Staircase AI MCP Connector — Now Available

Bring customer intelligence directly into the AI tools your teams already use

Claude Desktop ChatGPT Desktop Gemini CLI

Gainsight’s MCP connects your live customer intelligence from Staircase to tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini—so every answer, insight, and recommendation is grounded in real customer context.

From question to customer intelligence in seconds.

A simple, secure flow that turns any prompt into customer-aware intelligence.

1

You ask

Start with a simple prompt in your AI assistant. Ask about meeting prep, account health, stakeholder alignment, or renewal risk.

"Prep me for my meeting with Acme Corp tomorrow."
2

AI connects to Staircase

Behind the scenes, your AI securely accesses Staircase to gather the customer context needed to answer your question.

Account health Stakeholders Early risk indicators Expansion opportunities
3

Ready-to-use insight

Receive a structured, customer-aware response you can use immediately.

⏱️ 60 seconds vs. 30+ min manual

What is MCP?
Model Context Protocol

An open standard that lets AI assistants securely connect to business tools and data sources. Before MCP, AI only knew what you typed. With MCP, it can look things up.

Developed by Anthropic and adopted by OpenAI and Google — it's the universal adapter for AI tools. Staircase's MCP connector uses this standard to give your AI access to customer intelligence.

Real workflows. Real impact.

Every workflow below reflects how customers are actually using Staircase today, drawn from 64,000+ real queries across 243 organizations.

Meeting Prep

Meeting Prep in 60 Seconds

Walk into every call prepared.

Saves 15–30 min
Before
Open Staircase, check Salesforce, skim email threads, scan support tickets. Cobble it together in your head 5 minutes before the call.
With MCP
Ask your AI to prep you. It pulls health data, recent concerns, wins, and stakeholder context — structured into a ready-to-use brief with talking points.
Try This Prompt
I have a meeting with [Account Name] tomorrow.

Query Staircase for:
- Current account health and sentiment
- Recent concerns or risks mentioned
- Recent wins or positive moments
- Key stakeholder engagement

Create a meeting prep brief with:
- Top 3 things to know going in
- Potential landmines to avoid
- Suggested talking points
What you get:

A structured one-page brief covering health snapshot, key risks, wins to reference, and suggested conversation flow.

Meeting Prep

QBR Outline Builder

Structure your QBR with evidence from the last quarter.

Saves 45-90 min
Before
Dig through dashboards, export slides from Salesforce, skim call notes, and piece together wins and risks the night before the QBR.
With MCP
Ask your AI to build the outline. It pulls performance trends, renewal outlook, stakeholder shifts, risks, and expansion signals — structured into a polished, executive-ready QBR framework.
Try This Prompt
I'm preparing a QBR for [Account Name].

Query Staircase for the last quarter of activity and create a QBR outline covering:
- Wins and milestones achieved
- Challenges and how we addressed them
- Upcoming priorities and success metrics
- Expansion opportunities

Include specific evidence where relevant.
What you get:

A structured QBR outline with evidence from account communications — ready to drop into a slide deck.

Meeting Prep

Pre-Call Research for AEs

Self-serve account context — no CSM back-channel needed.

Saves 15-30 min
Before
Scan CRM notes, dig through email threads, check product usage, and piece together context before a prospect or expansion call.
With MCP
Ask your AI for a call brief. It surfaces relationship history, sentiment trends, open risks, product adoption signals, and expansion opportunities — all structured for a confident, informed conversation.
Try This Prompt
I'm an AE preparing for a call with [Account Name] about expanding their usage.

Query Staircase for:
- Current relationship health and satisfaction level
- Recent product feedback or feature requests
- Key stakeholders and what they've been discussing
- Any expansion signals or growth indicators

Create a pre-call cheat sheet with talking points.
What you get:

A sales-ready cheat sheet with relationship context, recent feedback, and expansion angles.

Account Health

Risk Escalation Workflow

Full risk context — fast — when a signal fires.

Saves 1-2 hrs
Before
Manually investigate warning signs, search past emails, check health scores, and Slack leadership to piece together what’s actually happening.
With MCP
Ask your AI to assess the risk. It surfaces sentiment shifts, stakeholder changes, open issues, and renewal exposure — structured into a clear escalation brief with recommended next steps.
Try This Prompt
[Account Name] has been flagged as at-risk.

Query Staircase for a deep risk assessment:
- What specific risk signals are present?
- When did the sentiment shift start?
- What stakeholders are involved?
- What actions have already been taken?
- What do we need to do immediately?
What you get:

A risk brief with timeline of how the situation developed and a recommended response plan.

Onboarding & Handoffs

Seamless Account Handoffs

Get full context on a new account without hours of digging.

Saves 2-4 hrs
Before
Spend half a day reading CRM notes, searching email threads, asking colleagues "what's the deal with this account?" You still miss the nuance.
With MCP
Ask for a comprehensive onboarding brief. The AI synthesizes months of communication history into a handoff document — stakeholder dynamics, open issues, first actions.
Try This Prompt
I'm taking over [Account Name] from a colleague.

Query Staircase for comprehensive account context and create an onboarding brief covering:
- Key stakeholders and their relationships
- Recent history (wins and challenges)
- Current priorities and concerns
- Red flags to watch
- Recommended first 30-day actions
What you get:

A structured onboarding brief capturing months of relationship context — who the key people are, what they care about, where the risks are.

Onboarding & Handoffs

New Hire Account Briefing Pack

An entire book of business understood in hours, not weeks.

Saves 1-2 weeks ramp
Before
Shadow calls, read through scattered notes, skim CRM history, and spend weeks piecing together account context.
With MCP
Ask your AI to generate a new hire briefing pack. It compiles account history, stakeholder relationships, goals, risks, renewal timeline, and growth signals into a structured overview that accelerates ramp time.
Try This Prompt
I'm onboarding a new CSM who is taking over these accounts: [Account 1], [Account 2], [Account 3].

For each account, query Staircase and create a brief covering:
- Account health and sentiment summary
- Key stakeholders and their engagement
- Top 3 things the new CSM needs to know
- Current risks or concerns
- Recommended first actions
What you get:

A briefing pack for the entire portfolio — what used to take weeks of shadowing, delivered before Day 1.

Outreach

Contextual Email Drafting

Personalized outreach grounded in real account context.

Saves 10-20 min
Before
Open the account in Staircase. Read recent conversations. Copy a few details into a draft. Try to make it sound natural. Repeat for every email.
With MCP
Tell your AI who you're writing to and why. It pulls recent context and drafts a personalized email referencing real conversations and acknowledging actual priorities.
Try This Prompt
I need to re-engage [Stakeholder Name] at [Account Name] — we haven't connected in a while.

Query Staircase for recent activity and context, then draft a personalized email that:
- References something specific from recent communications
- Acknowledges their priorities or challenges
- Offers clear value for reconnecting
- Sounds conversational, not salesy
What you get:

A ready-to-send email grounded in real account context — not a template, but a message that shows you've been paying attention.

Portfolio & Reporting

Weekly Portfolio Triage

Prioritized view of what needs attention this week.

Saves 30-60 min/week
Before
Monday morning: open portfolio dashboard, scan health scores, check declining accounts, review upcoming renewals. By the time you've triaged, half the morning is gone.
With MCP
Ask for a prioritized portfolio view. The AI scans across all accounts for risk signals, declining engagement, and opportunities — ranked by urgency with specific recommended actions.
Try This Prompt
What are the top concerns across my portfolio?

For any accounts with risk signals, tell me:
- What the signal is
- How urgent it is
- What I should do about it this week

Prioritize by urgency.
What you get:

A prioritized list of accounts needing attention, with specific context on why and recommended next actions — your weekly game plan in under a minute.

Portfolio & Reporting

Executive Briefing on Any Account

On-demand account intelligence for leadership — no CSM required.

Saves 20-45 min
Before
Slack the CSM: "What's the latest on Acme?" Wait for a response. If it's urgent, dig through dashboards yourself. Go into the meeting underprepared.
With MCP
Ask for an executive briefing. The AI pulls health data, risks, opportunities, and recent activity — formatted for an executive audience. Concise, strategic, decision-ready.
Try This Prompt
Summarize [Account Name]'s health, risks, and opportunities for an executive briefing.

Include:
- Health status and trend
- Key wins from the last quarter
- Active risks or concerns
- Strategic opportunities
- Recommended executive talking points
What you get:

A one-page executive briefing with health trajectory, key risks, and strategic talking points — same quality as a CSM-prepared brief, available on demand.

Portfolio & Reporting

Portfolio Health Report

Weekly health synthesis without the data assembly work.

Saves 30-60 min
Before
Export reports, review health scores, scan recent activity, and manually synthesize themes across dozens of accounts.
With MCP
Ask your AI for a weekly portfolio health summary. It analyzes account health trends, sentiment shifts, emerging risks, and expansion signals — delivering a clear executive-ready synthesis in seconds.
Try This Prompt
Which accounts have churn risk indicators?

Group them by severity and for each include:
- The primary risk signal
- How long the signal has been active
- Recommended action
- Renewal date if known
What you get:

A structured risk report sorted by severity with specific signals and recommended actions — ready to share with leadership.

Renewal

Renewal Risk Assessment

Walk into every renewal conversation confident and prepared.

Saves 30-60 min
Before
Pull up the account 4–6 weeks before renewal. Review health scores. Scan support history. Read through meeting notes. Build a case manually.
With MCP
Ask for a renewal prep document. The AI reviews the full relationship arc and structures it into a renewal-ready brief with value narrative, risk mitigation, and expansion angles.
Try This Prompt
Help me prepare for [Account Name]'s renewal conversation.

Query Staircase for:
- Relationship health summary and trend
- Value delivered (wins and milestones)
- Open concerns to address before renewal
- Expansion opportunities
- Risk factors (competitor mentions, budget concerns, stakeholder changes)

Create a renewal prep document with talking points for each area.
What you get:

A comprehensive renewal playbook with health trajectory, value narrative, risk mitigation plan, and expansion opportunities.

Renewal

Value Documentation for Renewals

Evidence-backed value narrative for the renewal conversation.

Saves 45-90 min
Before
Scramble to prove value by pulling usage reports, referencing past wins, and manually assembling slides before the renewal conversation.
With MCP
Ask your AI to generate a value summary. It compiles documented outcomes, adoption trends, stakeholder feedback, and measurable impact into a clear, evidence-backed renewal narrative.
Try This Prompt
Build a value narrative for [Account Name]'s renewal.

Query Staircase for the past 12 months and find:
- Specific wins or milestones the customer acknowledged
- Positive feedback or quotes from stakeholders
- Problems we helped them solve
- Growth in their usage or engagement

Format as a "Value Delivered" summary I can share with the customer.
What you get:

An evidence-backed value narrative with specific wins, customer quotes, and outcomes for the renewal conversation.

Intelligence

Stakeholder Mapping

Know who matters, what they care about, and how engaged they are.

Saves 20-40 min
Before
Manually track contacts in CRM and try to remember who influences decisions, who’s disengaged, and where gaps exist.
With MCP
Ask your AI to map the account. It surfaces key stakeholders, relationship strength, engagement patterns, and influence dynamics — highlighting coverage gaps and single-thread risk.
Try This Prompt
Who are the key stakeholders at [Account Name]?

For each person, tell me:
- Their role and influence level
- Last engagement date
- Recent topics they've discussed
- Sentiment trend
What you get:

A stakeholder intelligence brief showing who's active, who's gone quiet, and how to approach each person.

Intelligence

Competitive Intelligence Check

Surface competitor mentions before they become threats.

Saves 15-30 min
Before
Scan email threads and call notes hoping to catch competitor mentions before they become a threat.
With MCP
Ask your AI to assess competitive risk. It surfaces competitor references, sentiment shifts, pricing discussions, and displacement signals — giving you early visibility into competitive pressure
Try This Prompt
Has [Account Name] mentioned any competitors recently?

If so, tell me:
- Which competitor and in what context
- Who brought it up and when
- What their sentiment was
- How I should respond
What you get:

A competitive intelligence brief showing exactly who mentioned a competitor, why, and recommended counter-positioning.

Intelligence

Customer Feedback Summary

Customer signal without hours of manual research.

Saves 1-3 hrs
Before
Scramble to prove value by pulling usage reports, referencing past wins, and manually assembling slides before the renewal conversation.
With MCP
Ask your AI to generate a value summary. It compiles documented outcomes, adoption trends, stakeholder feedback, and measurable impact into a clear, evidence-backed renewal narrative.
Try This Prompt
What are customers saying about [Topic/Feature]?

Synthesize feedback patterns:
- Common requests or complaints
- Which accounts mentioned it
- Overall sentiment
- Specific quotes or evidence
What you get:

A structured summary of what customers are saying, grounded in real communication data, including specific accounts, direct quotes, and sentiment trends.

Showing 6 of 16 use cases

6 prompts to start with

Highest success rates from 64,000+ real queries. Copy and replace [Account Name] with your account.

"What is the current health status of [Account Name]?"
Quick health snapshot with sentiment and signals
"Prep me for my upcoming meeting with [Account Name]. What should I know?"
Meeting brief with talking points and landmines
"What topics should I cover in my next QBR with [Account Name]?"
Evidence-backed QBR agenda from the last quarter
"Summarize the last 30 days of activity for [Account Name]."
30-day account catch-up with key highlights
"Draft a follow-up email for my last call with [Account Name]."
Polished follow-up with context and next steps
"I'm taking over [Account Name]. Give me a comprehensive onboarding brief."
Full account context — stakeholders, history, risks, first actions

Connect in 5 Minutes

One-time setup, then just ask questions. Choose your AI tool below.

Staircase MCP works with any MCP-enabled AI tool. Below, we highlight setup instructions for a few common tools like Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini, but you are not limited to those platforms. If your AI tool supports MCP, you can connect Staircase to it.

1
Open Claude Desktop Settings

Click Claude in the menu bar (macOS) or File (Windows) → Settings → Developer → Edit Config

2
Add Staircase MCP Configuration
{
 "mcpServers": {
  "staircase-ai": {
  "command": "npx",
  "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote",
   "https://mcp.staircase.ai/sse"]
  }
 }
}
3
Save and Restart Claude Desktop

Save the file, then fully quit and relaunch Claude Desktop (just closing the window is not enough).

4
Authenticate

A browser window will open automatically. Sign in with your Google or Microsoft work account and grant permission.

5
Test the Connection
Ask Staircase: What topics are trending in customer conversations?
Config file location:
macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
1
Open ChatGPT Settings

Click your profile icon (bottom left) → Settings → Connectors → Advanced → Toggle Developer Mode ON

2
Create Staircase Connector

Settings → Connectors → Create Connector (+)

Name: Staircase AI

URL: https://mcp.staircase.ai/mcp

3
Authenticate

Sign in with your Google or Microsoft work account when prompted. You should see a green "Connected" status.

4
Test the Connection
Use Staircase to find accounts with recent risk signals
Note: ChatGPT uses the /mcp endpoint, not /sse like Claude Desktop.
1
Install Gemini CLI
npm install -g @google/gemini-cli
2
Create config file at ~/.gemini/config.json
{
 "mcpServers": {
  "staircase-ai": {
  "command": "npx",
  "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote",
   "https://mcp.staircase.ai/sse"]
  }
 }
}
         
3
Authenticate with Google
gcloud auth login
4
Authenticate with Staircase

On first query, a browser opens. Sign in with your work Google or Microsoft account and grant permission.

5
Test the Connection
Query Staircase for trending customer topics

Security

Per-user authentication via Google or Microsoft. Your AI tool connects directly to Staircase — no third parties. Content visibility follows your existing Staircase RBAC settings.

Security Documentation
For Admins

Enable MCP for your organization in Staircase settings:

Admin Config → Privacy/Security
→ Enable MCP Server Access

Admin Setup Guide
Support

Questions, issues, or feedback on the MCP connector?

Exploring Claude? Try these next.

If you’re experimenting with Claude like we are, here are a few powerful tools and templates to take things further. Install pre-built Skills or copy project templates to level up how you use MCP.

Claude Project Templates
Meeting Prep Specialist

Structured prep briefs for every customer call

You are a meeting preparation specialist with access to Staircase via MCP.

## Your Purpose
Help users prepare for customer meetings by gathering relevant intelligence and creating actionable prep documents.

## Meeting Prep Framework
For every meeting prep request, gather:
1. Account Health: Current sentiment, trends, overall health
2. Recent Activity: Last 30-90 days of notable communications
3. Risks & Concerns: Any flags, complaints, or warning signs
4. Wins & Positives: Recent successes to reference
5. Stakeholder Context: Who's in the meeting and their history

## Output Format
Structure every prep brief as:

### Meeting Brief: [Account Name]
**Health Snapshot** — 1-2 sentences on current state
**Top 3 Things to Know**
1. Most important context
2. Second most important
3. Third most important

**Potential Landmines**
- Risk or sensitive topic to handle carefully
**Talking Points**
- Suggested topics based on context
**Questions to Ask**
- Thoughtful questions based on Staircase data
Portfolio Review

Weekly portfolio triage, risk detection, expansion signals

You are a portfolio management assistant with access to Staircase via MCP.

## Your Purpose
Help customer success and account managers monitor their portfolio, identify priorities, and take proactive action.

## Key Workflows

### Weekly Portfolio Review
1. Identify accounts with risk signals
2. Highlight accounts with positive momentum
3. Flag accounts needing immediate attention
4. Suggest priority order for the week

### Risk Detection
- Check for churn/cancellation mentions
- Look for budget or pricing concerns
- Identify competitor discussions
- Note declining sentiment trends

## Output Preferences
- Use tables for comparing multiple accounts
- Bold the most critical items
- Include recommended actions, not just observations
- Keep it scannable for busy people
Renewal Specialist

Health assessment, value documentation, renewal conversation prep

You are a renewal preparation specialist with access to Staircase via MCP.

## Your Purpose
Help users prepare for renewal conversations by assessing relationship health, identifying risks, and building compelling value narratives.

## Renewal Prep Framework

### Health Assessment
- Overall sentiment trajectory
- Engagement levels and trends
- Champion/detractor identification

### Risk Analysis
- Churn signals or explicit concerns
- Competitor mentions or evaluations
- Budget or economic concerns
- Stakeholder changes

### Value Documentation
- Wins and milestones achieved
- Problems solved, outcomes delivered
- Customer quotes and positive feedback

## Output Format
Structure renewal preps as:

### Renewal Prep: [Account Name]
**Relationship Health:** Good / Moderate / At Risk

**Value Delivered** — Specific wins from Staircase data

**Concerns to Address** — Each with suggested response

**Recommended Approach** — Strategy for the renewal conversation
Customer Intelligence Assistant

Meeting prep, health checks, outreach, stakeholder research

You are a customer intelligence assistant with access to Staircase via MCP.

## Your Capabilities
- Query Staircase for account health, sentiment, and activity
- Find stakeholder information and engagement patterns
- Identify risks, concerns, and opportunities across accounts
- Create meeting prep documents, executive summaries, and outreach drafts

## How to Use Staircase
When the user asks about customers, accounts, or stakeholders:
1. Query Staircase for relevant data
2. Synthesize the results into actionable insights
3. Provide evidence-backed recommendations

## Response Style
- Be concise and actionable
- Include specific evidence (account names, dates, quotes when available)
- Prioritize by urgency or impact
- Offer next steps, not just information

## Default Behaviors
- When asked "prep me for [meeting]": Create a structured meeting brief
- When asked about "account health": Provide 90-day health summary
- When asked about "risks": Focus on churn signals, budget concerns, competitors
- When asked to "draft an email": Make it conversational and evidence-based
Skills
Meeting Prep

Prep for customer meetings combining Staircase intelligence with calendar context.

Download
Account Transition Brief

Onboarding brief generator for new CSMs inheriting accounts.

Download
Executive Briefing

Multi-account executive summary creator for leadership and board prep.

Download

Explore Staircase

Staircase helps teams uncover churn risk up to 3 months earlier and generate 95% accurate forecasts — automatically analyzing the emails, meetings, Slack messages, and customer interactions you already have.

No manual tagging. No guesswork. Just clear visibility into what’s actually happening in your accounts.

Curious what Staircase can uncover across your customer conversations? Learn more about Staircase’s capabilities or schedule a personalized demo to see it in action.