How to use Claude with Infor LN
Short answer
To use Claude with Infor LN, put a Model Context Protocol server in front of ION API or a read replica so Claude can call named, read-only tools. Run Claude through the Anthropic API, Amazon Bedrock or Google Vertex AI as your data policy allows, or use an on-prem open-weight model if data cannot leave.
Teams running Infor LN usually ask about Claude for two reasons: strong long-document reasoning for specifications and supplier contracts, and the Model Context Protocol, which gives a standard way to attach tools. Instead of building a one-off plugin per assistant, you build one MCP server that exposes LN capabilities and let any compatible client use it.
LN is not a system you want an assistant to browse freely. It is multi-company, heavily customised and often subject to export and contractual controls. So the integration should expose a short list of well-defined tools, each mapped to a supported interface, and nothing else.
Below is how that looks in practice, the cloud choices that affect where data goes, and the point at which an on-prem model becomes the right call.
What teams use it for
Read a supplier agreement against open orders
Claude reads a contract PDF and, via a tool, pulls the open purchase order lines for that supplier, then flags lines whose terms or lead times conflict with the agreement.
Engineering change impact summary
Given a change notice document and a BOM lookup tool, Claude lists the affected parent items, open production orders and stock, and drafts a summary for the change board.
Explain a costing variance
With read-only tools for standard cost, actuals and order history, Claude walks through a variance step by step and states which numbers it used.
Triage a planning backlog in conversation
A planner asks which exceptions matter this week; Claude calls the exception tool, groups results and proposes what to action, leaving every change to the planner.
Customer quote review
Claude compares a customer RFQ's requirements with item masters and routing data and notes where the quote needs engineering input.
LN customisation Q&A for developers
With the team's code repository and documentation attached, Claude helps developers understand existing extensions and draft changes, kept separate from live data.
Infor LN integration surface
- ION API: authenticated REST access issued from Infor OS. Your MCP server holds the client credentials and calls only the services you choose; confirm which are enabled in your LN release.
- BODs and ION document flows: useful when a tool should trigger or inspect an integration event rather than read tables.
- Read replica or Infor Data Lake: where heavier analytical tools should read so Claude's requests never load the transactional database.
- LN business object layer: the correct entry for any future write tool, so LN validation runs.
- Documents: LN document management attachments and shared drive files, which you can expose through a retrieval tool for contract and drawing questions.
How it works
- 1
Choose the deployment path
Decide whether Claude will be used through the Anthropic API, a cloud platform such as Amazon Bedrock or Google Vertex AI, or a desktop and web client with remote connectors. This determines where prompts and results travel.
- 2
Write the MCP server
Use an official SDK in TypeScript or Python. Define tools with clear names and typed inputs, such as get_item, get_open_po_lines, get_bom_where_used.
- 3
Authenticate to LN safely
Store ION API credentials in a secrets manager, use a read-only service identity, and pass the end user's identity for audit where the client supports it.
- 4
Pick a transport
Use stdio for a single developer's local testing and an HTTP-based transport behind your gateway for shared use, with authentication on every request.
- 5
Add document retrieval
Index contracts and specs separately, with access control matching the original folders, and expose a search tool.
- 6
Test with real questions
Collect twenty or thirty real planner and buyer questions, record expected answers from LN sessions, and fix tools until answers match.
- 7
Roll out gradually
Begin with a small group, review logs weekly, then widen access and consider drafted write tools.
Example flows
Contract versus open orders
Trigger: Buyer uploads a supplier agreement and asks for conflicts.
- Claude extracts delivery terms and price breaks from the document.
- It calls the open PO lines tool for that supplier.
- It compares lead times, quantities and prices line by line.
- It returns a table of conflicts with the source of each number.
Result: A review that would take an hour of cross-checking is ready to verify in minutes.
ECN impact
Trigger: Engineer pastes an engineering change notice reference.
- Claude calls the where-used tool for the changed component.
- It fetches open production orders and on-hand stock for each parent.
- It drafts the impact summary and suggests disposition questions.
- Engineer edits and attaches it to the change record.
Result: A consistent impact note grounded in current LN data.
Keeping data on-prem
If LN data cannot be sent to any external model, the MCP server can still be reused: it is just a tool interface. Point an MCP-capable client at an open-weight model hosted with vLLM or Ollama on your own GPUs, and keep documents and database reads inside your network. Quality on long, nuanced documents may be lower than a frontier hosted model, so many sites test both on their own questions and use the private path only for the sensitive subset.
Security checklist
- Understand your provider's data retention and training terms for the specific access route; they differ between consumer, API and cloud platform offerings.
- Expose read-only tools first and require explicit approval for any later write tool.
- Scope the service identity to specific companies and tables so one tool cannot reach everything.
- Authenticate every HTTP request to the MCP server and log tool calls with user, parameters and row counts.
- Guard against prompt injection from documents and supplier emails by treating retrieved text as data, not instructions.
Ways to get it done
Claude through a remote connector to an MCP server you host
Effort: Weeks for a useful first toolset.
Teams comfortable with hosted models and wanting quick, tool-driven answers.
Claude via Bedrock or Vertex inside your cloud account
Effort: Moderate; adds cloud setup and networking.
Organisations whose policy prefers keeping traffic within an existing cloud agreement.
Private open-weight model with the same MCP tools, via a partner such as Netray
Effort: Scoped pilot of several weeks.
Export-controlled or contractually restricted LN data.
Pitfalls
- !Exposing too many tools makes the model choose poorly; keep each tool narrow and well described.
- !Returning raw large result sets wastes context and leaks data; aggregate and limit server-side.
- !Ignoring company numbers leads to answers mixing entities in multi-company installations.
- !Granting the MCP server broad database rights because it is convenient turns a prompt mistake into a data exposure.
- !Assuming a hosted model's settings from one plan apply to another; check the actual route you use.
Frequently asked questions
Does Claude have a native Infor LN connector?
We are not aware of a native, supported one that covers your custom setup, and you should check current offerings. The usual route is an MCP server you build or commission, which wraps ION API or a replica and exposes only the tools you approve.
What is MCP in this context?
Model Context Protocol is an open standard for connecting assistants to tools and data. Here it means one server that exposes LN lookups, usable by Claude and by other compatible clients, so you avoid rebuilding the integration for each assistant.
Can we keep LN data in our own cloud region?
Often yes. Claude is available through major cloud platforms, and you can keep the MCP server and data in your own account. Exact regions, retention and compliance coverage vary, so verify them with your cloud contract before committing.
Should Claude be allowed to change LN data?
Not initially. Read-only tools deliver most of the value with little risk. Later, add draft-and-approve tools that execute under the approver's identity through supported LN interfaces, never direct table writes.
What if our data is export controlled?
Then a hosted model may not be permitted, depending on your obligations and arrangements. Reuse the same tool layer with a locally hosted open-weight model, and have your compliance team confirm the architecture meets your requirements.
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