How to run your job search with Claude Code or Codex

Xiang (Arnold) Shang · 20 October 2026 · 4 min read

Short answer: connect Claude Code or Codex to ApplyKoala’s MCP server with one command, then talk to it the way you would to an assistant: “find backend jobs in Singapore that fit my resume and save the good ones.” It searches, saves each posting, checks the company and tells you how you match. You decide what to apply for, and you check every form before it goes out.

I built this for my own search. I use it every day with Claude Code and Codex, and this guide is the setup I actually run.

Why not just chat with the AI?

You can, and for one job it works. The trouble starts at job ten. Each new conversation starts empty: you paste your resume again, explain what you want again, and the AI has no idea which companies it already looked at. It also tends to fill gaps with confident guesses.

A tracker the AI can read and write fixes both:

• It remembers. Your details, resumes, past answers and interview stories stay in ApplyKoala, so a new conversation picks up where the last one ended, and the AI reads only what it needs instead of your whole history.
• It has to show its work. When it says you fit a job, it must quote your resume word for word; ApplyKoala rejects quotes that are not really there. Company research keeps its source and the date it was checked.
• You can see everything. What the AI saved is on your board at applykoala.com, so you can check it without scrolling back through a chat.

Connect it

You need an ApplyKoala account with sync (you can try it free for 7 days; after that it is US$3.99 a month or US$29 a year), because your AI reaches your data through our server.

Claude Code: run this, then type /mcp and sign in.

claude mcp add --scope user --transport http applykoala https://applykoala.com/mcp

Codex: run these two; the second one signs you in.

codex mcp add applykoala --url https://applykoala.com/mcp
codex mcp login applykoala

A page opens: sign in, press Allow, and you are connected. Claude on the web, desktop or phone and ChatGPT (added once at chatgpt.com/plugins) can connect too; the MCP page has the steps.

To go further and let it fill in and submit applications, read your job emails and sort out recruiter messages, follow how to automate job applications step by step.

First conversation

Start with “Look at my ApplyKoala and tell me what to do first.” On an empty account it asks for your resume, then what roles, places and pay you want. Give it your real resume; everything it writes later is checked against it.

Things to ask for

• “Find backend jobs in Singapore posted this week that fit my resume. Save the good ones.”
• “Look into these three companies: do they sponsor work visas, and what do employees say?”
• “Draft answers for this application form from my profile. Do not submit.”
• “Save the recruiter in this screenshot and what we agreed.”
• “I have an interview at Harbourline on Friday. Which of my stories fit the job?”
• “Give me a mock interview for that job, standard level.” (How it works: mock interview practice.)
• “What is waiting for a reply, and what should I follow up this week?”

What stays with you

• Submitting. ApplyKoala’s tools never submit anything. Your AI can fill forms with its own browser tools, and by default it asks before each submission. I let it fill, and I check each form before it goes out; with the details already filled, that takes a glance.
• Job sites’ rules. Sites such as LinkedIn ban automated applying and may restrict your account. Use the AI for reading and research there, and apply yourself.
• Answers you cannot take back. Visa status, salary and notice period are worth reading twice.
• Volume. Sending more applications is easy now. Sending ones that fit is still the part that gets interviews, and it is the part the AI is best at helping with.

Questions

Does this work with ChatGPT? Yes. Add ApplyKoala once at chatgpt.com/plugins in a browser (Add → Add custom MCP server); after that it works in the ChatGPT apps too. Using ChatGPT for your job search has the steps and things to say. Claude on the web, desktop and phone can add ApplyKoala as a custom connector, including on the free plan.

Does it cost much in tokens? In my use, less than pasting context into every chat, because the AI looks up what it needs from ApplyKoala instead of reading everything each time. It depends on how you work.

Can the AI delete my data? No. It cannot delete anything for good, changes to your details are shown to you first, and you can disconnect it any time in Settings.

What can my AI see? Only your own ApplyKoala: jobs, companies, applications, people, your details, resumes and stories. What it reads is sent to the company that makes the AI, under their privacy policy.

Everything here works on paper. If you would rather not keep the paper,the app does this bit — paste a posting and it fills in the details, and it all stays on your own computer.