Connect Claude, ChatGPT or another AI assistant with the ChannelDock MCP

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The ChannelDock MCP server connects your own AI assistant, such as Claude or ChatGPT, to your ChannelDock account. MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard that AI apps use to work with other software. Once connected, you can ask about your orders, stock and shipments in plain language, and let the assistant make changes for you, for example create products, book an inbound delivery or set up invoicing rules.

You bring the AI app, ChannelDock provides the connection. The assistant only works in the account you connect, and every change goes through the same rules as the ChannelDock REST API.

Want to see what this can do for your business first? Read AI assistants with the ChannelDock MCP.

Who is it for?

Sellers: ask about orders, stock and returns, create and update products in bulk, create marketplace listings in PIM, book supplier deliveries and create shipping labels.
Fulfillment centers: work across your connected sellers: inbounds, stock locations, orders, shipments, tasks and batches. Create new seller accounts and set up billing from a price list.

Each account type has its own MCP URL. A seller account cannot use the fulfillment center URL, and the other way around.

Before you start

Plan: the MCP uses the same access as the API, so it is not available on the free plan.
AI features switched on: if an admin turned off AI features for the account, the MCP refuses every request. The switch is under Settings → General settings → AI features (sellers) or Settings → Account → AI features (fulfillment centers).
Who can connect: the account owner or a team member with admin rights can approve an OAuth connection. Only the account owner (super admin) can see and create API keys.
An MCP client: an AI app that supports remote MCP servers, such as Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor.

Which MCP URL to use

Account	MCP URL
Seller	`https://channeldock.com/portal/api/mcp/seller`
Fulfillment center	`https://channeldock.com/portal/api/mcp/center`

You also find your URL in ChannelDock, with a copy button and short instructions for Cursor, Claude and ChatGPT:

Seller: Settings → Connections → Connect MCP
Fulfillment center: Settings → Additional → Connect MCP

Option 1: connect with OAuth (Claude and ChatGPT)

With OAuth you only paste the MCP URL. You sign in to ChannelDock and approve the connection, so you never copy an API key.

Claude

In Claude, open Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector.
Paste the MCP URL for your account type.
Claude sends you to ChannelDock. Sign in if you are not signed in yet.
The Authorize MCP access screen shows the application, your account and the MCP URL. Check them and click Allow access.

ChatGPT

In ChatGPT, add a remote MCP connector. This needs developer mode, or a workspace admin in a business workspace.
Paste the MCP URL for your account type.
Sign in to ChannelDock and click Allow access.

Menu names in Claude and ChatGPT can change and differ per plan. If you can’t find them, look for “Connectors” or “MCP” in the app’s settings. Other AI apps that support MCP with OAuth work the same way: paste the URL, sign in, allow access.

What happens when you click Allow access

ChannelDock creates an API key for MCP connections under Settings → API & webhooks. Its description starts with [MCP OAuth]. Later OAuth connections of your account use the same key.
The AI app receives a token that is valid for one hour and refreshes it automatically. If the connection is not used for 30 days, you sign in and allow access again.

Option 2: connect with an API key (Cursor and other MCP clients)

Use an API key for apps where you set headers on an MCP server yourself, such as Cursor, or for your own scripts and agents.

Fastest way

Open Connect MCP (see above).
Click Copy connection prompt. ChannelDock creates a new API key called MCP / AI agent and copies a prompt with the MCP URL, the API key and the API secret.
Paste the prompt into your AI tool and send it. An agent that can edit its own MCP settings adds the server itself.

Every click on Copy connection prompt creates a new key. To reuse a key you already have, pick it under Use an existing key and click Copy prompt with this key.

Manual setup

Send these two headers on every request to the MCP URL:

Header	Value
`Authorization`	`Bearer <API key>`
`Api-Secret`	`<API secret>`

Example for Cursor, in ~/.cursor/mcp.json or .cursor/mcp.json in a project:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "channeldock": {
      "url": "https://channeldock.com/portal/api/mcp/seller",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY",
        "Api-Secret": "YOUR_API_SECRET"
      }
    }
  }
}

For a fulfillment center, use the /center URL.

The connection prompt and this file contain your API secret. Treat them like a password: only paste them into an app you trust, and don’t commit them to a shared repository. You can also create a key yourself under Settings → API & webhooks → Generate new API keys. See ChannelDock REST API documentation.

What the assistant can read

Tool	What it does
`query_user_data`	Lists and filters your account data, such as orders, products, stock, stock locations, shipments, returns, deliveries, tasks, batches, logs and settings.
`search_products`	Finds a product by EAN, SKU or title.
`get_product_summary`	Shows one product in detail.
`resolve_reference`	Finds out what a number or code belongs to: an order (also marketplace order numbers and `#` numbers), product, return, delivery, shipping label or tracking code, batch or stock location.
`export_user_data`	Exports orders, products, returns, deliveries, inventory history (sellers), inventory logs or stock locations to CSV. Large exports are queued.
`find_portal_page`	Finds the ChannelDock screen for a setting or feature.
`search_technical_knowledge`	Looks up field names, status values and error codes in the ChannelDock documentation.

What the assistant can change

The write tools are mostly called manage_*. They map onto ChannelDock API v2 and run through the same API v2 controllers as the REST API, so the same validation and permission checks apply. One call can create or update up to 50 records.

Area	Sellers	Fulfillment centers
Products and stock	Products, product tags, bundles, variant groups	Inventory of connected sellers, bulk stock updates, product tags, bundles
Warehouse	Stock locations and sections, suppliers	Stock locations and sections, packaging, load carrier (pallet) types
Orders and shipping	Orders and order lines, shipments with tracking, shipping labels, shipment methods, batch status	Orders and order lines, claiming orders, fulfillment status, shipments, shipping labels, shipment methods, batch status
Inbound	Deliveries	Inbounds, including booking received items into stock
Returns and tasks	Returns, return attachments, tasks	Returns, return attachments, tasks
PIM	Marketplace listings: create, update, validate, publish and fetch from a connected shop; listing attributes and images; PIM lookups	–
Sellers and billing	–	Connected sellers (list them, or create a new seller account linked to your center), invoicing profiles, rules, presets and draft invoice exports

For an API v2 endpoint of your account type without its own tool, the assistant can use call_portal_api.

Examples

Sellers:

“Which of yesterday’s orders don’t have a shipping label yet?”
“Here is my supplier’s product list. Create the products that are not in ChannelDock yet.”
“Book a delivery from this supplier for these products, arriving next Tuesday.”
“Create a listing for this EAN on my connected marketplace and fill in the required attributes.”
“Which order belongs to this tracking code?”

Fulfillment centers:

“Which inbounds are expected this week, and for which sellers?”
“Create stock locations for aisle A, shelves 1 to 10, with four levels each.”
“Create a seller account for this company and link it to our center.” (Give the contact details yourself. The assistant is told not to make them up.)
“Here is the price quote for this seller. Set up billing for it.”

Fulfillment centers: set up billing from a price list

Drop a price quote or tariff sheet into Claude or ChatGPT and ask the assistant to set up billing. The MCP tells the assistant to work in this order:

Check what exists: your packaging, load carrier types and invoicing profiles.
Create what is missing: only the boxes and pallet types the price list names that you don’t have yet (manage_packaging, manage_load_carrier_types).
Create the profile and the rules: an invoicing profile, and one rule per price, each with a condition and fee that exist in ChannelDock invoicing (manage_invoicing_profiles, manage_invoicing_rules).
Link the profile to the seller with an invoicing preset (manage_invoicing_presets).
Check the result: run a draft invoice export for a recent period and read its summary: the total per seller, the amount per rule, and the shipments that no shipping cost rule matched (manage_invoicing_exports).

The assistant reports any price it could not map instead of guessing. Draft exports stay drafts, and nothing is sent to your sellers. Check the profile in ChannelDock before you send an invoice. More about invoicing: Getting started with Smart Invoicing.

Safety and limits

Same rules as the API: changes run through the API v2 controllers, with the same validation and permission checks as the REST API.
Key permissions apply: the assistant only gets the write operations that the Endpoint permissions of the API key allow (Settings → API & webhooks, open the key). For OAuth connections, that is the [MCP OAuth] key. Permissions are set per endpoint: an endpoint where no method is selected stays fully open. Endpoint permissions limit what the assistant can change; the read tools stay available.
Seller and center stay separate: the seller URL only accepts seller accounts, the center URL only fulfillment center accounts.
You approve OAuth access: the consent screen shows the app, the account and the URL. Only the account owner or a team member with admin rights can approve.
Up to 50 records per call: the assistant splits larger jobs over several calls.
Rate limit: every MCP request counts toward the hourly limit of the API key: 1,000 requests per hour by default, the same as the REST API.
AI switch: when AI features are turned off for the account, the MCP refuses every request.
Your AI app processes what it reads: data the assistant reads is processed by the AI app you connected. Check that app’s privacy and data settings.
Approve actions in your app: many AI apps can ask for your approval before a tool runs. Keep that on for changes until you trust your setup.

Disconnect

Remove the connector in your AI app.
Delete the API key under Settings → API & webhooks: the [MCP OAuth] key for OAuth connections, or the key you used yourself (for example MCP / AI agent). The connection stops working straight away.
Turn off AI features to close the MCP for the whole account.

Troubleshooting

Message	What to do
`AI features are turned off for this account.`	Ask an admin to turn on AI features (see Before you start).
`On the free plan you are not allowed to use the API.`	Upgrade to a paid plan.
`This MCP endpoint is for seller accounts.` / `This MCP endpoint is for fulfillment center accounts.` / `Your account type does not match this MCP endpoint.`	You used the URL of the other account type. Use the seller URL for a seller account and the center URL for a fulfillment center.
`You do not have permission to authorize MCP access for this account.`	Ask the account owner or a team member with admin rights to connect.
`Invalid API credentials.`	Check the API key and secret, or create a new key.
`Invalid or expired OAuth access token.`	Reconnect the connector in your AI app and allow access again.
`Permission denied for …` / `Operation '…' is not available for this API key.`	The endpoint permissions of the key don’t allow this action. Change the permissions or use another key.
`API call limit exceeded. Please try again later.`	Wait until the hourly limit resets.

FAQ

Does ChannelDock see my conversation with the AI app? No. ChannelDock receives the requests the assistant sends to the MCP server, such as which orders to read or which product to create. The conversation itself stays in your AI app.

Which AI apps can I use? Any app that supports remote MCP servers. Claude and ChatGPT connect with OAuth. Apps such as Cursor connect with an API key in the headers.

Can the assistant delete data? Some tools can delete records where the API allows it, for example products, stock locations or orders that are not shipped yet. If you don’t want that, don’t allow the DELETE method in the endpoint permissions of the key, and approve actions in your AI app.

Can my team members connect? A team member with admin rights can approve an OAuth connection. API keys can only be created and seen by the account owner.

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