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HG Insights Connect for Microsoft

HG Insights Connect is the certified HG Insights connector in the Microsoft connector catalog. It connects a Microsoft Copilot Studio agent to the HG MCP Server, so the agent can use HG Insights firmographic, technographic, spend, intent and signal data while it reasons and answers questions.

You don't need to download an OpenAPI file or create a custom connector.

Permitted use

HG Insights Connect is for agents and assistants that reason over HG Insights data. It is not licensed for deterministic record-by-record processing. For example, a flow or an Apply to each loop that reads rows from Dataverse, SharePoint or a CRM and writes HG fields back is outside permitted use at any volume. For that, use the HG Insights API or the HG SaaS application.

How it works​

The connector exposes one action, HG Insights Connect (operation ID InvokeMCP). It points at the HG MCP Server's streamable endpoint, https://phoenix.hginsights.com/api/mcp, the same endpoint used by direct MCP clients such as Cursor or Claude.

When you add the connector to a Copilot Studio agent, Copilot Studio acts as an MCP client. It discovers the HG tools available to your API key and calls them as the conversation needs them. The tool list comes from the server at runtime, so new HG tools appear without a connector update.

Because the action speaks MCP, an agent has to drive it. The connector is listed in the Power Automate, Power Apps and Logic Apps catalogs, but it can't be used as a step in a cloud flow. To use HG Insights data from a flow or an app, call a Copilot Studio agent that has the connector.

Availability​

Microsoft productConnector class
Microsoft Copilot StudioPremium
Microsoft Power AutomatePremium
Microsoft Power AppsPremium
Azure Logic AppsStandard

The connector isn't available in US Government (GCC, GCC High), US Department of Defense (DoD), Azure Government, or China regions. For the current list, see Microsoft's HG Insights Connect connector reference.

What you'll need​

  1. Your HG Insights API key (phx_...). In the HG Insights web app, click MCP in the sidebar, then Generate New Key, and leave the scope on User. Don't use an Admin-scope key: it sees only admin tools, so the agent would get no HG data tools. See Keys, credentials and consumption.
  2. A Copilot Studio agent with generative orchestration turned on (Settings → Generative AI). MCP tools are only invoked by generative orchestration.
  3. Your environment's data policy must allow HG Insights Connect. Copilot Studio reaches MCP servers through Power Platform connectors, so data loss prevention (DLP) policies apply to it.

Choose the correct connector​

Two catalog entries

The Microsoft catalog lists HG Insights Connect (Preview) twice. Choose the one whose publisher is HG Insights.

Set up in Copilot Studio​

1. Add the connector to your agent​

  1. Open copilotstudio.microsoft.com and select your environment and agent.
  2. Go to the agent's Tools page and select + Add a tool.
  3. In the Add tool panel, filter by Model Context Protocol and search for HG Insights Connect.
  4. Select the entry published by HG Insights.

2. Create the connection​

  1. Under Connection, select Create new connection.
  2. Paste your phx_... API key into the api_key field and select Create.
  3. Select Add to agent.

3. Configure the tool​

On the Tools page, open HG Insights Connect:

  • Tools. Copilot Studio lists the HG tools it discovered. Turn off any tools the agent shouldn't use.
  • Description. Describe when the agent should use HG data, for example: "Use for B2B company facts: firmographics, installed technologies, IT spend, intent and signals. Input is a company domain." The orchestrator uses this description to decide when to call the tool.

4. Test​

  1. In the Test pane, ask: "What HG MCP Server tools are available?"
  2. Try a data prompt such as: "What cloud and CRM technologies does cisco.com use, and how large is the company?"
  3. Open the activity map to confirm that the agent called an HG tool (for example company_technographic or company_firmographic), and check the inputs it passed and the result it got back.

Technical details​

  • Transport: Streamable HTTP
  • Endpoint: https://phoenix.hginsights.com/api/mcp
  • Authentication: API key in the x-api-key header (set by the connection, not in the URL)
  • Accept header: application/json, text/event-stream

Smoke test with curl​

To check your API key against the same endpoint the connector calls:

# 1. Initialize an MCP session
curl -sS https://phoenix.hginsights.com/api/mcp \
  -H "x-api-key: $PHX_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Accept: application/json, text/event-stream" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"initialize","params":{"protocolVersion":"2025-03-26","capabilities":{},"clientInfo":{"name":"smoke-test","version":"1.0"}}}'

# 2. List the tools the agent will see
curl -sS https://phoenix.hginsights.com/api/mcp \
  -H "x-api-key: $PHX_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Accept: application/json, text/event-stream" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":2,"method":"tools/list"}'

An Unauthorized error means the key is missing, mistyped or revoked. tools/list doesn't consume credits.

Limits​

Microsoft throttles the connector to 100 calls per connection per 60 seconds. HG credits and rate limits are the same as for any other MCP client. See Best Practices.

Troubleshooting​

HG Insights Connect doesn't appear in the Add tool panel. Check that your region is supported (see Availability), that your license includes premium connectors, and that your data policy doesn't block the connector.

The agent never calls HG tools. Check that generative orchestration is on, that the tools are turned on, and that the tool description matches the prompt.

Every call fails with Unauthorized. Re-create the connection with the raw phx_... key, without a Bearer prefix, and confirm the key is still listed under MCP in the HG Insights web app.

The agent sees only admin tools, or no HG data tools. The connection uses an Admin-scope key. Create a User-scope key and re-create the connection.

Some tools return a missing-integration error. Your organization is missing a required integration. Contact your HG Insights admin.

Calls time out. HG MCP Server calls time out after 60 seconds. See Troubleshooting in Supported MCP Clients.

Another issue. Contact customersupport@hginsights.com with the exact error, the timestamp, and the connector name and publisher you selected.