Brainerce HelpMCP
Let Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT, or another AI tool manage your store directly, creating products, updating orders and adjusting inventory, using the Model Context Protocol (MCP).
Brainerce has a built-in MCP server for your store. It lets you connect an external AI client (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, ChatGPT, and others) directly to your real data: products, orders, customers, coupons, content, your loyalty program (points, rewards and tiers), and more. Open Settings → Authentication and click MCP to get started, and see Connect an AI assistant for the full setup guide.
What is MCP?
Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard, not something specific to Brainerce, that lets AI tools like Claude or ChatGPT connect to outside services and use them like a set of instructions the AI can follow on its own. Think of it as a bridge: on one side is your AI assistant, on the other side is your Brainerce store, and MCP is the language they use to talk to each other. Once connected, the AI can call specific, well-defined actions ("look up this order," "create a product," "apply a discount") instead of you copy-pasting data back and forth.
You're not installing anything on Brainerce's side. You're pointing an AI client you already use at a URL Brainerce gives you.
This is not BOBO
Brainerce also has BOBO, a built-in AI agent that runs inside your dashboard (see BOBO, your AI agent). In a chat, BOBO shows you a summary to approve before it changes anything; a scheduled BOBO run acts on the approval you gave when you set the schedule up, and never deletes or cancels on its own. An AI client connected through MCP has neither of those steps: it is a separate tool acting on its own, outside BOBO's approval flow. Keep this distinction in mind before you connect anything.
Before you connect
MCP tools run immediately, with no approval step. Once an AI client is connected with write access, it can create, update, or delete real products, orders, customers, and discounts the moment it decides to call a tool. Nothing in Brainerce pauses to ask "are you sure?" the way BOBO does. Only connect AI clients you trust, and grant the narrowest set of permissions that let it do its job.
Choose how to authenticate
| Method | Best for | How it works |
|---|---|---|
| OAuth (recommended) | Interactive tools: Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, ChatGPT | Paste the server URL into your AI client and sign in with your Brainerce account, then pick which store to grant access to and approve the requested permissions. Nothing to copy or store. |
| API key | CLIs, headless tools, or clients without OAuth support | Create a key under Settings → Authentication → API Keys, choosing only the scopes it needs (there's no "grant everything" option; every key is scoped explicitly). Pass it as a Bearer token. |
OAuth is not just the easier option, it reaches more of your store. Categories, tags, brands, product options, product custom fields, add-on options, order bumps, bundle offers, shipping zones and rates, and loyalty are unreachable with an API key, however you scope it, and only work when you sign in. Everything else (products, orders, refunds, customers, coupons, stock, pages, blog posts, media) works with either. See some actions need you to sign in.
Next steps
- Connect an AI assistant covers step-by-step setup for Claude Code, Cursor, Claude Desktop, ChatGPT, and other MCP clients, plus best practices.
- BOBO, your AI agent is Brainerce's built-in AI, which asks you to approve each change you request in a chat.
Need help connecting an AI client? Email [email protected].