Frequently Asked Questions

FAQs

Is my data secure when using MCP with AI tools?

Yes. Access to data is governed by your Vena user permissions. The MCP server operates within Vena’s existing security model, including role‑based access and controls.

What is the difference between AI tools like Claude and Vena?

AI tools (e.g., Claude) help analyze data and generate insights.
Vena is a financial planning platform that manages data, workflows and governance.

Together, they enable advanced analysis while Vena ensures data remains structured, controlled and consistent across the organization.

Is the Vena MCP Server read‑only?

Currently, the MCP server supports read‑only capabilities, such as retrieving and analyzing data, with the ability to save data back to the data model in Excel using our template add-in features. Future capabilities may include creating or modifying models, data tools and related assets.

How do AI systems interact with Vena through MCP?

When you enter a prompt, the AI system uses MCP tools to retrieve relevant data from Vena and then generates outputs such as reports, summaries or analyses.

Notes & Limitations

If too many requests are sent to the Vena MCP Server in a short period, some requests may fail. If a request returns a 429 error, wait a few minutes and try again.
Each AI system has limits on the amount of data it can process per request (for example, Claude supports up to 25,000 tokens). Exceeding this limit may result in incomplete or inaccurate responses.
When using the MCP connector in Claude-in-Excel, users must explicitly reference the connector by name in their prompt (e.g., "using dev MCP, list my Vena models") for it to be invoked. Natural, implicit prompts like "list my Vena models" will return a message that the connector is unavailable — even though it is connected and enabled.
MCP is not supported for Single Sign-On (SSO) customers when Force SSO is enabled.

Terminology

MCP Server: The service that connects external AI systems to Vena and exposes tools that allow them to interact with your data.
Tool: A specific capability the external AI system can use to interact with Vena, such as retrieving data or listing dimensions.
Skill: A capability that allows the external AI system to complete a specific task or workflow in Vena, such as building a report, generating a forecast, or creating a financial model.