Direct Answer: What Can I Do With OnePlan in My AI Assistant?
With the OnePlan MCP Server, you can ask your AI assistant to find and summarize plans, check who is available, compare budget to actuals, move allocations and forecasts, log risks and decisions, update your own tasks, and clear your approvals. This article provides ready-to-use prompts grouped by the work you do. Replace the example names with your own plans, people, and dates. What you can see and change always follows your OnePlan permissions.
Note: The OnePlan MCP Server is available in preview to approved customers. To request access, contact your Customer Success Manager.
What This Article Covers: MCP Server Use Cases
This article gives example prompts for using OnePlan from Claude, Microsoft Copilot, or ChatGPT through the OnePlan MCP Server. Prompts are grouped into portfolio review, financials, staffing, work items, My Work and approvals, multi-step workflows, and combining OnePlan with other tools.
What you will understand After reading this article, you will know which kinds of requests your assistant can handle in OnePlan and how to phrase them for the best results.
Who This Article Is For: MCP Server Use Cases
This article is intended for:
- Portfolio managers, PMO staff, and executives reviewing portfolios
- Finance staff and project managers reviewing and reforecasting budgets
- Resource managers staffing projects and checking capacity
- Team members and approvers managing their own work and approvals
Your AI assistant must already be connected to OnePlan. See How to Connect Your AI Assistant to OnePlan Using the MCP Server.
Why This Matters: MCP Server Use Cases
Context: Plain Language, No Tool Names
You don’t need to know OnePlan tool names. Describe what you want, and your assistant picks the right tools.
Context: How to Get the Best Results
| Tip | Example |
|---|---|
| Name the plan, person, or team | “the CRM Upgrade plan”, “Jordan Lee”, “the Data team” |
| Name the cost type and time period | “Forecast for Q1 2027”, “Budget vs Actuals this fiscal year” |
| Say “preview it first” for changes | “Move the Labor forecast out 2 months. Preview it first.” |
| Say “don’t make changes yet” when exploring | “Suggest who could replace Alex. Don’t make changes yet.” |
| Ask for only the fields you need | “Show only the owner, status, and dates for the CRM Upgrade plan.” Plans can have many fields you don’t use. Your administrator can remove unused fields from plan types for cleaner answers. |
| Ask for the format you want | “Put that in a table”, “Give me 3 bullets for my manager” |
| Go step by step on big tasks | Find, then review, then preview, then confirm |
| Ask what exists if you are unsure | “What cost types can I use for resource planning?” Cost types, plan types, and fields are specific to your group. |
Understanding MCP Server Use Cases in OnePlan
Portfolio Review
For: Portfolio managers, PMO, executives
| Scenario | Try this prompt |
|---|---|
| Portfolio snapshot | “List the active projects in the Digital Transformation portfolio with owner, stage, and status.” |
| Find plans by criteria | “Which projects start in 2027 and have a budget over $500K?” |
| Explore the hierarchy | “Show the programs and projects under the Digital Transformation portfolio.” |
| One-plan summary | “Summarize the CRM Upgrade plan: owner, stage, key dates, and what step it can move to next.” |
| Stage-gate check | “What does the CRM Upgrade plan need before it can move to Execution?” |
| Move a plan forward | “Move the CRM Upgrade plan to the Execution step.” |
| Update plan fields | “Set the status of the CRM Upgrade plan to At Risk and add a note on the vendor delay.” |
| Create a plan | “Create a Project called Website Refresh under the Digital program, starting January 5, 2027. Ask me for any required fields.” |
Note: Creating and updating plans in OnePlan saves immediately. Ask your assistant to summarize what it will change, then confirm.
Financial Review and Reforecasting
For: Finance, project managers, portfolio managers
| Scenario | Try this prompt |
|---|---|
| See the numbers | “Show the Budget for the ERP Upgrade by cost category for 2027, by quarter.” |
| Find variances | “Where is the ERP Upgrade over budget? Compare Budget to Actuals by cost category.” |
| Forecast vs budget | “Compare Forecast to Budget on Project Atlas and list the 3 biggest gaps.” |
| Across several plans | “For each project in the Digital program, compare Budget to Forecast for Q1 2027.” |
| Set a value | “Set the 2027 Software budget on Website Refresh to $120,000. Preview it first.” |
| Add to a value | “Add $15,000 to the Q2 2027 Labor forecast on CRM Upgrade.” |
| Spread a lump sum | “Spread $240,000 of Hardware budget evenly across 2027 on Project Atlas.” |
| Slip a forecast | “The hardware delivery slipped. Move the Hardware forecast on Project Atlas out by one quarter.” |
| Clear a period | “Clear the March 2027 Travel forecast on CRM Upgrade.” |
| Check what’s configured | “What cost types and cost categories can I use for financial planning?” |
Note: In OnePlan, financial shifts move whole months. Periods on or before a cost type’s status date, read-only cost types (such as rollup and combined cost types), and locked plans can’t be changed.
Staffing and Capacity
For: Resource managers, project managers
| Scenario | Try this prompt |
|---|---|
| Who’s free | “Who in the Data team has at least 40 hours free in March 2027?” |
| One person’s load | “Show Jordan Lee’s capacity, allocations, and time off for the next 3 months.” |
| Over-allocation | “Is Priya Shah over-allocated in Q2 2027? By how much?” |
| Fill a generic role | “Find named resources who can fill the Senior Developer generic resource on Website Refresh.” |
| Compare candidates | “Compare Alex Kim, Priya Shah, and Sam Patel on availability and cost rate for Q1 2027. Who still has room if I add 80 hours?” |
| Who’s on a plan | “Who is allocated to CRM Upgrade, and for how many hours per month?” |
| Plan variance | “Compare Committed to Scheduled hours on CRM Upgrade by resource.” |
| Teams | “Who is on the Platform team, and who manages it?” |
| Allocate someone | “Allocate Jordan Lee to Website Refresh for 120 hours in Q1 2027. Preview it first.” |
| Shift an allocation | “Move Jordan Lee’s allocation on CRM Upgrade forward 2 months.” |
| Swap people | “Replace Alex Kim with Priya Shah on Website Refresh. Preview it first.” |
| Fulfill a generic | “Fulfill the Senior Developer placeholder on Website Refresh: 60% Priya, 40% Sam.” |
Risks, Issues, and Work Items
For: Project managers, PMO, team leads
| Scenario | Try this prompt |
|---|---|
| What a plan can track | “What kinds of work items does the CRM Upgrade plan have?” |
| Open risks | “List the open risks on CRM Upgrade with owner, impact, and due date.” |
| Filter items | “Show high-impact issues on Project Atlas that are past due.” |
| One item in detail | “Show the details and dependencies of the Data Migration task on CRM Upgrade.” |
| Breakdown | “Show everything under Phase 2 of the CRM Upgrade plan.” |
| Who’s assigned | “Who is assigned to the Phase 2 tasks on CRM Upgrade?” |
| Log new items | “Add a risk to CRM Upgrade: vendor may miss the March delivery. Impact High. Owner Sam Patel.” |
| Update an item | “Set the vendor delay risk on CRM Upgrade to Mitigated and update the mitigation notes.” |
| Close several | “Close the 3 resolved issues on Project Atlas. Preview it first.” |
Note: In OnePlan, you can create and update items in a plan’s logs, such as risks, issues, and decisions. Tasks on the schedule can’t be created or edited through your assistant, and nothing can be deleted.
My Work and Approvals
For: Everyone
| Scenario | Try this prompt |
|---|---|
| My week | “What’s on my plate this week in OnePlan?” |
| Overdue | “Which of my work items are overdue?” |
| Different time frame | “Show my work items due between January 1 and March 31, 2027.” By default, your assistant looks at items due in the last 30 days and next 30 days, plus any older or undated items that are not complete. |
| One plan | “What’s assigned to me on CRM Upgrade?” |
| Update status | “Mark my Data Migration task 75% complete.” |
| Bulk update | “Set all my tasks on Website Refresh due this week to complete.” |
| My approvals | “What approvals are waiting on me? Summarize each one.” |
| Understand an approval | “What’s in the budget approval for Project Atlas? What fields were sent?” |
| Decide | “Approve the Project Atlas budget request with the comment ‘Approved for Q1 start.’” |
Note: In OnePlan, status updates go to the Plan Owner for review before they appear in the plan. Approval decisions can’t be undone, so your assistant should confirm with you first.
Multi-Step Workflows
Your assistant can chain several steps in one conversation.
| Workflow | Try this prompt |
|---|---|
| Over budget and over-staffed | “Find projects in the Digital program that are over budget, then show who is allocated to each and flag anyone over-allocated.” |
| Project slipped a quarter | “CRM Upgrade is slipping one quarter. Show what that means for the Labor forecast and Jordan’s allocation, preview both shifts, and wait for my OK.” |
| Staff a new project | “Website Refresh needs a Senior Developer for 200 hours in Q1 2027. Find who can fill it, compare the top 3 on availability and cost, and recommend one. Don’t make changes yet.” |
| Weekly status prep | “For each project I own, give me status, budget vs forecast, open high risks, and items due in the next 2 weeks. Format it as a one-page update.” |
| Clear my queue | “List my approvals and my overdue items. For each approval, give me a one-line recommendation.” |
Combine OnePlan With Your Other Tools
If your assistant has other connectors turned on, such as email, calendar, files, or meeting transcripts, you can combine them with OnePlan.
| Scenario | Try this prompt |
|---|---|
| Meeting notes to risks | “Here are notes from today’s steering committee. Log the risks and decisions on CRM Upgrade. Preview them first.” |
| Status email | “Draft an email to the steering committee summarizing the CRM Upgrade status, budget variance, and top risks.” |
| Budget from a spreadsheet | “Using the attached forecast, update the Q1 2027 Labor forecast on Project Atlas. Preview each change.” |
| Prep for a 1:1 | “Before my 1:1 with Jordan, summarize Jordan’s allocations and open items in OnePlan.” |
What You Can’t Do Through Your Assistant
- Delete plans, work items, or allocations
- Create or edit tasks on the schedule (you can submit status updates on your own items)
- Change synced plans, locked periods, or read-only fields
- Create or configure approvals
- See data in a OnePlan group you didn’t sign in to
Frequently Asked Questions: MCP Server Use Cases
Q: Do I need to know OnePlan tool names to use my AI assistant? A: No. With the OnePlan MCP Server, you describe what you want in plain language and your assistant chooses the right OnePlan tools.
Q: How do I preview a change before my assistant saves it to OnePlan? A: Add “Preview it first” to your request. In OnePlan, financial, resource, work item, status, and approval changes support a before-and-after preview. Plan creation and plan field updates save immediately, so ask your assistant to summarize those changes before you confirm.
Q: Why didn’t my status update show up in the OnePlan plan? A: In OnePlan, status updates on your own work items go to the Plan Owner for review. The update appears in the plan after the Plan Owner accepts it.
Q: Can I use OnePlan together with other connectors in the same chat? A: Yes, if your AI assistant supports it. You can combine OnePlan with connectors such as email, calendar, or files, for example to turn meeting notes into risks on a OnePlan plan.
What to Do Next: MCP Server Use Cases
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