Openpath vs Indeed for AI agents
Indeed’s developer docs list no self-serve job search API: third parties get a JavaScript plugin for approved partners, and a beta MCP server that works only as a Claude connector. Openpath is an open directory of real-world listings built for AI agents: each result is one listing, with the employer’s Apply link for a job or an Openpath inbox address for a business’s owner. It needs no key.
The short answer
- Indeed: Job seekers using Claude who want Indeed's own listings and their Indeed resume in one place; not an open data API for developers.
- Openpath: Giving an agent a job to apply for or a local business to message, with no key.
Indeed and Openpath, side by side
| Indeed | Openpath | |
|---|---|---|
| Searches | Jobs from Indeed and Indeed PLUS job boards (aggregated), shown through Indeed's own plugin UI. | Live jobs from employers’ own job boards (Austin, Texas, and remote) and local businesses in Austin |
| Returns | The plugin renders Indeed's own job search UI on your page (no raw data documented). The MCP Job Search tool returns titles, companies, locations, salaries and application URLs. | Plain Markdown, one listing per result: its facts, its source and the day it was checked. Typed JSON on request. |
| Before the first call | Indeed partner status and a partner app ID arranged through an Indeed representative (plugin); an Indeed account sign-in inside Claude (MCP). | One empty request to /v1/connect, which returns a token. No account, email or card. |
| Free | – | Free: 600 searches a minute and 20,000 a day for each connected agent |
| Paid | – | Free for agents |
| Acting on a result | MCP results include application URLs; the docs do not say whether they point to Indeed or to the employer. | A job has the employer’s Apply link; a business, and every listing its owner added, has an Openpath inbox address. An agent writes to it and the owner answers there. Openpath doesn’t notify owners who haven’t joined yet, so a message to them waits 30 days. |
| Limits on keeping or showing results | Plugin rules: HTTPS pages only, explanatory headers, 16px margins, no leading users to click jobs for monetization; Indeed caps each publisher's click revenue. No caching or storage clause found. | Agents read listings and act on them; the terms say reading a listing doesn’t give the right to reuse it freely. |
| AI in its terms | Indeed's Terms of Service define Agentic AI and prohibit bots automating Indeed Apply outside Indeed's official vendors; the MCP server is beta and subject to Indeed's Terms of Service. | Built for AI agents. An agent may act only with its owner’s permission, and the terms don’t let Openpath train AI models on what owners post. |
| Coverage | – | Jobs in Austin, Texas, and remote; businesses in Austin, for now |
| MCP server | Official Indeed MCP server, beta, available only as a Claude connector: https://docs.indeed.com/mcp/ | https://api.openpath.sh/mcp/search, with no sign-in |
Try Openpath
Connect, then search:
curl https://api.openpath.sh/v1/connect \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data-binary '{}'
curl -G https://api.openpath.sh/v1/search \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $OPENPATH_TOKEN" \
--data-urlencode "q=remote analytics engineer jobs over 130k"Or let the JavaScript client connect for you. The Python client, openpath-sh, works the same way.
npm install @openpath/sdk
import { search } from "@openpath/sdk";
console.log(await search("remote analytics engineer jobs over 130k"));Agent apps that take MCP servers can add https://api.openpath.sh/mcp/search, which needs no sign-in. The jobs docs have the full code, every parameter and each line of the answer.
One result, as it read on October 15, 2026:
## Analytics Engineer at Ontic
Pay: $135,000–$145,000 a year.
Full-time.
Remote.
Apply: https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/ontic/27d32707-54e2-47be-be62-376df6d2b0f3/application
Source: Ontic’s job board on Ashby, checked yesterday.
Link: https://api.openpath.sh/v1/listings/369348e4-b3d0-490f-82b4-a666041243cfWhat Openpath doesn’t do yet
- Jobs come from the job boards of a growing list of companies, in Austin and remote.
- Businesses are in Austin, Texas, for now.
- It shows no phone numbers or websites: owners are reached through their Openpath inbox.
Questions people ask
What do I need before I can use Openpath?
One empty request to /v1/connect, which returns a token. No account, email or card.
Is Openpath free?
Free: 600 searches a minute and 20,000 a day for each connected agent.
Sources
Every line about another company comes from its own pages. Prices and terms change, so check the source before you rely on one.
Indeed, read on October 15, 2026:
- docs.indeed.com/publisher-js-plugin: “To use the plugin, you must be an Indeed partner.”
- docs.indeed.com/publisher-js-plugin: “Integrate Indeed features into your job board or publisher site by making only front-end changes.”
- docs.indeed.com/publisher-js-plugin: “Indeed assigns each publisher a cap on how much revenue they can receive from clicks on jobs”
- docs.indeed.com/mcp: “is available only for Claude Connector”
- docs.indeed.com/mcp: “titles, companies, locations, salaries, and application URLs”
- docs.indeed.com/mcp: “Sign in with your Indeed account for first-time use”
- docs.indeed.com/mcp: “offered in beta and subject to Indeed's Terms of Service”
- indeed.com/legal: “Use of any automation, scripting, or bots to automate the Indeed Apply process outside of Indeed's official vendors”
- indeed.com/legal: “Agentic AI: An algorithm which can perform tasks in accordance with a person's instructions.”