Zoho People
The Zoho People connector lets AI agents read and manage HR data including employees, attendance, leave, and departments. It uses OAuth 2.0 so your credentials are stored encrypted in MCPGate's vault and are never exposed to the AI client.
Required scopes#
MCPGate requests the following OAuth scopes when you connect a Zoho People account.
| Scope | Purpose |
|---|---|
| ZohoPeople.employee.ALL | Read and manage employee records |
| ZohoPeople.attendance.ALL | Read and mark attendance records |
| ZohoPeople.leave.ALL | Read, apply, and approve leave requests |
Tool reference#
The Zoho People connector exposes 11 tools. Use the MCP Apps page to enable or disable individual tools per app, and the Guardrails page to add fine-grained rules on top.
| Tool | Category | Description |
|---|---|---|
| zohopeople_list_employees | read | List all employees in Zoho People |
| zohopeople_get_employee | read | Get details of a specific employee by ID |
| zohopeople_list_attendance | read | List attendance records for an employee or date range |
| zohopeople_list_leave_records | read | List leave records for an employee |
| zohopeople_list_departments | read | List all departments in Zoho People |
| zohopeople_get_employee_form | read | Get form data for an employee from Zoho People |
| zohopeople_add_employee | write | Add a new employee to Zoho People |
| zohopeople_update_employee | write | Update an existing employee record in Zoho People |
| zohopeople_mark_attendance | write | Mark attendance (check-in/check-out) for an employee in Zoho People |
| zohopeople_apply_leave | write | Apply for leave on behalf of an employee in Zoho People |
| zohopeople_approve_leave | write | Approve or reject a leave request in Zoho People |
Leave approval affects payroll
zohopeople_approve_leave changes the official leave balance for the employee. In organisations where Zoho People feeds payroll, this can directly affect salary calculations. Restrict this tool to HR manager apps only.Common guardrail recipes#
Read-only access#
Apply the read_only preset to enable the six read tools and deny all write tools. Suitable for HR analytics agents that compile headcount, attendance, or leave reports without modifying any records.
HR manage preset#
Use the hr_manage preset to enable all 11 tools. This gives HR agents full access to onboard employees, track attendance, and manage leave workflows. Combine with role restrictions to limit which employee records the agent can access.
Full access#
The full_access preset is equivalent to hr_manage for Zoho People. Consider adding a deny_values guardrail on zohopeople_approve_leave to restrict which employee IDs the agent may approve leave for.
Troubleshooting#
- Employee ID format — Zoho People uses an internal numeric employee ID distinct from the employee code shown in the UI. Use
zohopeople_list_employeesto obtain the correct ID before calling update or leave tools. - Attendance already marked — Zoho People only allows one check-in per day. If
zohopeople_mark_attendancereturns a duplicate error, usezohopeople_list_attendanceto confirm the current attendance state before retrying. - Leave type ID required —
zohopeople_apply_leaverequires a leave type ID. These IDs are organisation-specific. Query the Zoho People API directly or check your HR admin panel to find the correct IDs for annual leave, sick leave, etc.