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"]
    }
  }
}

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

4. 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

Tool	Description
register	Get an API key / session ID. Called automatically during onboarding.
upload_resume	Upload a PDF resume to auto-populate your profile. Parses with Claude, shows a confirmation summary before saving.
save_profile	Save or update profile details (name, email, phone, address, work auth, demographics, salary, preferences). Always merges — never overwrites fields you don't mention.
get_profile	Retrieve your saved profile to review or verify it.
save_field_mapping	Teach AutoApply to auto-answer a recurring question. Example: pattern located in san francisco → answer Yes.
open_job_application	Open a job URL in a real Chromium browser. Always call before fill_known_fields.
fill_known_fields	Auto-fill all fields from your profile. Returns a screenshot + list of open-ended questions. Also auto-uploads your resume to any file input fields.
fill_answer	Fill a specific answer into one field (use CSS selector returned by fill_known_fields).
take_screenshot	Screenshot the current state of the page.
scroll_page	Scroll up or down to reveal more fields.
close_session	Close the browser session after submitting or abandoning an application.

---

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:

Variable	Required	Description
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY	Yes (for resume parsing)	Your Anthropic API key
DATABASE_URL	Recommended	PostgreSQL connection string for persistent profile storage. Without this, profiles are stored on the local filesystem and wiped on restart.

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