AI¶

GRC-ITSM is built to be operated by AI assistants. Claude connects to your instance through the Model Context Protocol (MCP) -- an open standard that lets an AI assistant call a platform's functions the same way an integration would -- and works inside the same governed workflows as any human agent: the ticket is still the audit trail, the approval is still the evidence, and every action is attributed to a named identity.

How AI interacts with the platform¶

Your instance exposes its capabilities to AI through MCP. When Claude is connected, it sees a catalog of platform operations -- lookups, searches, reports, and record updates -- and calls them on your behalf as you work in a conversation.

Three properties keep this governed:

Reads and writes are treated differently in practice: lookups and reports are safe to let AI run freely, while anything that changes a record requires your explicit approval before it executes. The recommended Claude configuration enforces exactly that split.

What AI can do¶

The MCP catalog spans the whole platform. Rather than a list of individual functions, think of it as capability areas:

On top of the raw catalog, the grcitsm-analyst plugin (from the Stratus GRCITSM marketplace, below) adds guided multi-step workflows:

• SSP generation -- render a complete markdown System Security Plan from current platform state
• SSP ingestion -- turn policies, procedures, and interview transcripts into SSP content, with row-level approval before anything is written
• SSP interviewing -- author SSP content from scratch through conversation
• Disciplined bulk writes -- plan any large change to a reviewable file first, then apply it step by step

Ask questions, not just operate¶

The marketplace is also a research assistant for the compliance and platform knowledge around your system:

• FedRAMP and CMMC questions, answered with citations. The plugin bundles the FedRAMP 2026 Consolidated Rules, the FedRAMP 2026 narrative corpus, the Rev5 baselines, and the CMMC reference corpus. Ask "what does AC-2 require?", "which controls map to KSI-IAM-AAM?", or "what does CMMC AC.L2-3.1.1 require?" and get answers grounded in the requirement text rather than the model's memory.
• Learning GRC-ITSM itself. This documentation site is indexed for AI lookup, so Claude can answer "how do I configure email rules?" or "what is the User Access Request workflow?" by reading these docs directly.
• Underlying Halo platform questions. For product details of the underlying Halo platform, we recommend the Context7 documentation index, which indexes the Halo guide library in AI-readable form.

Connect Claude to your instance¶

The recommended path is a single OAuth connector: configure it once in your instance, add it to claude.ai, and it becomes available everywhere your organization uses Claude -- chat, Cowork, and Claude Code. You set up the OAuth application members authenticate through, enable the MCP endpoint, and register the connector in claude.ai. Agents who will use the connection need the MCP Access role; in a governed tenant, request and approve role grants through a User Access Request as described in Agent Roles.

1. Set up the Claude MCP OAuth application¶

The connector authenticates through an OAuth application named Claude MCP OAuth in your instance, which Stratus provisions on tenants as part of delivery -- check for it before creating one.

1. Go to Configuration > Integrations > Halo API and open Applications.
2. If Claude MCP OAuth already exists: open it and click Generate next to Client Secret to issue a fresh secret. Copy it immediately -- it is shown once, and generating a new secret stops the old one from working.
3. If it does not exist, create it:
   • Name it Claude MCP OAuth and leave Active checked.
   • Set Authentication Method to Authorisation Code (Native Application).
   • Under Client Secret, choose Use a client secret for the token request and Generate a secret. Note the Client ID -- it can change on first save, so re-check its value after saving.
   • Set both Login Redirect URL and Logout Redirect URL to https://claude.ai/api/mcp/auth_callback.
   • On the Permissions tab, grant only the permissions the connection requires.

2. Enable the MCP endpoint¶

1. Go to Configuration > AI and find the Halo MCP Server section.
2. Turn on the Enable the MCP Endpoint setting (a beta feature). The MCP Server URL field shows your instance's endpoint -- https://<your instance>/api/mcp. This is the URL the Claude connector points at.
3. Optionally, customize which tools and functions the endpoint exposes in the list below the setting. If the section does not appear, select a Default AI Connection first -- the built-in default connection works if you have not configured a custom one.

3. Add the connector in claude.ai¶

1. An organization owner adds the MCP endpoint URL from step 2 as a custom connector under Settings > Connectors in claude.ai. The connector's name must start with GRCITSM (for example, GRCITSM or GRCITSM Dev) -- the plugin's workflows discover the connection by that prefix, and a connector named anything else is not picked up.
2. Each member completes the OAuth sign-in against your instance the first time they use the connector, authenticating through the Claude MCP OAuth application with their own agent account -- everything they do with AI is attributed to them.
3. Once added, the connector is available across Claude chat, Cowork, and Claude Code for members signed in to your organization -- no per-tool or per-machine configuration.

Install the plugin marketplace in Claude¶

The Stratus GRCITSM marketplace carries the grcitsm-analyst plugin. Your Stratus Cyber engagement team supplies the plugin as a ZIP file with each release; an organization owner uploads it once and distributes it to the whole organization.

Upload the plugin to your organization¶

1. Confirm Cowork and Skills are enabled for your organization.
2. Download the plugin ZIP file provided by your engagement team.
3. Go to Organization settings > Plugins in claude.ai.
4. Click Add plugins and choose Upload a file.
5. The first time, choose Upload to a new marketplace and give the marketplace a name (for example, Stratus GRCITSM).
6. Drag in the ZIP file (50 MB maximum) and click Upload.

To update later, upload the new release's ZIP to the same marketplace -- a plugin with the same name overwrites the previous version in place.

Distribute it to members¶

Set the plugin's distribution state after upload:

Members find the plugin under Browse plugins in Claude, and it is available in chat (web and desktop) and Cowork. See Anthropic's Manage plugins for your organization for the full administration reference.

Claude Code¶

Claude Code loads plugins from its own marketplace registry, so install the plugin there directly from the same ZIP file:

1. Extract the ZIP to a folder on your machine.

2. In Claude Code, run:

   /plugin marketplace add <path to the extracted folder>
   /plugin install grcitsm-analyst@stratus-grcitsm-marketplace
   

The OAuth connector from the previous section is already available -- connectors added in claude.ai carry over to Claude Code for members signed in to your organization. Two practices are worth adopting in each working project:

• Run /grcitsm-analyst:setup once per project. It verifies the connection, reports anything missing, and scaffolds the working directories the plugin's workflows use. Re-run it after plugin updates.
• Let reads run freely, prompt on every write. The marketplace's SETUP.md includes a recommended permission block that allowlists read operations and forces a yes/no prompt on every operation that changes a record. Your tenant is a live system of record; this is the posture we recommend for it.

Guardrails and best practices¶

AI with write access to a live system of record deserves the same discipline as any privileged integration:

• Attributable identity. Members authenticate as themselves, so every AI action carries a real name. Grant the MCP Access role deliberately -- it is the lever for who can use AI against the tenant, and removing it (or deactivating the Claude MCP OAuth application) revokes access.
• Writes get human review. Configure Claude so that record-changing operations always prompt for approval. Reads are safe to run freely; changes are not.
• Least privilege. Scope the OAuth application and agents' roles to the permissions the work actually needs, and widen them only when a workflow demands it.
• Non-production first. Trial new AI workflows against a UAT or development instance before pointing them at production.
• Protect credentials. Treat the client secret like any privileged credential: rotate it with Generate when in doubt (the old secret stops working immediately), and never put it in version control or chat messages.
• Keep sessions focused. Long AI sessions accumulate context and drift; start fresh sessions for distinct pieces of work.