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  • Server URLs
  • What the Consent Screen Asks For
  • Configure Your AI Assistant
  • Verify the Connection
  • Tool Approval Behavior
  • Next Steps
OtherMCP Server

Setup

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Last updated May 19, 2026

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MCP Server Overview

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Tools & Examples

Built with

The ShipBob MCP Server is hosted by ShipBob. Setup is the same across every AI app that supports it:

  1. Open your app’s MCP or connector settings
  2. Add a new server with the ShipBob URL
  3. Your app opens a browser window where you sign in to ShipBob
  4. Grant access on the consent screen
  5. Start asking the assistant about your data

Server URLs

Use the URL that matches the environment you want to talk to.

EnvironmentURL
Sandboxhttps://sandbox-api.shipbob.com/developer-api/mcp
Productionhttps://api.shipbob.com/developer-api/mcp
Sign in with the ShipBob account that matches the URL: sandbox account for the sandbox URL, production account for the production URL. Sandbox and production are isolated environments and accounts do not carry across.

What the Consent Screen Asks For

On first connection, ShipBob asks you to create a channel for the AI client and shows the permissions the MCP tools need to function. A channel is how ShipBob tracks which app created which records — it is an installation of an application on top of the ShipBob API.

  • Reads cross channels: The AI client can read data from every channel on your merchant account (orders from Shopify, Amazon, other apps, PAT-issued channels, etc.).
  • Permissions follow your account role: The tools available to you depend on your ShipBob account’s permission level. If a tool returns a 403 error, your account role may not have access to that operation — contact your ShipBob account admin to confirm.

For background on channels, see Concepts > Channel.

Configure Your AI Assistant

claude.ai
  1. Open claude.ai in your browser
  2. Go to Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector (or use the direct link below)
  3. Enter the name ShipBob and paste the server URL for your environment
  4. Click Add. Claude opens a browser tab for sign-in.
  5. Sign in with your ShipBob account and grant access on the consent screen
  6. The connector shows as Connected in your claude.ai settings

Direct deep-link to add the connector:

  • Production: Link
  • Sandbox: Link
MCP connectors are available on claude.ai Pro and higher plans. If you don’t see the Connectors option, check that your plan includes MCP support.
Claude Desktop
  1. Open Claude Desktop
  2. Go to Settings -> Connectors -> Add custom connector
  3. Enter the name ShipBob and paste the server URL for your environment
  4. Click Add. Claude opens a browser window for sign-in.
  5. Sign in with your ShipBob account and grant access on the consent screen
  6. Back in Claude Desktop, the connector shows as Connected
Custom connectors require a current Claude Desktop release. If the menu item is missing, update Claude Desktop.
VS Code with GitHub Copilot

Prerequisites

  • Latest Visual Studio Code
  • Access to GitHub Copilot

One-click install:

Click the link below to add the ShipBob MCP server to VS Code automatically:

  • Production: Install ShipBob MCP Server in VS Code
  • Sandbox: Install ShipBob Sandbox MCP Server in VS Code

VS Code opens a prompt to confirm the server installation. After confirming, it opens a browser for sign-in.

Manual setup:

  1. Choose where the MCP config lives:

    • Workspace (.vscode/mcp.json): use this for project-specific access. Teammates who check out the repo also get the server.
    • User profile (run MCP: Open User Configuration from the Command Palette with Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P): use this to make the server available across all your projects.

  2. Add the ShipBob server:

    1{
    2  "servers": {
    3    "shipbob": {
    4      "type": "http",
    5      "url": "https://api.shipbob.com/developer-api/mcp"
    6    }
    7  }
    8}

    Swap the URL for https://sandbox-api.shipbob.com/developer-api/mcp to point at sandbox.

  3. Run MCP: List Servers and start shipbob. VS Code opens a browser for sign-in.

  4. Sign in with your ShipBob account and grant access.

See the VS Code MCP documentation for full details on mcp.json.
Other AI Apps

Any app that supports remote MCP servers works the same way:

  1. Add a new remote / custom MCP server in the app
  2. Paste the ShipBob URL for your environment
  3. Sign in to ShipBob in the browser window your app opens

No API tokens, headers, or extra tools are needed.

Verify the Connection

Once the server is added, ask the assistant:

"What ShipBob tools are available?"

You should see a list of all available ShipBob tools. If nothing appears, see Troubleshooting.

Tool Approval Behavior

The ShipBob MCP Server exposes read-only tools. Your AI client controls whether tool calls require approval. claude.ai, Claude Desktop, and VS Code with GitHub Copilot typically run read-only tools without a confirmation prompt, so responses are fast and conversational.

Next Steps

  • Tools & Examples - See what you can ask
  • Troubleshooting & FAQ - Fix common issues
  • Setup with API Token - Alternative setup using an API token you generate from your ShipBob dashboard, for apps or workflows that don’t support sign-in through the browser