Salary research and calculations done for you

You shouldn’t need a PhD in math to crunch salary numbers. 

Claude and ChatGPT can do it for you, through Plane’s MCP server. Ask a plain language question like, “What does an 8% salary increase look like for this employee, and when should it take effect?” and get an instant answer with: 

• New salary details

• Compensation ratio against the targeted pay band 

• Suggested effective date pulled from start date anniversary and regular pay cycles

The numbers come directly from your live records, removing any guesswork and eliminating spreadsheets from the equation. 

Dig deeper to compare the proposed salary with market data. Create a pros and cons list for different compensation strategies. 

With Plane, “done by hand” means typing questions and letting Plane and your preferred AI agent handle the rest. If you prefer to use Plane Agent, the AI teammate from Plane that lives in your Slack, that's another option available to you. Here are step-by-step walkthroughs of each option.

Option A: Use your AI agent with Plane's MCP server

If your team already works with an AI tool like Claude or ChatGPT, you can connect it to Plane once and ask your salary questions there.

Setting up your MCP connection

Start by connecting your AI tool to Plane. 

For MCP-compatible clients, add Plane as a remote connector using the link below. For more detailed instructions, check out our MCP guide.

Step 1: Present the raise scenario

Use simple language to ask for the employee's salary details and raise calculations.

Step 2: Compensation ratio + effective date

Drill in on additional details, such as calculating the employee's compensation ratio (i.e., their salary ÷ band midpoint) for the new salary and figuring out when the new salary should go into effect.

Your AI agent runs the math against whatever midpoint you give it. Customize using your own compensation bands.

Step 3: Market gut-check

Make sure you'll be offering a competitive salary. Ask your AI agent to research the new salary against publicly available market data.

Step 4: Compare strategies

Ask for three strategies, with pros and cons.

Step 5: Pick a strategy and apply it

Once you’ve decided on a strategy and salary number, apply the compensation change in Plane for the effective date.  Note that Plane MCP is currently read-only. In the future, you’ll be able to ask your AI agent to apply the compensation change for you.

Option B: Ask Plane Agent in Slack

If you'd rather not leave Slack, you can use Plane Agent as your AI teammate for calculating raises.

Setting up Plane Agent

To turn on Plane Agent in Slack, sign into your Plane account and go to the Features catalog. Note that Plane Agent is currently in beta.

Step 1: Present the raise scenario

Describe the raise in plain language. Name the employee and the desired increase.

Step 2: Compensation ratio + effective date

Give the band midpoint you're targeting, and ask for the ratio and suggested date for the raise to take effect.

Step 3: Market gut-check

Before you finalize the raise, compare the proposed salary to market data. Note that Plane Agent currently cannot visit a webpage such as plane.com/salaries and pull public salary data, so you’ll need to provide your own market data manually.

Step 4: Compare strategies

Ask for three strategies, with a pros and cons analysis.

Step 5: Review and act

Plane returns three strategies with pros and cons. Analyze each one, pick the strategy you want to use, and apply the change in Plane when you're ready.

What you'll need

To get started, you'll need a Plane workspace with admin access and the employee's employment and compensation records. For Plane Agent, you'll need it enabled in your Slack workspace, via the Features catalog. For the MCP route, you'll need an MCP-compatible AI client such as Claude or ChatGPT connected to Plane.