HiBob
HiBob appears twice in the catalog, and the two entries do different things:
- HiBob with an Official badge — this page. Bob's own hosted MCP server, connected over OAuth as the signed-in Bob user.
- HiBob with a By Willow badge — the built-in connector, connected with a Bob service user (or, for HiBob marketplace partners, a partner OAuth app).
Which one do you want
| If you need | Use |
|---|---|
| Each person's agent to act as them, limited to what they can see in Bob | Official server |
| One shared identity for automations that must run without a person behind them | By Willow connector |
| A fixed, reviewable set of tools you enable and govern per toolkit | By Willow connector |
| Bob surfaces the public API does not expose, such as performance reviews, goals, compensation, and hiring | Official server |
| Employee lookups, time off, and tasks | Either |
The split is mostly about identity. Bob's server resolves permissions from the employee who authorized it, so two people running the same prompt can get different answers — good for self-service, awkward for a scheduled job. The Willow connector authenticates as a service user whose permission group you define once, which is what you want for automation and for a stable audit trail.
Running both is fine. The reads overlap, and each covers something the other cannot.
Setting up
- In Willow, go to MCP Servers → + Add MCP server and find the HiBob card with the Official badge.
- Click + Use, then complete the OAuth prompt as a Bob user with access to the data you want the agent to reach.
The endpoint is https://mcp.hibob.com/mcp/public over HTTP. Willow registers itself with Bob automatically, so there is no app to create in the HiBob Developer Portal first — unlike the service user the built-in connector needs.
Bob MCP rolled out gradually to customers, and the OAuth version replaced an earlier service-user-only release. If the OAuth prompt fails or the server reports no tools, check with your HiBob account team that Bob MCP is enabled for your workspace.
Troubleshooting
A tool returns a permissions error for one user but works for another. That is expected. Bob scopes the server to the signed-in employee's own permissions. Fix it in Bob's permission groups, or use the built-in connector if the workflow should not depend on who is asking.
HiBob's developer docs are thin on this server. Bob MCP setup and its tool list are maintained in the Bob Help Center, which requires a customer login. The public developer changelog entry is the entry point.
Additional Resources
- HiBob built-in connector — the service user setup and the curated tool list
- HiBob MCP Server developer docs