Here you'll connect to Claude Code and use the MCP server as your coding companion to explore sheet structure, understand your data, and prepare for writing API code. (These connection principles work across MCP-compatible AI clients.)
These connection principles work across MCP-compatible AI clients. For client-specific setup, see Install the Smartsheet MCP server.
If you don't already have a Smartsheet API token, generate one following the instructions here.
Then set an environment variable to hold your token value, for referencing in your configuration.
export SMARTSHEET_API_TOKEN="token value"The command may vary depending on your operating system and/or shell environment.
Use Claude Code's CLI, to configure your connection.
claude mcp add --transport http smartsheet-mcp \
https://mcp.smartsheet.com \
-H "Authorization:Bearer ${SMARTSHEET_API_TOKEN}"If you're using a regional server outside of the US, replace the MCP server URL with one for your region:
- For Europe, use
https://mcp.smartsheet.eu - For Australia, use
https://mcp.smartsheet.au
In your agent chat, test your connection.
Prompt:
List the Smartsheet MCP server tools.
The response includes Smartsheet tools such as get_sheet_summary and more.
You've connected to the Smartsheet MCP server; you're ready to start coding.
Connected to the MCP server, AI is your Smartsheet coding companion.
Also, you can leverage the MCP server in agent development.
The following example conversation demonstrates getting sheet's column structure, so you can code sheet updates.
Prompt:
Get the columns for my sheet called "ABC Task Intake".
Response:
I'll search for the "ABC Task Intake" sheet first to get its ID, then run get_columns on it.
Search Smartsheet Assets >
Perfect! Found it. Now let me get the columns for that sheet:
Get Columns >
Perfect! Here's the complete column schema for the "ABC Task Intake" sheet (ID: 1234567890) with 5 columns:
# Column Name Type Primary System Type ID Options Validation Width 1 ID TEXT_NUMBER Yes - 7851536014413700 - No 150 2 Task Name TEXT_NUMBER No - 2222036480200580 - No 150 3 Status PICKLIST No - 6725636107571076 Not started, In progress, Complete Yes 150 4 Assignee CONTACT_LIST No - 4473836293885828 - No 150 5 Created date DATETIME No CREATED_DATE 18168501538692 - No 150 Key observations:
- Primary column: "ID" (TEXT_NUMBER)
- System column: "Created date" (automatically populated system column)
- Status tracking: Picklist with 3 predefined options (Not started, In progress, Complete) with validation enabled
- Contact assignment: "Assignee" column for tracking task owners
- Simple structure: This is a straightforward task intake sheet with 5 essential columns for tracking basic task information
Now you know the sheet structure and can add and update rows in your sheet!
Explore the Smartsheet MCP server tools to learn the latest capabilities and get work done faster.