This page is for developers who want AI help while they build a VBAPI integration. It explains the portal's two AI features, what each one can and cannot see, and how to use them without exposing credentials or member data.
| AI assistant | MCP server | |
|---|---|---|
| Where you use it | In this portal: select the chat button on any page | In your own AI tool, such as Cursor, VS Code, or Claude, connected to the portal's /mcp endpoint |
| What it answers from | The pages published on this portal and the API reference | The same pages and the same OpenAPI description |
| Setup | None | Connect your AI tools |
Both features know only what is published here. If a published page is wrong, the AI repeats the mistake, so check every operation it names in the API reference before you rely on it.
The MCP server is at https://vbapi-docs.vbasoftware.com/mcp. It gives your own AI tool the same knowledge the portal's assistant has, so the tool can look up endpoints, parameters, and schemas while it writes code in your editor.
| They can see | They cannot see |
|---|---|
| Published pages: Get started, Concepts, Playbooks, AI and MCP, and Help and reference | Your API key, password, tokens, client ID, or client code |
| The OpenAPI description: paths, parameters, request and response schemas, and security schemes | Your database or any record in it: groups, members, claims, or payments |
| Any response from the VBASoftware API | |
| Unpublished or internal content |
The MCP server never calls the VBASoftware API, never sees client data, and never needs VBASoftware credentials. It only searches and returns the published documentation and the API description. If an MCP tool or your AI client asks you for VBASoftware credentials, do not enter them, and tell VBA support.
The AI assistant also sees what you type into the chat. When you connect an MCP client, your own AI tool decides what it sends to its model, so its privacy terms apply to your code and prompts. The MCP server only receives the tool requests the client makes, such as a search phrase or an endpoint path.
- Never paste secrets or real data. Do not put passwords, API keys, tokens, or real member, provider, or claim data (PHI) into a prompt. Use obviously fake values such as
DOCS-SUB0001andSample Member. - Treat every answer as a draft. Check each
METHOD /pathagainst the API reference, and check required fields against the schema there. - Remember that your code calls production. Clients only have access to the production API, so code you run writes real records in the database you name in
vbasoftware-database. Try write calls in a non-production database first if VBA has given you one. - Ask for the playbook. For multi-step work, name the playbook in your question, for example "Using the Enroll employees and dependents playbook". Build with AI has a ready-made prompt for each playbook.
Connect your AI tools
Set up Cursor, VS Code, Visual Studio, Claude, or another MCP client.
Build with AI
Prompt recipes for each playbook, and a checklist before you ship.
Quick start
Make your first authenticated call without AI help.
For questions the documentation does not answer, see Support and escalation.