FFP Guides

ServiceM8 how-to

How do you search ServiceM8 job history by address with AI?

ServiceM8 ships an official MCP connector so ChatGPT or Claude can search jobs and clients and read job diary notes in plain language, per ServiceM8's help centre. It does not document whether the search matches job address text specifically, and a workspace admin must approve access before staff can connect.

Last checked 25 Sep 2026 against the sources listed at the end of this page.

Yes, natively

Yes, through ServiceM8's own MCP connector for ChatGPT or Claude: connect it and ask a plain-language question, but ServiceM8 does not document which fields the search matches, and a workspace admin has to approve it first.

Step by step

  1. Decide which assistant your business already pays for: ChatGPT (a ServiceM8 plugin) or Claude (a custom connector). Both use the same ServiceM8 MCP server.
  2. ChatGPT: sign in to your ServiceM8 Online Dashboard in a separate tab and keep it open, then in ChatGPT open Plugins, search for ServiceM8, open the listing with the green ServiceM8 icon and click Install plugin.
  3. ChatGPT: review the access ChatGPT is requesting and click Allow, then start a new chat and select ServiceM8 from Plugins, or type @ and choose ServiceM8.
  4. Claude, individual accounts: open Customize, then Connectors, click the plus button, choose Add custom connector, name it ServiceM8 and enter the server URL https://api.servicem8.com/mcp, then click Add and connect, signing in to ServiceM8 when prompted.
  5. Claude, Team or Enterprise accounts: an Owner or Primary Owner adds the connector first, in Organization settings, Connectors, Add, Custom, Web, using the same server URL. Each staff member then connects their own login from Customize, Connectors.
  6. Ask a plain question naming the address, for example 'What work have we done at 12 Smith Street' or 'Show me the last three jobs for this client', and let the assistant call the search and job diary actions for you.

Gotchas

  • A workspace administrator has to enable the ChatGPT plugin or add the Claude connector before an individual staff member can use it. If nobody sees ServiceM8 as an option, that is usually why.
  • ServiceM8's help centre does not say which record fields the search action matches on, so a job saved with an inconsistent address format, such as a missing unit number or a differently abbreviated street type, is not guaranteed to surface.
  • Some actions change your account, not just read it: adding notes, creating bookings, sending messages and moving jobs between queues are all listed alongside the read-only ones. Whether you are asked to confirm before they run depends on permissions and settings, so review what each connected login can do before rolling this out past one person.
  • If OAuth access expires, ServiceM8 will ask you to reconnect. In ChatGPT, uninstalling the plugin alone does not remove its connection: disconnect it separately from Settings, Apps.
  • There is no offline or on-the-tools version of this. It runs through ChatGPT or Claude on a device with a login and a connection, not inside the ServiceM8 mobile app itself.

What the official help article misses: It lists the read and write actions available and both connection paths, but it does not say which fields a search matches on, does not compare this with the general ServiceM8 API for a business that would rather not grant a third party AI platform account access, and gives no guidance on permissions for more than one connected staff member. Read ServiceM8's article.

What ServiceM8 already ships

ServiceM8 Community threads asking whether a tech can ask an AI assistant plain questions about past work at an address are answered by a feature ServiceM8 ships and documents itself: an official MCP (Model Context Protocol) connector. MCP is the connection standard that lets a supported AI assistant call an app's tools and read its data on a user's behalf, and ServiceM8 publishes both a ChatGPT plugin and a Claude custom connector built on it, per ServiceM8's help centre.

Once connected, you type a question in plain English inside ChatGPT or Claude and the assistant calls ServiceM8 actions to answer it, rather than you opening the dashboard and filtering a list yourself. There is nothing to build: no Zapier zap, no custom script against the developer API, just an authorisation flow.

What it can search, and what ServiceM8 does not confirm

The documented actions include searching for clients and jobs, listing jobs, staff, queues, forms and job templates, viewing detailed job information, and reading job diary entries, activities and notes, per ServiceM8's help centre. That covers the shape of a question like "what work have we done at this address", because the job address sits on the job and client records the search action reaches.

What ServiceM8's article does not say is which fields the search matches on. It does not confirm that a partial or differently formatted street address, a unit number, or a misspelled suburb will still return the right job. ServiceM8's own Global Search inside the dashboard has the same limit: it matches on typed terms and recent activity, and ServiceM8 does not publish which fields it indexes there either.

Who can turn it on, and what it can change

Individual ChatGPT and Claude accounts connect for themselves once a workspace administrator allows it. Claude Team and Enterprise accounts add one more step: an Owner or Primary Owner must add the ServiceM8 connector for the whole organisation in Organization settings before any staff member can connect their own login, per ServiceM8's help centre.

Some of the same actions that can answer a job history question can also change your account: adding a note, creating a booking, sending a job-linked email or SMS, or moving a job to a queue. Whether the assistant asks you to confirm those first depends on your app or connector permissions and workspace settings, so a business handing this to more than one staff member should check what each person's login can write, not just what it can read.

Sources

  1. ServiceM8 offers an official ChatGPT plugin and a Claude custom connector, both built on MCP (Model Context Protocol), letting either assistant call ServiceM8 actions such as searching jobs and clients. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.
  2. Documented MCP actions include searching for clients and jobs, listing jobs, staff, queues, forms and job templates, viewing detailed job information, and reading job diary entries, activities and notes. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.
  3. On Claude Team and Enterprise accounts, an Owner or Primary Owner must add the ServiceM8 connector for the organisation in Organization settings before individual staff members can connect. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.
  4. The Claude connector uses the ServiceM8 MCP server at https://api.servicem8.com/mcp. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.
  5. ServiceM8 also publishes a general developer API, documented separately at developer.servicem8.com. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.
  6. ServiceM8's Global Search opens from any page, or with Cmd/Ctrl-Shift-F, and searches the whole account, showing suggested results before you type a term. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.