Close API + MCP vs Nutshell

Close API + MCP

Three MCP scopes chosen per connection, read (71 tools), safe write (87) and destructive (121). 121 MCP tools, and even the read scope loads 71.

Nutshell

The REST reference is served as Markdown with an OpenAPI fragment per operation, and the hosted MCP server uses OAuth with PKCE and can only read. No rate limit numbers, error format or API changelog were found in the reviewed documentation, and API keys carry no scopes.

Close API + MCP

1. Connect with Close-Scope: mcp.read unless the job needs writes, and mcp.write_safe if it only creates
2. Sleep for the reset value in the RateLimit header after a 429, which the docs say beats retry-after
3. Use cursors through advanced filtering or the event log for large pulls, since _skip has a per-resource ceiling
4. Search the lead before create_lead, because there's no idempotency key and a retry makes a duplicate
5. Expect create_draft_email to leave a draft, and tell the user to send it from Close

Nutshell

1. Authenticate REST calls with HTTP Basic, a Nutshell user's email as username and the API key as password, against https://app.nutshell.com/rest
2. Use IDs in the <number>-<type> form, such as 3-accounts, and send updates as JSON Patch with content-type: application/json-patch+json
3. Page lists with page[limit] and page[page], which is 0-based, and call /accounts/list/fields or the lead and contact equivalents for valid filter keys
4. Use the REST API for writes. The MCP server only reads, and OAuth tokens need the read scope
5. Filter webhook events yourself, because every webhook receives all events and subscriptions are created in Setup, not through the API