AutoApply MCP

An MCP server that automates job applications using a real browser. Give Claude a job posting URL and it fills the entire form — text fields, dropdowns, work authorization, demographics — and surfaces only the questions that need a personal touch.

Live server: https://autoapply-mcp.onrender.com GitHub: https://github.com/preetrajdeo/autoapply-mcp

Setup (2 minutes)

Prerequisites

• Claude Desktop installed
• Node.js installed — verify with node --version in your terminal

Option A — Smithery (easiest)

npx -y @smithery/cli mcp add preetrajdeo/autoapply-mcp

This automatically updates your Claude Desktop config and restarts the connection. Done.

Option B — Manual config

1. Open your Claude Desktop config file:

   • Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
   • Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

   Can't find the file on Mac? Open Finder → press Cmd+Shift+G → paste ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/ → open claude_desktop_config.json in any text editor.

2. Paste the following (merge with any existing content — don't replace the whole file):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "autoapply": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote", "https://autoapply-mcp.onrender.com/sse"]
    }
  }
}

1. Fully quit Claude Desktop (Cmd+Q on Mac, not just close the window) and reopen it.

2. Start a new conversation — AutoApply tools will be available automatically.

First-time setup — Profile onboarding

Once connected, type this in Claude Desktop:

Set up AutoApply for me

Claude will ask you to upload your resume (PDF), pull out everything it can automatically, ask for any missing details, show you a full summary, and save your profile once you confirm. You only do this once — your profile is stored server-side and reused for every application.

Note: If Claude doesn't respond with the onboarding flow, try: "Use the AutoApply onboard prompt"

Applying to a job

Apply to this job for me: https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/acme/jobs/12345

Claude will:

1. Open the URL in a real browser
2. Fill all standard fields from your profile (name, email, phone, work auth, demographics, etc.)
3. Auto-upload your resume to any file upload fields
4. Return the open-ended questions for Claude to answer on your behalf
5. Show you a screenshot of the completed form before submitting

Applying in bulk

Apply to all of these for me:
https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/acme/jobs/111
https://lever.co/beta/jobs/222
https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/gamma/333

Claude will work through them one by one, pausing between each for your review (or automatically if you set batch mode during onboarding).

Tools reference

Troubleshooting

"AutoApply tools don't appear in Claude"

• Make sure you fully quit Claude Desktop (Cmd+Q on Mac), not just closed the window
• Verify Node.js is installed: node --version in terminal
• Check the config file is valid JSON (no trailing commas, proper quotes)

Connection times out on first use

• The server sleeps after 15 minutes of inactivity (free tier). Wait 30 seconds and try again — it wakes up automatically and stays fast after that.

"Session not found" error

• Your browser session expired. Call open_job_application again to start a new one.

Resume not uploading

• Only PDF is supported. If your resume is a Word doc, export it as PDF first.

How it works

Claude Desktop
     |
     | stdio (mcp-remote bridge)
     v
SSE  →  AutoApply MCP Server  (Express + @modelcontextprotocol/sdk)
              |
              | Playwright
              v
        Real Chromium browser  →  Job application page

Field filling uses Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor to set React-controlled input values and dispatches synthetic input, change, and blur events — so frameworks like Greenhouse (React-Select) register the change correctly. React fiber tree traversal is used to find and invoke selectOption() on dropdown components.

Self-hosting

Deploy to Render (recommended)

The repo includes a render.yaml. Click "New Web Service" in Render, connect the repo, and add these environment variables:

Local development

npm install
npx playwright install chromium
npm run dev   # starts at http://localhost:3000

Point Claude Desktop at http://localhost:3000/sse during development.

Built with

• TypeScript · Express · Playwright · @modelcontextprotocol/sdk · @anthropic-ai/sdk