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KoboToolbox

KoboToolbox is a data collection platform for building forms, managing survey projects, collecting submissions, and exporting humanitarian and research data.

Verdict

KoboToolbox is an open-source survey platform used by NGOs, researchers, and field teams to collect data in low-connectivity environments. This MCP lets your team build, deploy, and pull data from KoboToolbox surveys without leaving Switchy. @mention it to draft a new form, clone an existing project, deploy a survey to the field, or export submissions for analysis. Particularly useful for teams running multi-country data collection who need to triage incoming responses or generate interim reports. You'll need an API key from your KoboToolbox account; the MCP can't edit live form logic or manage user permissions.

Common use cases

  • Draft survey forms from interview notes
  • Deploy updated questionnaires to field teams
  • Export daily submissions for analysis
  • Clone baseline surveys for new regions
  • Check deployment status before training

Integration

Vendor
KoboToolbox
Category
other
Auth
API_KEY
Tools
9
Composio slug
kobotoolbox

Tools

  • Create Project

    Create a draft survey project, optionally by cloning an existing KoboToolbox asset.

  • Delete Export
    destructive

    Delete one asynchronous export job from a KoboToolbox project.

  • Delete Project
    destructive

    Permanently delete one KoboToolbox project by UID.

  • Deploy Project

    Deploy a draft KoboToolbox survey or redeploy its latest form version so it can accept and expose submissions.

  • Export Submissions

    Create an asynchronous KoboToolbox submission export and wait for it to complete, returning the export UID and result URL.

  • Get Project

    Retrieve a KoboToolbox project with its form content, settings, resource URLs, and deployment state.

  • Get Submission

    Retrieve one submission by integer ID, root UUID, or submission UUID from a KoboToolbox project.

  • List Assets

    Find projects and other visible assets in the connected KoboToolbox account, returning one page and a continuation cursor.

  • List Submissions

    Read one page of submissions for a deployed KoboToolbox project, with optional field selection, filtering, and sorting.

Setup

Setup guide

  1. 11. Open your Switchy workspace and navigate to Settings → Integrations → Browse MCP Servers. 2. Find KoboToolbox in the list and click Connect. 3. Log in to your KoboToolbox account at kf.kobotoolbox.org or your self-hosted instance, go to Account Settings → Security, and generate a new API token. 4. Paste the token into the Switchy connection dialog and confirm the server URL matches your instance. 5. Click Save; Switchy will verify the token and list your accessible projects. 6. Open any Project in Switchy, type '@KoboToolbox list my surveys' in the chat, and confirm you see your forms. 7. To test a full workflow, try '@KoboToolbox get project [asset UID]' using a UID from the list—you should see form structure and deployment status. The connection persists across all Projects in your workspace.

What teammates see: by default, memories from KoboToolbox are scoped to the Project (PROJECT visibility) - you can mark any memory PRIVATE or share it ORG-wide.

Works well with

Top models

Compatibility data appears once enough Projects have used this MCP together with a given model.

How Switchy teams use it

Not enough Projects yet to publish anonymised usage stats (we require ≥ 50 Projects per week).

Starter prompts

List Active Surveys

@KoboToolbox list all my deployed projects and show their names, UIDs, and submission counts

Export Latest Responses

@KoboToolbox export all submissions from project UID aXyZ123 in CSV format and give me the download URL

Clone Survey Template

@KoboToolbox create a new project by cloning asset UID bCdE456 and name it 'Phase 2 Baseline Survey'

Check Deployment Status

@KoboToolbox get the deployment state and form version for project UID fGhI789

Review Single Submission

@KoboToolbox retrieve submission with UUID jKlM012 from project UID nOpQ345 and show all question responses

Example outputs

Illustrative - representative of the model's voice and quality, not literal recordings.

Prompt

@KoboToolbox list all survey projects deployed in the last 30 days and show me their submission counts

Output

Found 4 deployed survey projects from the past month: 1. **Community Health Baseline** (deployed Jan 15) — 127 submissions 2. **Water Access Survey Q1** (deployed Jan 22) — 89 submissions 3. **School Enrollment Tracker** (deployed Feb 3) — 203 submissions 4. **Market Vendor Registration** (deployed Feb 8) — 45 submissions All projects are currently accepting responses. The School Enrollment Tracker has the highest response rate at ~14 submissions per day.

Notes

This example uses List Assets filtered by deployment date and combines it with submission metadata. Requires read permissions on all listed projects. The MCP returns paginated results; if your account has many assets, you may need to request additional pages or narrow the date range.

Prompt

@KoboToolbox export all submissions from the Water Access Survey project as CSV and give me the download link

Output

Export initiated for **Water Access Survey Q1** (UID: aXk9mPqR3nL7). Waiting for KoboToolbox to generate the CSV file... Export completed in 8 seconds. **Download URL:** https://kf.kobotoolbox.org/exports/aXk9mPqR3nL7_submissions_2025-02-12.csv This link contains 89 submissions with all form fields. The file expires in 7 days. You can re-run this export anytime to get fresh data.

Notes

This example demonstrates the Export Submissions tool, which creates an asynchronous job and polls until ready. Large datasets (1,000+ submissions) can take several minutes. The returned URL requires your KoboToolbox session to download; share cautiously if the survey contains sensitive data.

Prompt

@KoboToolbox create a new draft survey called Household Income Study by cloning the Community Health Baseline project, then summarize what fields it inherited

Output

Created draft project **Household Income Study** (UID: bQp4nXs8tYv2) by cloning Community Health Baseline. Inherited form structure: - **Section 1: Demographics** — 6 questions (age, gender, household size, location) - **Section 2: Health Access** — 4 questions (clinic distance, insurance status) - **Section 3: Economic Indicators** — 3 questions (income bracket, employment type) The draft is not yet deployed. You can edit the form in KoboToolbox or ask me to deploy it when ready.

Notes

This example chains Create Project (with clone option) and Get Project to show inherited structure. The cloned draft retains all form logic and skip patterns from the source. You must deploy the project separately before it accepts submissions; cloning does not auto-deploy.

Use-case deep-dives

Field research data collection handoff

When KoboToolbox MCP bridges field teams and analysis

A 6-person nonprofit runs quarterly health surveys across rural clinics. Field staff collect responses on tablets via KoboToolbox forms; the program team needs those submissions in Switchy to generate donor reports and flag anomalies. The MCP's Export Submissions tool pulls completed surveys into the workspace where analysts can query them alongside budget sheets and previous quarters. This works when your survey cadence is weekly or slower—KoboToolbox's async export takes 30-90 seconds per job, so real-time dashboards aren't realistic. If your team reviews submissions within 24 hours of collection and needs to cross-reference them with other datasets, this MCP eliminates the CSV-download-upload ritual. API key auth means one workspace admin provisions access; no per-user OAuth friction.

Survey form version control

Managing draft-to-deployment cycles in shared workspaces

A 3-person research consultancy designs client surveys collaboratively. One person drafts the form in KoboToolbox's UI, another reviews it in Switchy using Get Project to inspect question logic and skip patterns, then a third deploys it with Deploy Project once the client approves. The MCP's 9 tools cover the full lifecycle—create, retrieve, deploy, delete—so the team never leaves Switchy to coordinate. This breaks down if you're iterating on forms hourly; KoboToolbox doesn't version-control form edits the way GitHub does code, so rapid changes create confusion about which draft is current. For teams running 2-5 survey projects concurrently with weekly review cycles, the MCP keeps deployment decisions visible and auditable in one workspace.

Submission triage for support escalation

When individual submission lookup justifies the integration

A 4-person customer feedback team receives 200 survey responses daily through KoboToolbox. Most are routine, but 10-15 need escalation to product or support. The team uses Get Submission to pull flagged responses into Switchy threads where they attach context from Slack, Linear, and CRM notes before routing. This scenario only makes sense if your triage process requires stitching KoboToolbox data with 2+ other tools in the same conversation—if you're just reading submissions, KoboToolbox's native UI is faster. The MCP's value is in the handoff: a support agent sees a submission UUID in Slack, pastes it into Switchy, and the full response appears alongside the customer's ticket history. Single API key for the whole team means no per-agent provisioning.

Frequently asked

What does the KoboToolbox MCP do in Switchy?

It lets your team create, deploy, and manage KoboToolbox survey projects directly from Switchy's AI workspace. You can draft new forms, clone existing ones, deploy them to collect responses, export submissions, and retrieve individual responses—all without switching to the KoboToolbox web interface. Useful for teams running field surveys or data collection workflows who want AI assistance with form design and data analysis.

Do I need admin access to connect KoboToolbox?

You need a KoboToolbox API key, which any account holder can generate from their account settings. The key inherits your user permissions, so if you can create and deploy projects in KoboToolbox's web UI, the MCP will work. You don't need organization-level admin rights unless your team restricts project creation at the account level.

Can the MCP edit questions in an already-deployed survey?

No. Once a survey is deployed and accepting submissions, KoboToolbox locks the form structure to preserve data integrity. The MCP can redeploy the latest draft version, but you'll need to create a new draft or clone the project if you want to change questions. Use the Get Project tool to check deployment state before attempting edits.

How does this compare to using KoboToolbox's web interface?

The MCP is faster for bulk operations and AI-assisted workflows—like generating form logic from natural language or exporting multiple projects in sequence. The web interface is better for visual form building and one-off manual edits. If your team already scripts KoboToolbox tasks via API, the MCP replaces that scripting layer with conversational commands.

Who on the team should connect the KoboToolbox integration?

Whoever manages your survey projects and needs to pull submission data. Typically a research lead, M&E officer, or data analyst. Since the API key grants full access to that user's projects, avoid sharing the connection across people with different permission needs—each team member can connect their own KoboToolbox account to Switchy if required.

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Data last verified 61 hours ago.Sources aggregated hourly to weekly. See docs/architecture/model-directory.md.