How to integrate Bamboohr MCP with LangChain

This guide walks you through connecting Bamboohr to LangChain using the Composio tool router. By the end, you'll have a working Bamboohr agent that can add new dependent for employee john doe, update direct deposit details for sarah smith, log overtime hours for marketing team members through natural language commands. This guide will help you understand how to give your LangChain agent real control over a Bamboohr account through Composio's Bamboohr MCP server. Before we dive in, let's take a quick look at the key ideas and tools involved.

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BambooHR is a cloud-based HR management platform for small and mid-sized businesses. It streamlines employee data, HR workflows, and reporting in one easy interface.

41 Tools

Introduction

This guide walks you through connecting Bamboohr to LangChain using the Composio tool router. By the end, you'll have a working Bamboohr agent that can add new dependent for employee john doe, update direct deposit details for sarah smith, log overtime hours for marketing team members through natural language commands.

This guide will help you understand how to give your LangChain agent real control over a Bamboohr account through Composio's Bamboohr MCP server.

Before we dive in, let's take a quick look at the key ideas and tools involved.

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TL;DR

Here's what you'll learn:
  • Get and set up your OpenAI and Composio API keys
  • Connect your Bamboohr project to Composio
  • Create a Tool Router MCP session for Bamboohr
  • Initialize an MCP client and retrieve Bamboohr tools
  • Build a LangChain agent that can interact with Bamboohr
  • Set up an interactive chat interface for testing

What is LangChain?

LangChain is a framework for developing applications powered by language models. It provides tools and abstractions for building agents that can reason, use tools, and maintain conversation context.

Key features include:

  • Agent Framework: Build agents that can use tools and make decisions
  • MCP Integration: Connect to external services through Model Context Protocol adapters
  • Memory Management: Maintain conversation history across interactions
  • Multi-Provider Support: Works with OpenAI, Anthropic, and other LLM providers

What is the Bamboohr MCP server, and what's possible with it?

The BambooHR MCP server is an implementation of the Model Context Protocol that connects your AI agent and assistants like Claude, Cursor, etc directly to your BambooHR account. It provides structured and secure access to your HR data, so your agent can perform actions like managing employee benefits, updating payroll records, tracking time, and assisting with applicant management on your behalf.

  • Employee benefits administration: Automatically enroll employees in benefit groups, create or update benefit records, and manage company-wide benefit offerings with ease.
  • Payroll and direct deposit management: Enable your agent to create paystubs, add unpaid pay periods, and update employee direct deposit information for seamless payroll processing.
  • Dependent and tax record updates: Empower your agent to add employee dependents and modify withholding details, keeping employee records accurate and compliant.
  • Time tracking automation: Let your agent log new time tracking records for employees, ensuring precise attendance and overtime data for reporting and payroll.
  • Applicant and recruitment collaboration: Allow your agent to post comments on applicant records, streamlining feedback and communication during the hiring process.

What is the Composio tool router, and how does it fit here?

What is Composio SDK?

Composio's Composio SDK helps agents find the right tools for a task at runtime. You can plug in multiple toolkits (like Gmail, HubSpot, and GitHub), and the agent will identify the relevant app and action to complete multi-step workflows. This can reduce token usage and improve the reliability of tool calls. Read more here: Getting started with Composio SDK

The tool router generates a secure MCP URL that your agents can access to perform actions.

How the Composio SDK works

The Composio SDK follows a three-phase workflow:

  1. Discovery: Searches for tools matching your task and returns relevant toolkits with their details.
  2. Authentication: Checks for active connections. If missing, creates an auth config and returns a connection URL via Auth Link.
  3. Execution: Executes the action using the authenticated connection.

Step-by-step Guide

Step by step10 STEPS
1

Prerequisites

Before starting this tutorial, make sure you have:
  • Python 3.10 or higher installed on your system
  • A Composio account with an API key
  • An OpenAI API key
  • Basic familiarity with Python and async programming
2

Getting API Keys for OpenAI and Composio

OpenAI API Key
  • Go to the OpenAI dashboard and create an API key. You'll need credits to use the models, or you can connect to another model provider.
  • Keep the API key safe.
Composio API Key
  • Log in to the Composio dashboard.
  • Navigate to your API settings and generate a new API key.
  • Store this key securely as you'll need it for authentication.
3

Install dependencies

npm install @composio/langchain @langchain/core @langchain/openai @langchain/mcp-adapters dotenv

Install the required packages for LangChain with MCP support.

What's happening:

  • @composio/langchain provides Composio integration for LangChain
  • @langchain/mcp-adapters enables MCP client connections
  • @langchain/core is the core agent framework
  • dotenv/config loads environment variables
4

Set up environment variables

bash
COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_composio_api_key_here
COMPOSIO_USER_ID=your_composio_user_id_here
OPENAI_API_KEY=your_openai_api_key_here

Create a .env file in your project root.

What's happening:

  • COMPOSIO_API_KEY authenticates your requests to Composio's API
  • COMPOSIO_USER_ID identifies the user for session management
  • OPENAI_API_KEY enables access to OpenAI's language models
5

Import dependencies

import { Composio } from '@composio/core';
import { LangchainProvider } from '@composio/langchain';
import { MultiServerMCPClient } from "@langchain/mcp-adapters";
import { createAgent } from "langchain";
import * as readline from 'readline';
import 'dotenv/config';

dotenv.config();
What's happening:
  • We're importing LangChain's MCP adapter and Composio SDK
  • The dotenv/config import loads environment variables from your .env file
  • This setup prepares the foundation for connecting LangChain with Bamboohr functionality through MCP
6

Initialize Composio client

const composioApiKey = process.env.COMPOSIO_API_KEY;
const userId = process.env.COMPOSIO_USER_ID;

if (!composioApiKey) throw new Error('COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set');
if (!userId) throw new Error('COMPOSIO_USER_ID is not set');

async function main() {
    const composio = new Composio({
        apiKey: composioApiKey as string,
        provider: new LangchainProvider()
    });
What's happening:
  • We're loading the COMPOSIO_API_KEY from environment variables and validating it exists
  • Creating a Composio instance that will manage our connection to Bamboohr tools
  • Validating that COMPOSIO_USER_ID is also set before proceeding
7

Create a Tool Router session

const session = await composio.create(
    userId as string,
    {
        toolkits: ['bamboohr']
    }
);

const url = session.mcp.url;
What's happening:
  • We're creating a Tool Router session that gives your agent access to Bamboohr tools
  • The create method takes the user ID and specifies which toolkits should be available
  • The returned session.mcp.url is the MCP server URL that your agent will use
  • This approach allows the agent to dynamically load and use Bamboohr tools as needed
8

Configure the agent with the MCP URL

const client = new MultiServerMCPClient({
    "bamboohr-agent": {
        transport: "http",
        url: url,
        headers: {
            "x-api-key": process.env.COMPOSIO_API_KEY
        }
    }
});

const tools = await client.getTools();

const agent = createAgent({ model: "gpt-5", tools });
What's happening:
  • We're creating a MultiServerMCPClient that connects to our Bamboohr MCP server via HTTP
  • The client is configured with a name and the URL from our Tool Router session
  • getTools() retrieves all available Bamboohr tools that the agent can use
  • We're creating a LangChain agent using the GPT-5 model
9

Set up interactive chat interface

let conversationHistory: any[] = [];

console.log("Chat started! Type 'exit' or 'quit' to end the conversation.\n");
console.log("Ask any Bamboohr related question or task to the agent.\n");

const rl = readline.createInterface({
    input: process.stdin,
    output: process.stdout,
    prompt: 'You: '
});

rl.prompt();

rl.on('line', async (userInput: string) => {
    const trimmedInput = userInput.trim();

    if (['exit', 'quit', 'bye'].includes(trimmedInput.toLowerCase())) {
        console.log("\nGoodbye!");
        rl.close();
        process.exit(0);
    }

    if (!trimmedInput) {
        rl.prompt();
        return;
    }

    conversationHistory.push({ role: "user", content: trimmedInput });
    console.log("\nAgent is thinking...\n");

    const response = await agent.invoke({ messages: conversationHistory });
    conversationHistory = response.messages;

    const finalResponse = response.messages[response.messages.length - 1]?.content;
    console.log(`Agent: ${finalResponse}\n`);
        
        rl.prompt();
    });

    rl.on('close', () => {
        console.log('\n👋 Session ended.');
        process.exit(0);
    });
What's happening:
  • We initialize an empty conversationHistory list to maintain context across interactions
  • A readline interface is used to continuously accept user input from the command line
  • When a user types a message, it's added to the conversation history and sent to the agent
  • The agent processes the request using the invoke() method with the full conversation history
  • Users can type 'exit', 'quit', or 'bye' to end the chat session gracefully
10

Run the application

main().catch((err) => {
    console.error('Fatal error:', err);
    process.exit(1);
});
What's happening:
  • We call the main() function to start the application

Complete Code

Here's the complete code to get you started with Bamboohr and LangChain:

import { Composio } from '@composio/core';
import { LangchainProvider } from '@composio/langchain';
import { MultiServerMCPClient } from "@langchain/mcp-adapters";  
import { createAgent } from "langchain";
import * as readline from 'readline';
import 'dotenv/config';

const composioApiKey = process.env.COMPOSIO_API_KEY;
const userId = process.env.COMPOSIO_USER_ID;

if (!composioApiKey) throw new Error('COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set');
if (!userId) throw new Error('COMPOSIO_USER_ID is not set');

async function main() {
    const composio = new Composio({
        apiKey: composioApiKey as string,
        provider: new LangchainProvider()
    });

    const session = await composio.create(
        userId as string,
        {
            toolkits: ['bamboohr']
        }
    );

    const url = session.mcp.url;
    
    const client = new MultiServerMCPClient({
        "bamboohr-agent": {
            transport: "http",
            url: url,
            headers: {
                "x-api-key": process.env.COMPOSIO_API_KEY
            }
        }
    });
    
    const tools = await client.getTools();
  
    const agent = createAgent({ model: "gpt-5", tools });
    
    let conversationHistory: any[] = [];
    
    console.log("Chat started! Type 'exit' or 'quit' to end the conversation.\n");
    console.log("Ask any Bamboohr related question or task to the agent.\n");
    
    const rl = readline.createInterface({
        input: process.stdin,
        output: process.stdout,
        prompt: 'You: '
    });

    rl.prompt();

    rl.on('line', async (userInput: string) => {
        const trimmedInput = userInput.trim();
        
        if (['exit', 'quit', 'bye'].includes(trimmedInput.toLowerCase())) {
            console.log("\nGoodbye!");
            rl.close();
            process.exit(0);
        }
        
        if (!trimmedInput) {
            rl.prompt();
            return;
        }
        
        conversationHistory.push({ role: "user", content: trimmedInput });
        console.log("\nAgent is thinking...\n");
        
        const response = await agent.invoke({ messages: conversationHistory });
        conversationHistory = response.messages;
        
        const finalResponse = response.messages[response.messages.length - 1]?.content;
        console.log(`Agent: ${finalResponse}\n`);
        
        rl.prompt();
    });

    rl.on('close', () => {
        console.log('\nSession ended.');
        process.exit(0);
    });
}

main().catch((err) => {
    console.error('Fatal error:', err);
    process.exit(1);
});

Conclusion

You've successfully built a LangChain agent that can interact with Bamboohr through Composio's Tool Router.

Key features of this implementation:

  • Dynamic tool loading through Composio's Tool Router
  • Conversation history maintenance for context-aware responses
  • Async Python provides clean, efficient execution of agent workflows
You can extend this further by adding error handling, implementing specific business logic, or integrating additional Composio toolkits to create multi-app workflows.
TOOLS

Supported Tools

Every Bamboohr action and event your agent gets out of the box.

Create Candidate Application

Tool to create a candidate application.

Create Job Opening

Tool to create a new job opening in BambooHR ATS.

List Job Applications

Tool to list job applications with optional filters.

Get Benefit Coverages

Tool to retrieve standard benefit coverage options.

Get Member Benefit Events

Tool to list member benefit events.

Get Company EINs

Tool to retrieve company Employer Identification Numbers (EINs).

Get Company Information

Tool to retrieve company information.

Create File Category

Tool to create new company file categories.

Create Time Off Request

Tool to submit a new time off request.

List Datasets

Tool to list available datasets via the Datasets API.

Create Employee Dependent

Tool to add a dependent to an employee.

Get All Employee Dependents

Tool to retrieve all employee dependents.

Create Employee

Tool to create a new employee record.

Create Employee File Category

Tool to create new employee file categories.

Get Changed Employees

Tool to get employees inserted, updated, or deleted since a given timestamp.

List Company Files

Tool to list company file categories and their files.

Upload Company File

Tool to upload a new company file.

Get All Employees

Retrieves all employees from the BambooHR employee directory including their basic information and status.

Get Applicant Statuses

Tool to retrieve applicant statuses.

Get Custom Employee Fields

Tool to fetch custom employee field values.

Run Custom Report

Tool to run a custom report by ID or ad-hoc fields.

Get Employee

Tool to retrieve detailed information for a specific employee.

Get Employee Photo

Tool to retrieve an employee's profile photo by size.

Get Hiring Leads

Tool to retrieve potential hiring leads (employees who can manage job openings) for use in creating a new job opening.

Get Job Summaries

Tool to retrieve a list of ATS job summaries.

Get Departments Metadata

Tool to list department metadata.

Get Meta Divisions

Tool to list all division metadata.

List Employment Status Metadata

Tool to list all employment status metadata.

Get Meta Job Titles

Tool to retrieve job title metadata.

Get Meta Locations

Tool to list location metadata.

Get Time-Off Types Metadata

Tool to list time-off type metadata.

Get Report

Tool to fetch a built-in or published report in JSON or other formats.

Get Time-Off Balances

Tool to retrieve time-off balances for employees.

Get Time-Off Requests

Tool to list time-off requests within a date range.

List Company Reports

Tool to list all available company and custom reports.

Get Country Options

Tool to retrieve all available country options.

Get List Field Details

Tool to get details for all list fields.

Get Tabular Fields Metadata

Tool to list tabular table fields metadata.

Get Users

Tool to list active users with basic info.

Update Employee

Tool to update fields on a specified employee record.

Update Time Off Request

Tool to update the status of an existing time-off request.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

With a standalone Bamboohr MCP server, the agents and LLMs can only access a fixed set of Bamboohr tools tied to that server. However, with the Composio Tool Router, agents can dynamically load tools from Bamboohr and many other apps based on the task at hand, all through a single MCP endpoint.

Yes, you can. LangChain fully supports MCP integration. You get structured tool calling, message history handling, and model orchestration while Tool Router takes care of discovering and serving the right Bamboohr tools.

Yes, absolutely. You can configure which Bamboohr scopes and actions are allowed when connecting your account to Composio. You can also bring your own OAuth credentials or API configuration so you keep full control over what the agent can do.

All sensitive data such as tokens, keys, and configuration is fully encrypted at rest and in transit. Composio is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and follows strict security practices so your Bamboohr data and credentials are handled as safely as possible.

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