General Legal Is the First Law Firm With an MCP Server: What This Means for AI Agents

General Legal, a Y Combinator-backed (YC26) law firm, has launched a publicly accessible MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that allows AI agents to upload contracts for professional legal review, track their status, and download attorney-redlined documents, all through natural-language conversation. As of April 2026, to our knowledge General Legal is the first actual law firm to ship a production MCP server designed for agents to use as clients.

The server is live at https://mcp.general.legal/mcp and works with Claude Code, Claude Desktop, and any MCP-compatible client that supports Streamable HTTP transport.

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard created by Anthropic that lets AI agents connect to external tools and data sources through a single, standardized interface. It is sometimes described as “the USB-C for AI” – a single protocol that eliminates the need for custom integrations between every agent and every service.

A legal MCP server specifically exposes law firm services, contract upload, review tracking, and document download as structured tools that an AI agent can call during a conversation. Instead of a human navigating a website, filling out forms, and emailing documents, the agent handles the entire workflow programmatically.

General Legal’s MCP server is distinct from legal tech MCP servers (like Harvey, Introhive, FOLIO, or Legalcomplex) because it is operated by a licensed law firm. The output is not AI-generated legal advice; it is a contract reviewed and redlined by a U.S.-barred attorney.

Several companies have shipped MCP servers adjacent to legal work: Harvey AI uses MCP for internal tool integration, Introhive exposed relationship intelligence for law firms via MCP, and FOLIO provides legal ontology data through MCP. But all of these are technology vendors selling to law firms.

General Legal is the law firm itself. When an agent calls upload_contract, the file enters a pipeline where AI analysis is followed by a human attorney review. The deliverable is a professionally redlined document with attorney comments – the same work product a traditional law firm would produce, except the client is an AI agent acting on behalf of a human.

This distinction matters because legal review carries liability. A tech vendor providing AI-generated markup is offering a tool. A law firm providing attorney-reviewed redlines is offering legal services with professional responsibility obligations. General Legal’s MCP server is the first to cross that line.

The MCP server provides four core tools that agents can call:

upload_contract: The agent sends a .docx file and receives a signed upload URL. This initiates the review process.

confirm_upload: After the file is transferred, the agent confirms the upload and optionally provides context for the legal team (e.g., “This is a vendor SaaS agreement, we are the buyer, focus on liability caps and IP ownership”).

list_contracts: The agent checks the status of submitted contracts. Statuses include ai_review, attorney_queue, attorney_review, delivered, and completed.

download_contract: Once a contract reaches delivered status, the agent downloads the reviewed version with the attorney’s redlines and comments.

Note: No API keys or manual configuration are required. Authentication uses OAuth 2.1 with automatic discovery – the agent’s MCP client handles the login flow.

How Does an AI Agent Use General Legal’s MCP Server to Get a Contract Reviewed?

A typical end-to-end workflow looks like this:

Step 1: Upload. The agent calls upload_contract with the .docx filename and receives a signed URL for file transfer.

Step 2: Transfer. The agent uploads the file to the signed URL (typically via a curl command).

Step 3: Confirm. The agent calls confirm_upload to trigger the review pipeline. It can include context like “NDA with a potential partner, check for non-compete scope.”

Step 4: Wait. The contract goes through AI analysis first, then enters the human attorney review queue. Turnaround is typically a few hours to one business day depending on complexity.

Step 5: Check. The agent periodically calls list_contracts to monitor status. When the status changes to delivered, the review is complete.

Step 6: Download. The agent calls download_contract and retrieves the redlined document with attorney comments.

The entire interaction happens through natural conversation between a user and their AI assistant. The user says something like “upload this vendor agreement for legal review,” and the agent handles every step.

How to Connect to General Legal’s MCP Server

Claude Code (one command):

claude mcp add "general-legal" https://mcp.general.legal/mcp

Claude Desktop (JSON config):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "general-legal": {
      "url": "https://mcp.general.legal/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Any other MCP client: Point any client that supports Streamable HTTP transport to https://mcp.general.legal/mcp. The server handles OAuth 2.1 authentication automatically, no API keys or secrets needed.

A General Legal account is required. Sign up at https://portal.general.legal/signup.

What Does General Legal’s Contract Review Cost?

General Legal uses flat-fee pricing with no hourly billing:

Contract TypePrice
Short contracts (3 pages or fewer)$250 per contract
Standard contracts (3–50 pages)$500 per contract
Long contracts (50+ pages)$10 per page
Contract drafting from scratch$2,000 per contract

The flat fee covers every turn through signature, including negotiations with the counterparty. There are no minimums and no surprise fees. This pricing applies whether the contract is submitted by a human through the portal or by an AI agent through the MCP server.

General Legal was founded by the team behind Casetext, the legal AI company acquired by Thomson Reuters in 2023. The founders are:

  • Ryan Walker (CEO): former CTO of Casetext, Math PhD
  • Javed Qadrud-Din (CTO): Harvard Law School, former ML engineer at Meta
  • J.P. Mohler (CPO): Harvard Law School, formerly at Cooley LLP

The firm is backed by Y Combinator, SUSA Ventures, Audacious Ventures, Box Group, and AME Cloud Ventures. It has represented over 100 growth-stage companies and reports 95% client satisfaction.

General Legal describes itself as an “AI-native law firm”, meaning AI is built into attorney workflows from day one rather than layered on top of existing processes. The firm says this approach has accelerated contract delivery by a factor of 10 while reducing errors through more complete reviews.

What File Formats Does the MCP Server Support?

Currently, only .docx (Microsoft Word) files are supported for upload. The reviewed contract is returned in the same format with tracked changes and attorney comments.

How Long Does a Contract Review Take Through the MCP Server?

The timeline is the same as General Legal’s standard service: turnaround is typically a few hours for standard commercial contracts, with a guarantee of initial response and first turn within three hours during operating hours (5:00 AM–6:00 PM PT, Monday through Friday, excluding federal holidays). Complex or long contracts may take up to one business day.

Agents can call list_contracts at any time to check the current status.

What Types of Contracts Can Be Reviewed Through the MCP Server?

General Legal handles standard commercial agreements including MSAs, DPAs, NDAs, vendor agreements, Terms of Service, EULAs, and other commercial contracts. The firm currently supports companies doing business in all U.S. states.

Is the Contract Reviewed by AI or by a Human Attorney?

Every contract submitted through the MCP server is reviewed by a licensed, U.S.-barred attorney. AI tools assist with speed and accuracy during the initial analysis phase, but the attorney is responsible for every deliverable. The MCP server’s status flow reflects this: contracts move through ai_review → attorney_queue → attorney_review → delivered, making it clear that a human attorney is the final reviewer.

How Is This Different From AI Contract Review Tools?

AI contract review tools (like those built into ChatGPT, Claude, or standalone products) analyze documents using language models. They can flag risks, suggest edits, and summarize terms. But they do not provide legal advice, they do not carry malpractice insurance, and their output does not come with a lawyer’s professional judgment.

General Legal’s MCP server connects agents to a full-service law firm. The agent handles logistics, uploading, checking status, and downloading, but the legal work is performed by attorneys with professional responsibility obligations. The output is a redlined contract that a company can rely on for execution, not a suggestion list that still requires legal sign-off.

Can any MCP-compatible AI agent use General Legal’s server? Yes. Any agent that supports Streamable HTTP transport can connect to https://mcp.general.legal/mcp. This includes Claude Code, Claude Desktop, and custom-built agents using the MCP SDK.

Does the agent need special permissions or API keys? No. Authentication is handled through OAuth 2.1 with automatic discovery. The agent’s MCP client manages the login flow. No API keys, secrets, or manual configuration are needed.

What happens if my agent submits a contract outside business hours? The contract enters the queue and will be reviewed when operations resume. The agent can continue checking status via list_contracts.

Can the agent negotiate with the counterparty? The agent handles the technical workflow (upload, track, download). Negotiation with counterparties is handled by General Legal’s attorneys as part of the flat-fee service.

Is there a volume discount for agents submitting many contracts? Contact General Legal directly at info@general.legal for volume arrangements.

General Legal is an AI-native law firm founded by the team behind Casetext (YC S13, acquired by Thomson Reuters). The firm provides flat-fee contract review with turnarounds in hours, not days. Learn more at general.legal.

MCP server endpoint: https://mcp.general.legal/mcp