How to run an RFP in Claude with Cobl, step by step

The Cobl MCP is a connector that lets you run a full RFP response inside Claude. You brief the deal in the chat, add the RFP files and ask Claude to use Cobl. Cobl reads the RFP, drafts every document the buyer asks for from your Shared Drive, flags what it still needs from you and checks the bid before you export it.

This guide follows a real test run in Claude, step by step, from connecting Cobl to downloading the final files. It is written for bid managers and presales teams who need to submit on time, in the right format, without missing anything. The same workflow works in ChatGPT.

Key takeaways

• The Cobl MCP connects Cobl to Claude and ChatGPT, so a bid team can run a full RFP response from the assistant it already uses.
• Running an RFP in Claude with Cobl takes seven steps: connect, brief the deal, add new files, prompt, check the run, fill the gaps, then export.
• Cobl drafts from your Shared Drive and past deals, and marks missing facts with placeholders instead of inventing figures, certifications or names.
• Before export, Cobl checks the bid for compliance gaps, missing elements, formatting issues and off-topic answers.
• Custom connectors work on every Claude plan, from Free (limited to one custom connector) to Enterprise, according to Anthropic's help center.

What is the Cobl MCP?

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard that lets AI assistants such as Claude and ChatGPT connect to outside tools and data. A tool publishes an MCP server. The assistant connects to it and can use that tool inside the chat.

The Cobl MCP connects Claude to your Cobl workspace. You talk to Claude. Cobl does the RFP work behind it, using your deals, your Shared Drive and your document setups. From the chat, Claude can create the deal in Cobl, save your files to it, start a document, report on its progress and export the result.

Why run RFPs in Claude with Cobl?

Most bid teams do not turn down RFPs because they cannot win them. They turn them down because they cannot staff the response. One RFP means hundreds of pages of specifications, compliance forms filled by hand, an Excel sheet of several hundred questions and a technical proposal reshaped to the buyer's format. If you are new to the work, start with the RFP process, step by step.

A bid manager does not need another place to write. They need the bid in on time, in the right format, with nothing missing, and without chasing half the company for answers. Each part of the workflow maps to one of those concerns:

• On time: Cobl drafts in the background while you work, and you check progress whenever you want.
• Less chasing: Cobl pulls what already exists from your Shared Drive and past deals, then gives you one precise list of what is still missing.
• Right format: Cobl follows the buyer's template, section order and page limits, and exports editable Word files and PDFs.
• Nothing missed: Cobl checks the bid for compliance gaps and marks unknown facts instead of guessing them.

What Cobl produces for an RFP

A bid is a set of documents, not one response. Cobl identifies which ones the buyer requires and produces each in the expected format:

• Administrative documents required by the RFP instructions.
• Compliance forms and declarations.
• Excel question sheets, answered in the buyer's own file.
• The technical memo or technical proposal, following the buyer's plan or template.

Cobl can also produce the documents around the submission: the bid evaluation, the go/no-go decision, the offer analysis, the sales proposal and the sales deck. They all sit in the same deal, so a correction in one carries into the others.

What you need before you start

• A Cobl account. The 30-day free trial includes full Pro access and needs no card.
• A Claude plan with custom connectors. According to Anthropic's help center, they are available on Free, Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise plans.
• The full RFP package from the buyer.
• Anything the bid must follow that is not in Cobl yet, such as brand guidelines or a response template.

How to run an RFP in Claude with Cobl, step by step

Step 1: Connect Cobl to Claude

You connect Cobl once. After that, you can turn it on in any Claude chat. There are two ways to connect.

Option 1: From Cobl (fastest)

1. In Cobl, open Settings, then Connect AI tools.
2. Click Claude. You'll be redirected to Claude.
3. Click Allow to connect your Cobl account.
4. In a new chat, open the tools menu and turn Cobl on.

Option 2: From Claude, with the MCP link

1. In Claude, open Customize, then Connectors.
2. Add a custom connector and paste the Cobl MCP URL: https://app.cobl.ai/mcp.
3. Sign in to Cobl when prompted, then allow access.
4. In a new chat, open the tools menu and turn Cobl on.

On Team and Enterprise plans, an Owner first adds Cobl under Organization settings, then Connectors. Each member then connects with their own Cobl account, so Claude only sees what that person can see in Cobl.

Whichever way you connect, you can manage permissions in Claude's connector settings. For each Cobl action, you choose whether Claude can use it always, only after your approval, or never. A common setup is to allow reading and document work freely, and ask for approval before anything is deleted.

The 2-minute video version of this step is here.

Step 2: Explain your deal

Brief Claude the way you would brief a colleague. Claude passes the brief to Cobl, which uses it for every document in the deal. A few precise lines here save corrections later.

• The buyer, their sector and what they are buying.
• The scope you are bidding on.
• The submission deadline and any page or format limits.
• Why you can win: your angle and your strongest references.
• What you know from past work or discovery calls with this buyer.

Example brief: "We are responding to a public-sector RFP from a regional hospital group for managed IT services across 3 sites. We are bidding on the network and security scope. The deadline is November 14. The technical memo is capped at 30 pages. We ran their Wi-Fi rollout in 2024."

Step 3: Add the files Cobl does not have yet

An RFP arrives as a package, not a single document. Upload everything the buyer sent at once:

• RFP instructions: the rules of the process, the submission format, deadlines and eligibility.
• Specifications and statement of work: what the buyer wants delivered.
• Technical and administrative requirements, including the ones that can disqualify a bid.
• Attachments: the forms, declarations and templates the buyer imposes.
• Excel question sheets, which often run to several hundred questions.
• The evaluation grid, so the response follows how the bid is scored.

You do not need to sort or rename them. Cobl reads everything, identifies each piece, understands the structure of the RFP and works out what each deliverable requires.

Then add anything the documents must follow that Cobl does not hold yet: brand guidelines, a buyer template, a recent case study. Cobl already goes through your Shared Drive and the files from previous deals, so you only upload what is new. If a file is neither uploaded in Claude nor already in Cobl, Cobl cannot use it.

As you upload, the files go into your Cobl Shared Drive, where your whole team can find them. Access works like Google Drive: you decide who sees what, person by person or by team. The difference is that nobody updates the drive by hand. As you create deals, Cobl organizes the files automatically.

Step 4: Ask Claude to use Cobl

Say explicitly that you want Cobl to do the work. Name the document you need and the rules it must follow.

Example prompt: "Use Cobl to draft the technical memo for this RFP. Follow the evaluation grid's section order and stay within 30 pages. Use the 2024 Wi-Fi rollout as the main reference. Flag any requirement where we have no source instead of filling it."

Three habits improve the first draft:

• Name the evaluation grid, so the structure mirrors how the buyer scores.
• Name the references you want used first.
• Ask for gaps to be flagged. An answer marked as missing is easy to fix. An invented one can cost the bid.

Claude asks you to validate each step before Cobl moves on, so you stay in control of what gets created and where.

Step 5: Check the run

A full document takes time. Claude tells you the document is being generated and that you can ask it to check the run whenever you want an update. You can keep working in the meantime.

While the run is going, Cobl reads the RFP documentation, pulls the right information from your Shared Drive and past answers, and researches the client and the market to strengthen the offer. It adapts each answer to the buyer's format. If the buyer imposes a template or a plan, Cobl follows it. If the format is open, Cobl builds one that matches the evaluation grid.

When you ask for an update, Claude reports where Cobl is. If the run is partway through, it tells you which parts or files are ready. When it is done, you get an overview of the document: how many sections it has and what it highlights.

Step 6: Fill the gaps Cobl flags

This is the step that protects the bid. When Cobl has no source for a fact, it does not invent one. It leaves a placeholder and tells you what it needs.

In our September 2026 test run, the Shared Drive held nothing on the bidder's network services. Cobl wrote no figures, response times, certifications, vendors or names. It left 2 kinds of placeholder instead: one for items to take from the RFP documents, and one for facts only the bidder can confirm. Then it listed what would close them:

• The full RFP package, including the evaluation grid, so the page budget follows how the bid is scored and the structure follows any imposed template.
• Verified figures from the 2024 rollout, plus a contact who can act as a reference.
• Certifications, security operations setup, on-site presence and team names.
• Whether the buyer can be cited as its own reference, since buyers vary on this.
• What counts toward the 30-page limit, such as the cover and attachments.

That list is your action plan. Send each item to the person who owns it, upload the answers in the chat and ask Claude to update the document. You chase a short, specific list instead of a vague "please review".

Step 7: Review and export

Before export, Cobl checks the bid in the background. It looks for compliance gaps, missing elements, formatting issues and ambiguous or off-topic answers, and flags what needs attention. It works like a compliance matrix built for you: every requirement checked against the response.

When the document is ready, Claude asks how you want it:

• Show it directly in Claude to read and review.
• Create a view link to share with colleagues or approvers.
• Download it as a Word file or a PDF. Downloads are saved in the deal in Cobl, under Exports, so the final version is never lost in someone's inbox.

Is it different from running the RFP in Cobl?

The work is the same. Cobl reads the same files, applies the same document setups and saves everything to the same deal, so you can switch between Claude and Cobl at any point.

The experience differs a little. In Claude, you validate each step in the chat and ask for progress updates. In Cobl, you work in the deal workspace directly and can also choose how autonomously Cobl runs.

The bigger difference is with Claude on its own. Without Cobl, Claude has no access to your past answers, your references or your document setups. Cobl's RFP benchmark compared running the same models directly in Claude.ai and ChatGPT with running them through Cobl. Through Cobl, the responses were more complete and scored 14 to 22 points higher on a 100-point grid. The benchmark also covers cost and delivery time for each setup.

Does it work in ChatGPT?

Yes. The workflow is the same. Only the setup differs. In ChatGPT, custom connectors run through Developer Mode, which is available on paid plans (Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu) and not on the free plan.

1. In ChatGPT, open Settings and turn on Developer Mode.
2. Create a custom connector and paste https://app.cobl.ai/mcp.
3. Sign in to Cobl when prompted.
4. In a new chat, turn Cobl on from the tools menu.

On Business and Enterprise workspaces, an admin may need to allow Developer Mode first. OpenAI moves this setting from time to time, so check its help center if a menu label differs.

What stays with your team

Cobl drafts, checks and flags. Your team still owns the decisions that carry risk: pricing, delivery commitments and legal positions each need a named owner. The bid manager signs off before submission.

adista, a Cobl customer, reports spending 3x less time per RFP, with responses 90% ready to send.

To try the workflow on your next bid, start a free trial and connect Claude.