You might have noticed that ServiceM8 now mentions a connection with ChatGPT using something called MCP.
If you read that and thought “I should probably understand this, but I don’t”, you’re in good company.
So… what does MCP actually mean?
MCP stands for Model Context Protocol.
In plain English, it’s a way for tools like ServiceM8 to let ChatGPT securely access data from your account, instead of you copying and pasting information back and forth.
So rather than saying:
“Here’s a spreadsheet of jobs, what do you notice?”
You can say:
“Look at my ServiceM8 data and help me think this through.”
It’s about context, not magic.
What can it do right now?
This is where it helps to set expectations.
MCP support inside ChatGPT exists, but what you can do depends on your ChatGPT plan.
On the Plus plan, access is currently limited and sits behind developer mode. You can create connectors and allow ChatGPT to fetch information from ServiceM8, but it’s primarily useful for reading and analysing data rather than taking actions.
Higher-tier ChatGPT plans (like Business and Enterprise) support deeper MCP functionality, including the ability for ChatGPT to take actions in connected systems – but that’s a ChatGPT plan decision, not something ServiceM8 controls.
So if you’re on Plus, you’re very much in “explore and assess” territory rather than “automate everything” territory.
Is it still useful if it can’t take actions?
Yes – just not in the way people sometimes expect.
Where this gets interesting, even on lower tiers, is for things like:
- Reviewing recent jobs and spotting patterns
- Summarising what’s been happening across work orders
- Sense-checking notes, outcomes, or repeat issues
- Asking better questions about your data
It’s less “do the admin for me” and more “help me understand what I’m looking at”.
For owners who already use reports but want another way to interrogate what’s going on, that’s still useful.
Where people can get the wrong idea
If you go into this expecting:
- jobs being updated automatically
- invoices sent without oversight
- AI making decisions for you
…you’ll be disappointed.
That’s not what this connection is about today, especially on Plus. It’s groundwork. Infrastructure. A door opening, not the finished room.
ServiceM8 have been clear about the setup and the intent here:
Why this is still worth paying attention to
Even with limitations, this matters because it shows where things are heading.
ServiceM8 aren’t bolting AI on as a gimmick. They’re making their data accessible in a structured, controlled way. MCP is the boring, sensible bit that has to exist before anything clever can happen.
Right now, it’s about insight and analysis. Adding the odd job note.
Over time, for businesses on the higher plans, it opens the door to deeper automation.
- Would you want AI to take actions in your ServiceM8 account, or would you rather it stayed advisory?
- If it could analyse your jobs and point out one blind spot, what would you want that to be?
