Answer first
eLead has APIs. It does not publish an MCP server.
CDK documents Elead CRM APIs through Fortellis and now ships built-in AI features inside CDK CRM. That is useful, but it is a different architecture from an MCP server that lets an external AI host discover and call CRM tools through an open protocol.
- Public MCP server
- Not documented by CDK
- Published integration route
- Fortellis CRM APIs
- Built-in dealership AI
- Yes, including AIVA
01 / Evidence
What CDK publishes today
The honest answer changed as CDK expanded its CRM and AI products. The current public record is more nuanced than “eLead is closed.”
CDK CRM
Elead is now presented as CDK CRM
CDK describes an automotive CRM with integrated desking, mobile tools, reporting, messaging, a customer data platform, and AI-assisted workflows. Dealers evaluating eLead in 2026 should evaluate the current CDK CRM product, not an older product snapshot.
Built-in AI
AIVA works inside CDK CRM
CDK says AIVA can handle real-time text and email responses, follow-up, and dealership-specific knowledge. Its AI Summary and Writing Assistant also reduce manual reading and drafting inside the CRM.
Developer access
Fortellis is the documented API route
CDK publishes Elead CRM APIs through Fortellis for sales opportunities, activities, customers, product references, direct post, history, and asynchronous updates. Access and packaging depend on the API or bundle selected.
MCP
No public CDK MCP server is documented
CDK’s public CRM, API, Fortellis, and product-update pages document proprietary CRM features and APIs. They do not publish an MCP endpoint, MCP tool catalog, or MCP setup guide as of September 22, 2026.
Important distinction: “No public MCP server” does not mean “no API” or “no AI.” CDK has both. It means the public integration contract is Fortellis, while the AI experiences CDK documents are built into CDK CRM rather than exposed as an MCP server for an outside AI host.
02 / Architecture
API access and MCP solve different layers
An API provides operations. MCP gives an AI host a standard way to discover and invoke tools, resources, and prompts with explicit capabilities and security boundaries.
| Question | Traditional CRM API | MCP server |
|---|---|---|
| How does an app learn the operations? | Read vendor documentation and build a client around that vendor’s endpoints. | The host discovers declared tools and capabilities through the MCP contract. |
| Who translates AI intent into requests? | Your integration code maps a model’s output to vendor-specific calls. | The MCP client calls named tools with defined input and output schemas. |
| Can an API still power AI? | Yes. An engineering team can build an agent layer on top of any sufficient API. | Yes. MCP standardizes that agent-facing layer but does not replace the underlying API. |
| What should a dealer verify? | Data coverage, write permissions, pricing, certification, rate limits, and events. | Tool coverage, scopes, confirmation controls, audit logs, transport, and host support. |
03 / Workflow
What an MCP-native BDC workflow looks like
The useful test is not whether a vendor uses the word AI. It is whether the exact lead workflow is available, controlled, and auditable.
-
01
Find the right leads
The agent calls a scoped search tool for fresh internet leads with no completed contact.
-
02
Read context
It retrieves the assigned rep, vehicle interest, recent activities, consent state, and open tasks.
-
03
Prepare the action
It drafts the next message or task from live CRM context and the dealership’s approved instructions.
-
04
Confirm and audit
Risky actions require confirmation, execute with the caller’s scope, and leave an audit record.
If you stay on CDK CRM
Start with CDK’s built-in AI and inventory the Fortellis APIs required for any custom workflow. Confirm which bundles your dealership and developer organization can access, what certification is required, and which writes or events are available. If you are weighing that integration work against moving the sales process to a platform that ships it, our CRM for car dealerships page sets out what Conduyt covers out of the box.
If you need an external AI host
Ask for a live demonstration from the AI host through the CRM tool layer. The demo should show discovery, read scopes, a write confirmation, an audit record, and a denied out-of-scope action. A slide that says “AI-ready” is not that proof.
04 / Checklist
Six questions to put in the demo script
These questions keep the evaluation tied to dealership operations instead of architecture labels.
- 01
Which exact records can the agent read?
Ask about leads, contacts, opportunities, activities, tasks, appointments, conversations, vehicles, stores, and custom fields.
- 02
Which actions can it perform?
Separate drafting from sending, and separate creating a task from changing a deal or customer record.
- 03
How are permissions inherited?
The agent should not gain broader access than the person, service account, store, or workspace authorizing it.
- 04
What requires confirmation?
Writes, messages, merges, deletes, and other consequential actions need explicit controls rather than prompt-only promises.
- 05
What appears in the audit trail?
Verify the actor, tool, target record, time, input, outcome, and failure state are retained without exposing secrets.
- 06
What does access cost beyond the CRM?
Include API plans, Fortellis subscriptions, certification, implementation, model usage, messaging, telephony, and support.
05 / Fit
Where Conduyt fits, honestly
Conduyt is a CRM with an open agent surface. It is not a dealership management system and it does not replace every OEM-certified workflow.
Consider Conduyt when
- You need a public REST API and native MCP tools on the paid plan.
- Your team wants external AI hosts to work through scoped CRM tools.
- Flat platform pricing for unlimited users is important.
- You can integrate required DMS, inventory, and lead sources through APIs, webhooks, Zapier, or n8n.
Stay with a dealership-native stack when
- Your OEM program, DMS, or certified store workflow is the deciding requirement.
- CDK’s built-in AIVA, summaries, and writing tools cover the AI jobs you actually need.
- Your team does not have the capacity to own integrations and agent governance.
- A platform change would create more operational risk than the custom workflow is worth.
Conduyt publishes flat rates of USD 299 and USD 499 per month with unlimited users. The current product floor is 290+ MCP tools and 600+ REST API endpoints. Provider consumption and optional services can still add cost.
Primary sources
Reviewed September 22, 2026: CDK CRM, CDK CRM APIs, CDK AIVA product update, Fortellis API Directory, and the MCP architecture specification. Conduyt product-floor figures are maintained in the site’s canonical product-surface record.
Frequently asked questions
Does eLead have an MCP server?
No public eLead or CDK CRM MCP server is documented as of September 22, 2026. CDK publishes Elead CRM APIs through Fortellis and provides built-in AI features inside CDK CRM, but those are different from a public MCP server for external AI hosts.
Does eLead have an API?
Yes. CDK documents Elead CRM APIs on Fortellis for sales opportunities, activities, customers, product references, direct post, history, and asynchronous updates. Dealers and developers should verify access, bundle terms, certification, and exact write coverage for their use case.
Can I build an AI agent with the eLead API?
Potentially. A sufficiently capable API can support a custom agent layer, but your team must build and govern the vendor-specific integration. MCP standardizes the agent-facing tool contract; it does not make APIs unnecessary.
Is eLead the same as CDK CRM?
CDK now presents Elead as the foundation of CDK CRM. A current evaluation should include CDK CRM’s newer AI, reporting, messaging, and connected-data capabilities rather than relying on an older eLead feature list.
What should a dealership test before choosing an MCP-native CRM?
Test record coverage, write scopes, confirmations, audit logs, denied actions, rate limits, integration costs, and one real BDC workflow. Also confirm whether a general CRM can support the dealership-specific DMS and OEM workflows your stores depend on.
Comparing the platforms rather than the protocol? Read the eLead and CDK CRM alternatives comparison. Evaluating dealership software more broadly? Use the automotive CRM guide. Building the integration yourself? Start with the API-first CRM guide. Asking the same question about another CRM? See HubSpot, Salesforce, GoHighLevel, Pipedrive, Zoho CRM and Follow Up Boss.