Upwork MCP Server

Connect your AI agent to Upwork. Search talent, post jobs, manage contracts, and get answers from your account — right inside Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, and any other AI tool that supports MCP.

Set up in your agent

See what you can do

What is the Upwork MCP Server

Upwork's official MCP server built on the Model Context Protocol, the open standard that lets AI agents connect to external services. Add it once to your AI agent, log in with your Upwork account, and the agent can work with Upwork on your behalf: find talent, post jobs, respond to invitations, submit proposals, review offers, and manage active contracts.

Built on Upwork's trusted infrastructure

You are in control. The connector requires an Upwork account and utilizes OAuth 2.1. You control data access and revoke permissions at any time from your Upwork account settings.

Money stays on Upwork. Every financial action (funding escrow, accepting an offer, paying a milestone) completes on upwork.com.
‍
Upwork's trusted infrastructure behind every action. Payments, contracts, dispute resolution, and the vetted talent pool you already trust. MCP just makes them reachable by your agent.

What you can do

Hire, win jobs, and manage work inside your AI agent

Three roles, one connector. Here's everything Upwork MCP Server unlocks for each, and what's shared across all three.

Client

Dashboard & overview

Pull a one-call summary of new proposals, pending offers, messages, and contract updates.

Find and shortlist talent

Search freelancers by skill, category, rate, or location. Pull up ranked profiles and compare full work history side by side, all inside the conversation.

Post and manage jobs

Draft a job post from a short brief, review it, and publish to the Upwork marketplace. Edit live postings and browse your listings alongside the wider marketplace.

Invitations and proposals

Invite specific freelancers to apply, and review proposals received, with ranked summaries. Decline proposals you're not moving forward with.

Offers and contracts

Prepare an offer with scope and rate. You complete the binding offer on upwork.com so it only activates after you confirm. See active contracts and terms.

Milestones and payments

Create, edit, approve, or reject milestones. All fund movements confirm on upwork.com.

Financials and time reports

Pull timesheets, work diaries, and transaction history across your active contracts.

Messaging

Read message threads and send messages to freelancers or applicants.

Talent lists

Save freelancers to talent lists, create new lists, and browse members for future roles.

Account and access

List available Upwork accounts (freelancer, client, agency) and view account and company details.

File attachments

Upload, download, and confirm attachments for use on proposals, offers, jobs, and messages.

Draft-confirm

Every write action is a draft you confirm separately, never a one-shot commit. Binding actions (offers, milestone funding) complete on upwork.com, and confirmation settings are adjustable per tool in your agent.

Freelancer

Dashboard & overview

Pull a one-call summary of invitations, offers, messages, matched jobs, and your Connects balance.

Find the right jobs

Search jobs by skill, category, budget, or type. Pull matches and recommendations based on your profile, and save favorites for later.

Draft and submit proposals

Generate a proposal draft grounded in your profile, past work, and the job requirements. Review before submitting. Connects only apply when you confirm.

Respond to invitations and offers

See invitations and direct offers in one place. Accept, decline, or ask for changes. Binding acceptance finishes on upwork.com so the contract only starts after you agree.

Contracts and work delivery

View active contracts, submit milestone work, and track logged time.

Earnings and profile

Check earnings and available balance. Update your availability, employment, languages, education, and portfolio.

Messaging

Read and send messages, and upload or download attachments.

Profile visibility

Manage your availability badge and profile boost ads.

Account and access

List available Upwork accounts (freelancer, client, agency) and view account and company details.

File attachments

Upload, download, and confirm attachments for use on proposals, offers, jobs, and messages.

Draft-confirm

Agency

Agencies work the same way freelancers do above (proposals, contracts, earnings), plus a team-wide view across every member.

Agency dashboard

Pull a one-call overview across your whole agency: every team member's invitations, offers, messages, and contracts in one summary.

Teams and members

View your agency's teams, members, and organization details.

/ / SET UP IN YOUR AI AGENT

Set up the Upwork MCP Server

Works in Claude (Web, Desktop, Code), ChatGPT, Cursor (App, CLI), Codex (App, CLI), and any other MCP-compatible agent. Upwork MCP Server is hosted at https://mcp.upwork.com/mcp, so there's no local install. Authentication uses OAuth 2.1 with dynamic client registration. Pick your agent below, add the server URL, and log in to Upwork in the browser window that opens. Your credentials are stored and refreshed automatically.

Server URL: https://mcp.upwork.com/mcp

Claude Desktop

Option A — Install from the directory (recommended)

1.

Go to https://claude.ai/directory/connectors/upwork, or in the desktop app open Customize → Connectors → Add → Browse connectors and search for Upwork
2.

Click Connect, then log in to Upwork and authorize the connection.

Option B — Add manually

1.

Go to claude.ai/customize/connectors or open Customize → Connectors in the desktop app.
2.

Click Add, then Add custom connector.
3.

Enter name: Upwork
4.

Enter the server URL: https://mcp.upwork.com/mcp
5.

Click Add.
6.

Click Connect, then log in to Upwork and authorize the connection.

To use the connector in a conversation, click + in the chat input, choose Connectors, and enable Upwork.

Plan requirements: Free plan users are limited to one custom connector. Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise plans support multiple connectors. On Team and Enterprise, an Owner must add the connector first via Organization Settings → Connectors, after which members connect individually.

Claude Code

Run this command in your terminal:

claude mcp add --transport http upwork https://mcp.upwork.com/mcp

Then open a Claude Code session and run /mcp to complete the OAuth login flow.

ChatGPT 

Coming soon to the ChatGPT connector directory.

1.

In ChatGPT, go to Settings → Plugins → Developer Mode and toggle Developer Mode on.
2.

In Plugins, click (+) to add a custom plugin.
3.
Enter:
- Name: Upwork
- Server URL: https://mcp.upwork.com/mcp
- Authentication: OAuth
4.

Click Create.
5.

Click Sign in. ChatGPT will open a browser window. Log in to Upwork and authorize the connection.

Plan requirements: Custom MCP connectors are available on Plus, Pro, Team, Business, and Enterprise plans. Developer Mode must be enabled first.

Model effort requirement: Reasoning effort set to Medium or High. Set this in the model picker (Model → Effort). Instant does not support MCP tool calls.

Note for Business and Enterprise plans: A workspace admin or owner must enable Developer Mode in Workspace Settings → Permissions & Roles → Connected Data before members can add custom plugins.

Codex: App and CLI

The Codex plugin and CLI share the same ~/.codex/config.toml file, so setup is identical for both.

Option A: CLI command

codex mcp add upwork --url https://mcp.upwork.com/mcp

This opens a browser window where you log in to Upwork and authorize the connection. Your credentials are stored and refreshed automatically.

Option B: Edit config directly

Open ~/.codex/config.toml and add:

[features]
experimental_use_rmcp_client = true

[mcp_servers.upwork]
url = "https://mcp.upwork.com/mcp"

Then log in:

codex mcp login upwork

To verify the connection, open Codex and run /mcp.

Cursor: App and CLI

Via the Settings UI

1.

Open Cursor Settings → Tools & MCP → New MCP Server.

In the mcp.json file that opens, add the following under mcpServers:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "upwork": {
      "url": "https://mcp.upwork.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

3.

Save the file. Cursor will show the server in the MCP panel with a Needs login status.
4.

Click Needs login and complete the OAuth flow in your browser.

Via config file

Edit ~/.cursor/mcp.json (global, all projects) or .cursor/mcp.json in a project folder (project-scoped) with the same JSON block above. Save and toggle the server off/on in Settings → Tools & MCP to reload without restarting. Authenticate by clicking Needs login in the panel.

Other MCP-compatible tools

Any agent that supports remote MCP servers with OAuth can connect using the server URL below. Refer to your agent's documentation for how to add a remote MCP server.

https://mcp.upwork.com/mcp

/ / COMMON QUESTIONS

FAQ

Is this connector official?

Yes. Upwork MCP Server is built and maintained by Upwork and hosted at mcp.upwork.com. It's the only official connector for AI agents.

Is Upwork MCP Server free?

Yes. Upwork MCP Server is free to use with any Upwork account. Standard Upwork fees apply to work that happens through it, the same fees you'd pay on the web. Freelancers spend Connects to submit proposals through the connector, exactly like on Upwork.com.

Which AI agents work with Upwork MCP Server?

Any AI agent that supports remote MCP servers with OAuth. That includes Claude (Web, Desktop, Code), ChatGPT, Cursor (App, CLI), and Codex (App, CLI). Any other MCP-compatible agent (Windsurf, Cline, VS Code, Goose, and others) can connect using the server URL: https://mcp.upwork.com/mcp.

Does Upwork store API keys or my AI conversations?

No. Upwork MCP Server uses the same secure APIs you'd use through the Upwork website or public API. There are no API keys to manage. Your conversation history stays in your AI agent. Upwork never has access to your chat logs.

What data can the connector access?

Only what's included in the Upwork MCP Server authorization for your account. Today, connecting grants the full set of scopes. The connector cannot access data outside your Upwork account, and it only sees your own data.

Can I revoke access?

Yes. Go to Account Settings → Connected Apps and remove the connector. This immediately invalidates the access and refresh tokens.

Will Upwork take actions without my confirmation?

No. Write actions (posting a job, sending a message, submitting a proposal) are drafted first and require your confirmation. Binding financial actions (sending or extending an offer, milestone payments, contract acceptance) complete on upwork.com, not inside the agent.

I'm getting an authentication error. What do I do?

Your access token may have expired. Try disconnecting and reconnecting the integration to refresh your tokens. If the issue persists, check that your Upwork account is in good standing and that you're authorizing with the account you intend to use.

The connector isn't showing up in my agent. What do I do?

Make sure you're using the Upwork MCP Server URL https://mcp.upwork.com/mcp exactly. Some agents require a restart after adding a new MCP server. If the issue continues, refer to your agent's MCP troubleshooting docs.

Is there a rate limit?

The connector follows Upwork's standard rate limits. For most use cases (searching talent, reading contracts, sending messages), you're unlikely to hit them. High-volume automated workflows may require a dedicated API key. Contact Upwork developer support for details.

My agent isn't listed above. Does it work?

If your agent supports remote MCP with OAuth, it will work with the Upwork connector. We're actively testing and verifying more agents. Check back for an updated list, or try connecting manually using the server URL above.

Can an AI agent hire on my behalf without me?

Not today. In the current release, a person confirms every binding action.

Ready to bring Upwork into your AI agent?

Add the MCP server, log in with your Upwork account, and you're ready in under a minute.

Set up in your agent

Contact developer support

* Last updated: Aug 4, 2026