Workday Agent-Ready Tools and Sana in Claude: what they do, access, how to connect

Workday offers two ways in: Agent-Ready Tools on a remote MCP endpoint, and the beta Sana from Workday connector in Claude. Both can act in Workday. Verified 21 Oct 2026.

The Sana from Workday connector is a beta service for early-access customers; Workday expects general availability in late 2026.

Official remote MCP (Agent-Ready Tools) · read & write
Claude connector (Sana from Workday, beta) · read & write

Hosting: Remote HTTP, hosted by Workday: https://{agentGatewayRegionEndpoint}/{tenantName}/mcp for Agent-Ready Tools. The connector's URL isn't published. No local server.
Auth: Agent-Ready Tools: OAuth 2.0 authorization code, bearer token. Connector: sign-in required; method not documented.
Read / write: Both read and act. Workday says agents can execute actions; the connector lists submitting expenses and handling supported approvals.
Works with: Agent-Ready Tools: any MCP client; Workday's guide names Agentspace, Bedrock AgentCore, Copilot Studio and Cursor. Connector: Claude.
Plan requirement: Agent-Ready Tools: Workday Extend AI (Extend Professionals) and a UMSA; MSA customers opt in to UMSA and enable it through Innovation Services. Workday says agent use can affect Flex Credits; pricing isn't published. Connector: active UMSA.
Last changed: 2026-10-13: Agent-Ready Tools announced generally available; Sana from Workday connector listed in Claude as a beta
Verification: Verified 21 Oct 2026 by theFinanceStack · confidence: high

What can an agent do with Workday through MCP?

It can read Workday data and run Workday actions, across what Workday calls hundreds of tools in HR, Financials and Payroll, within Workday's existing permissions.

Workday says Agent-Ready Tools span Core HR, Financials, Workforce Management, Talent and Learning, Payroll, Recruiting and Student, with no exact count. An admin registers an agent and switches on the skills it may use. Each tool maps to a Workday API.

The Claude connector

The Claude connector exposes four tools.

Tool	Reads or writes
`send_query_to_workday_plugin`	Reads
`get_workday_plugin_run_status`	Reads
`send_action_to_workday_plugin`	Passes actions to Sana
`send_a2ui_action_to_workday_plugin`	Passes actions to Sana

Timing in Claude

Workday's sources differ on timing for Agent-Ready Tools in Claude.
Its 13 Oct 2026 announcement says they reach Claude users through the plugin later in 2026.
The Claude listing already says developers can use Agent-Ready Tools over the same connection.

How actions behave

Workday doesn't say, tool by tool, whether an action posts at once or waits as a draft.
It says the user confirms every change and existing approval chains apply.

Can

Look up pay, time off and policy answers (connector)
Submit expenses and manage supported approvals (connector). Workday's announcement gives approving invoice exceptions as an example, and approvals may lead to payment.
Hand work to Sana agents and check a run's status (connector)
Call the Agent-Ready Tools an admin has enabled for a registered agent (remote)

Cannot

Show or change data the user can't access in Workday; roles, permissions, approval chains and audit controls apply, per Workday
Replace Workday's REST, SOAP, GraphQL and RaaS APIs for system integration, per Workday
Run as a local or self-hosted server: Workday documents only its hosted endpoint

What access does it get?

Each agent gets its own OAuth client, an Agent System User and an Agent Security Group. It can use only the skills an admin switches on. At runtime Workday checks the user's access to the agent and to each API it calls.

Where	Scopes and permissions (as documented)	Admin requirement
Agent-Ready Tools (remote MCP)	Authorization Code Grant API client with the Agent System of Record scope (Include Workday Owned Scope). Skills are toggled per agent and limited to chosen security groups; the View Security for Agent Skill report shows the policies behind each tool. Ambient agents run as an Agent System Account.	Extend Professionals only, per Workday. Setup needs domains including Setup: Agents, Agent Management Hub, Manage: Agents and Set Up: Tenant Setup - Security.
Sana from Workday connector (Claude)	Not documented by the vendor. The listing says the connector uses only data each user may see and follows existing roles, permissions, approval chains and audit controls.	A Workday admin applies for beta access and configures agents in Agent Management Hub. Workday says there is no per-user setup. Claude Team/Enterprise: an Owner adds connectors.

How do I connect it?

If your organisation is in the beta, use the Sana from Workday listing in Claude. For Agent-Ready Tools, an Extend Professional registers the agent, gets a token and points the client at Workday's MCP endpoint.

A Workday admin applies for beta access through the form on the Sana from Workday listing and configures the relevant agents in Agent Management Hub.
Open claude.com/marketplace/connectors/workday and click Add to Claude, then sign in to Workday.
Team/Enterprise: an Owner adds the connector before members can use it.

Beta, early access only as of 21 Oct 2026. Setup docs are on Workday Community and aren't public.

What should a finance team watch for?

Both options can act in Workday. The connector is a beta, and tokens and agent permissions are set up by hand.

Writes go through Workday's approval chains and, per Workday, need user confirmation. Workday doesn't say which actions post at once. Approving expenses or invoice exceptions can lead to payment, so keep a person approving those.
Expense descriptions and comments are free text the agent reads; an injected instruction could push it to approve or submit something, so keep human approval on.
Least privilege: use one API client per agent, switch on only the skills needed and limit Available To to a narrow security group.
Access tokens expire after 60 minutes, per Workday; its guide mentions 24 hours for refresh tokens but doesn't spell out the refresh flow. A token passed to claude mcp add stays in shell history and sits in plain text in the client config (~/.claude.json, or .mcp.json at project scope); keep those files out of source control. The client secret is shown once.
Workday doesn't publish rate limits or row caps for MCP calls.
Workday says Sana shares only the context a step needs with Claude. For training and retention, check Workday's terms, including its AI data contributions settings, and your AI provider's terms.

How could finance teams and accounting firms use it?

Both options can act in Workday. That suits questions, drafting and routing, with a person approving any change.

Inside a company

Ask about time off, pay or expense policy from Claude.
Prepare an expense report for the employee to review and confirm before it is submitted.
Review invoice exceptions against purchase orders and route each one to the right approver. Workday's announcement describes this for Sana in Claude (early access); the connector listing doesn't show it.
Build a custom agent on Agent-Ready Tools limited to reading Financials data.

At an accounting firm

Answer a client's Workday Financials question in a review meeting.
Scope an implementation by listing the tools a registered agent can see.
Where the client gives firm staff their own Workday accounts, answer questions under each person's own permissions.

A person approves anything that changes Workday, including expenses, approvals and anything that moves money.

Want Workday connected to Claude for your team?

We configure scoped connections and a review step before anything changes your books. Fixed fee.

Book a 30-minute setup call

Change log

Date	Change	Source
2026-10-21	Re-verified: Workday's admin guide documents the MCP endpoint, OAuth flow, token lifetimes and per-agent security setup	doc.workday.com/admin-guide/en-us/workday-ai/agents/external
2026-10-13	Partnership announced: Agent-Ready Tools generally available through Extend AI; Sana in Claude in early access, GA expected late 2026	newsroom.workday.com/2026-10-13-Workday-and-Anthropic-Announ
2026-10	Sana from Workday listed in Claude's connector directory as a beta with four tools	claude.com/marketplace/connectors/workday

FAQ

Is this official?

Yes. Workday hosts the Agent-Ready Tools endpoint and documents it in its admin guide. Workday also publishes the Sana from Workday connector in Claude's directory.

Is it free?

Workday doesn't publish a price. The connector needs an active UMSA and acceptance into the beta; Agent-Ready Tools need Workday Extend AI. Cost depends on your Workday contract and Flex Credit use, which Workday doesn't publish.

Does it change data in Workday?

It can: the connector lists submitting expenses and handling approvals. Workday says the user confirms every change.

Is my data used to train models?

Workday's MCP pages don't say. Workday ties the feature to its UMSA and AI data contributions settings; read Workday's terms and your AI provider's terms.

Can my accountant use it on my behalf?

Workday doesn't address this. Access follows the signed-in user's Workday permissions, so an adviser would need their own access in your tenant.

Something wrong or out of date? Tell us and we'll email you when it's fixed.

Sources

Verified by theFinanceStack, 21 Oct 2026. Vendor list on the CFO Software Market Map courtesy of Jason Staats; AI connectivity data by theFinanceStack. Not tax, compliance or financial advice.