admin switches on changes [3] [20] | Microsoft's server, plus extra connection pages for manufacturing data [21] | Manufacturing needs Premium [22] | hours to configure; 5–10 days for manufacturing data |
| Odoo 19.4 and later | Yes: five general-purpose questions, one shared access key [23] [5] | Odoo's standard connection for outside software [11] | Custom plan only [11] | 5–10 days |
| Odoo 17 / 18 | No | Odoo's older connection method, due for removal in Odoo 22 (fall 2028) [11] | Custom plan if hosted by Odoo | 5–10 days |
| SAP S/4HANA | No ready server for business data; SAP offers a kit to build one [24] | SAP's published connections, e.g. bills of material and availability [25] [26] | Digital Access counts documents created, not reads [27] | 10–15 days cloud; 15–25 on-premise |
| SAP Business One | Sample code from 10.0 FP 2608 [8] | SAP's standard connection for Business One [28] | check indirect access in your contract | 5–10 days |
| Cegid PHC CS | No; partner product TOTAL MCP Server [29] | PHC's web service on your own server [30] | web-service price not published | 8–15 days |
| Cegid PHC GO | No | PHC GO's online connection, with access issued by PHC [31] | monthly request packs [32] | 3–5 days |
| Cegid Primavera V10 / Evolution | No | Primavera's web connection on your server [33] | web connection in Plus or higher; Manufacturing in Premium or Ultimate [12] | 5–10 days |
| Eticadata | No | Eticadata's web services on your server [13] | each connected session uses an ERP licence [13] | 5–10 days |
| Sage 50 / 100 | No | Sage's developer kit, with Sage installed on the same Windows machine [34] [35] | none found | 8–15 days |
| Sage X3 | Early access, read-only [6] | Sage X3's web connection [36] | AI Gateway for select partners [7] | 3–6 days recent versions; 10–15 older |
Days are build days for 8 to 12 read-only questions, with sign-in, a log of every request and set-up, excluding waits for licences. They are GETMILK's estimates; no vendor publishes integration effort.
An official server is a start, not always the answer. Odoo's offers five general-purpose questions behind one shared access key [23], so the assistant still has to work out that manufacturing lead time is stored on the bill of materials [37]. Where the official server answers your questions, we use it; where it does not, we build a narrow one next to it.
How does an on-premise PHC, Primavera or Sage connect?
Primavera's web connection "always runs on a local server" [33], PHC CS publishes its web service from your own installation [30], and Sage's Portuguese developer kits need Sage on the same Windows machine [34] [35]. But Claude reaches a connector from Anthropic's cloud, so it must be reachable from the internet [17]. The pattern we use:
- A small connector next to the ERP that signs in with its own dedicated ERP user.
- A connection that only goes out from the factory, so nothing on the internet can open a door into your network and the firewall stays closed to incoming traffic. Cloudflare, for example, offers this kind of outbound-only link [38].
- A single public access point hosted in the EU, with sign-in, permissions per question, limits on how often it can be asked, and a log of every request.
So yes, ChatGPT can reach PHC, through such a connector. Cegid Pulse, the AI Cegid sells for PHC, works inside PHC [9] and is extended through Cegid's own "Prompt Functions" and "Smart Actions" [39]. TotalSoft's TOTAL MCP Server runs inside the company and logs every request [29]. For PHC CS the documented way in is a web service that runs a script configured in PHC [30]; we only allow fixed, pre-approved scripts or read-only views of the data, never open-ended ones. PHC GO has an online connection with access issued by PHC [31], limited to 100 logins a minute and by monthly request packs [32], so the server keeps recent answers to avoid repeat requests.
Primavera follows the same logic. There is no official server, but its web connection uses secure sign-in and per-service permissions set by the ERP administrator [33], and its reference includes Produção: fichas técnicas, orçamentação, cálculo de necessidades, ordens de fabrico and planeamento [40].
What should a factory expose first, and what is hard?
Start with the questions people already ask the ERP every week: items and their technical data, bills of material, stock by warehouse, open sales and purchase orders, nominal lead times and list prices. Each becomes one narrow, read-only question the assistant may ask; eight to twelve cover most plants. Three things are harder than they look:
- Promised dates. A lead time is a stored number; a date you can actually promise is a calculation. SAP S/4HANA can apply its own promise-date logic [26]. Elsewhere a first version reports stock, open orders and nominal lead times, not a promise.
- Prices. In Odoo, price-list rules are applied deep inside the software, not offered to outside systems [37], so we price through a draft quotation line or a small custom addition.
- Production data. SAP publishes bill-of-material connections [25], Sage X3's covers work orders [36] and Primavera documents Produção services [40]. Business Central's standard connection has no bills of material, production orders or routings [21], and we found no documented way into Manufactor for PHC CS, so those need extra connection pages or approved read-only views.
Is it safe to connect the ERP to ChatGPT or Claude?
As safe as the server's design. The controls we build in:
- Read-only first. Vendors do the same: Business Central's server stays read-only until an administrator turns on "Unblock Edit Tools" [20], and Sage X3's early-access server is read-only [6].
- Permissions per question. Every caller signs in and only gets the questions it has been granted; anything else is refused [41], and the list of questions it sees can depend on those permissions [2].
- A dedicated ERP user. Its rights still apply: Odoo checks every call against the user's access rights [11], and Business Central acts with the user's permissions [4].
- Audit log. Who asked, which question, with which details, and what came back. OWASP lists missing audit trails as a top MCP risk (MCP08) [42].
- Human approval for changes. ChatGPT asks for confirmation before changing anything by default [18]. Anything that writes to your ERP only creates drafts that a person confirms in the ERP.
- Protection against manipulated instructions. Poisoned tool descriptions (MCP03) and hidden instructions slipped into text (MCP06) are on the same OWASP list [42]. We keep descriptions fixed and never offer a question that lets the assistant run its own database queries.
If your plant falls under NIS2, these controls are also part of your compliance file. The directive covers manufacturers of electronics, electrical equipment, machinery, vehicles and other transport equipment (NACE divisions 26 to 30) and requires measures on supply-chain security, access control and multi-factor authentication [46]. Portugal transposed it with Decreto-Lei n.º 125/2025; the CNCS regulation that puts it into practice (Regulamento n.º 756/2026) gives entities 60 working days to register and self-identify on the MyCiber platform [47]. An AI connector to the ERP is a new supplier and a new access path, so document it. We cover this in detail in NIS2 and connecting your ERP to AI safely.
Does ERP data leave the EU, and does the AI Act apply?
Two questions hide here: where the MCP server runs, and where the AI model runs. Our servers, logs and connections sit in the EU. Claude bought directly from Anthropic runs in the US or globally, while through Amazon Bedrock and Google Cloud you choose the region [14]. If EU-only processing is a hard requirement, the assistants run on a model hosted in an EU region.
Article 50 of the AI Act requires telling people when they interact directly with an AI system, and applies from 2 August 2026 [43] [15]. The AI Omnibus, in force since 27 July 2026, moved the Annex III high-risk rules to 2 December 2027 [16]. Reading stock and drafting quotes is not an Annex III use; using the same data to monitor or evaluate the performance and behaviour of workers would be (point 4) [44].
What does it cost and how long does it take?
Our published prices for MCP for your ERP, excluding VAT:
- Read-only MCP server: from €2,900. One ERP, up to 12 read-only questions, secure sign-in, permissions and audit log.
- With actions: from €5,900. Draft quotes or orders behind a human approval step, where the ERP allows it: Business Central can create sales quotes [21], Sage X3's demo set-up cannot [36].
- Hosting and maintenance: from €90 a month. EU hosting, monitoring, ERP and MCP version updates.
For comparison, the median of 27 chatbot, virtual-assistant and AI-agent contracts registered on BASE, the Portuguese public-procurement portal, in 2025 and 2026 was €22,300 [45]. Those are public-sector assistants, not ERP connectors, but they are real published prices.
Time follows the table above. Outside anyone's control: ERP licences and, for SAP, Digital Access once the server starts creating documents, since reads are not counted [27]. What the server makes possible afterwards, agents that draft quotes and answer RFQs, is priced in how much an AI agent costs for a factory.
What to do next
- Write down the questions. List the ten or twenty questions your sales, planning and purchasing people ask the ERP every week (stock, open orders, lead times, prices). That list is exactly what the server will answer.
- Check what you already own. Find your ERP version and licence and compare them with the table: if you run Business Central online or Odoo 19.4 or later, turn on the official server first and test it against your list. If it answers, you may not need anyone to build anything.
- If it does not, get a fixed price. GETMILK builds a read-only MCP server for your ERP from €2,900 excluding VAT (30% to start, 70% when it works on your real data; you own the code). Start with the free 30-minute call; once the server exists, the same connection can feed AI agents that draft quotes for a person to approve.
References
- Model Context Protocol. Model Context Protocol specification, revision 2026-07-28 (28 July 2026)
- Model Context Protocol. Specification: Tools (user interaction model and security considerations) (28 July 2026)
- Microsoft Learn. What's new or changed in Business Central 2026 release wave 1, update 28.0 (April 2026)
- Microsoft Learn. Business Central MCP Server overview and setup (3 May 2026)
- Odoo. Odoo 19.4 release notes (July 2026)
- Sage Developer Portal. Sage X3 MCP Server: Early Access (setup and connection guide)
- Sage Developer Portal. Introducing the Sage X3 AI Gateway
- SAP Help Portal, SAP Business One 10.0 FP 2608. Working with MCP Server for SAP Business One
- Cegid. Cegid Pulse: módulo de IA do Cegid PHC
- TotalSoft (Cegid partner, secondary). TotalSoft leva a IA conversacional ao ERP Cegid PHC CS com o novo TOTAL MCP Server (10 August 2026)
- Odoo documentation. External JSON-2 API (Odoo 19.0)
- Cegid. Cegid Primavera ERP Evolution: Diferenciação funcional (6 March 2024)
- Eticadata (Cegid), GitHub. Eticadata.Cust.V22Samples: web API login, OpenCompany and LogoutUser
- Anthropic, Claude Platform documentation. Data residency: inference geo and workspace geo
- Cooley. Digital AI Omnibus Delays Key Deadlines, Introduces New Rules (3 August 2026)
- European Commission. AI Omnibus enters into force (27 July 2026)
- Anthropic, Claude Help Center. Get started with custom connectors using remote MCP
- OpenAI. ChatGPT Developer mode
- Microsoft Learn, Copilot Studio. Connect your agent to an existing Model Context Protocol (MCP) server (28 May 2026)
- Microsoft Learn. Configure Business Central MCP Server (3 May 2026)
- Microsoft Learn. API (v2.0) for Dynamics 365 Business Central: resource reference (10 August 2026)
- Microsoft. Dynamics 365 Business Central pricing
- Odoo documentation. AI MCP server
- SAP Developers. Create an MCP Server for Enterprise AI Agents (SAP Integration Suite)
- SAP Help Portal, S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition 2608. Operations for Bills of Material (Version 2), API_BILL_OF_MATERIAL_SRV
- SAP Help Portal, S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition 2608. Basic Product Availability Info, API_PRODUCT_AVAILY_INFO_BASIC
- SAP. Digital Access Adoption Program: overview (May 2019)
- GitHub (secondary). MCP Server for SAP Business One: sample README (third-party re-upload of SAP's sample code)
- TotalSoft (Cegid partner, secondary). TOTAL MCP Server: ligação segura de IA ao Cegid PHC CS
- Cegid PHC CS Help Center. Cegid PHC CS: configuração de API (web service wscript.asmx, RunCode)
- Cegid PHC GO Help Center. PHC GO API: gerar token de acesso
- Cegid PHC GO Help Center. O que são os limites de pedidos, como geri-los, quanto custam e como comprar mais
- Cegid Developers Network. Web API features (Primavera V10)
- Sage Portugal, GitHub. Sage 50c API examples
- Sage Portugal, GitHub. Sage 100c API: Gestão
- Sage. Sage X3 public demo GraphQL endpoint (schema queried on 27 September 2026)
- Odoo S.A., GitHub. Odoo 19.0 source code: mrp_bom.py and product_pricelist.py
- Cloudflare. Cloudflare Tunnel
- Cegid. Cegid ILA Developers Network
- Cegid Primavera. Produção: Primavera ERP v10 API documentation
- Model Context Protocol. Specification: Authorization (28 July 2026)
- OWASP Foundation. OWASP MCP Top 10 (2025)
- EUR-Lex, Official Journal of the European Union. Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (AI Act), Article 50 (transparency) and Article 113 (application dates) (12 July 2024)
- EUR-Lex, Official Journal of the European Union. Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (AI Act), Annex III: high-risk AI systems referred to in Article 6(2) (12 July 2024)
- BASE, Portal dos Contratos Públicos (IMPIC). BASE public contracts for chatbots, virtual assistants and AI agents, 2025 to 2026 (27 contracts, GETMILK analysis) (queried 27 September 2026)
- EUR-Lex, Official Journal of the European Union. Directive (EU) 2022/2555 (NIS2), Article 21 and Annex II (27 December 2022)
- digital.gov.pt, Portuguese Government. Cibersegurança: novas obrigações entram em vigor (Decreto-Lei n.º 125/2025, Regulamento n.º 756/2026) (updated 6 August 2026)
Questions people ask
- Is there an MCP server for Odoo or SAP?
- Odoo ships an official one since Odoo Online 19.4 (July 2026), with five general-purpose read-only questions and one shared access key; connecting outside software needs the Custom plan. SAP has no ready-made server for S/4HANA business data, only an Integration Suite kit to build one, and SAP Business One provides sample code from 10.0 FP 2608. When those general questions do not answer manufacturing questions such as lead times or bills of material, a narrow server on the ERP's published connections is the practical route.
- Can I connect ChatGPT to PHC or Primavera?
- Yes, but not with anything Cegid ships: Cegid Pulse, the AI in PHC, works inside the ERP. The route is an MCP server on PHC's or Primavera's own connection for outside software, reached through a small connector and a link that only goes out from the factory, so nothing can open a door into your network. Primavera's web connection is licensed only on the Plus, Premium and Ultimate editions.
- Is it safe to connect our ERP to AI?
- It is if the server is designed for it: read-only questions first, secure sign-in with a permission per question, a dedicated ERP user with minimal rights, a log of every request, and changes limited to drafts a person approves in the ERP. The assistant only sees the answers to the questions you approved.
- How long does it take and how much does it cost?
- By GETMILK's estimates, from hours for Business Central's own server to about three weeks for PHC, Primavera or Sage on your own server. GETMILK builds a read-only MCP server from €2,900, one with draft quotes or orders from €5,900, and hosts and maintains it from €90 a month, excluding VAT, at a fixed price with 30% to start and 70% when it works on your real data.
- Does our ERP data leave the EU, and does the AI Act apply?
- The MCP server and its logs can run in the EU, but the model side depends on the assistant: Claude bought directly from Anthropic runs only in the US or globally, so use a model hosted in an EU region if processing must stay in the EU. Under the AI Act, telling people they are dealing with AI applies from 2 August 2026, and an assistant that reads stock and drafts quotes is not high-risk unless it is used to monitor or evaluate workers.