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**BETA FEATURE** MCP Server Access

Crystal Richard Updated by Crystal Richard

BETA FEATURE:

MCP Server Access to your shopVOX Account!
Connecting a Free Claude Account to the shopVOX MCP Server

A complete walkthrough: create a free Claude account, add the shopVOX connector, and start asking questions about your shop data.

What Is This?

The shopVOX connector is a secure connection between Claude, the AI assistant made by Anthropic, and your shopVOX account. Claude uses the same shopVOX API that other integrations use. This kind of connection is called MCP (Model Context Protocol). You will see "MCP" in a field name during setup; you do not need to know more than that.

You sign in with your normal shopVOX email and password. You do not need an API key, a client ID or a secret. Claude never sees your password: you type it on the shopVOX sign-in page, not in Claude. The feature does require an Advanced monthly subscription in order to access the API. There are limits on the number of calls per month. More below in the BEFORE YOU BEGIN section.

You can use the connector in two ways:

  • Ask questions instead of running a report. Ask in plain language, and Claude finds the answer in your shopVOX data.
  • Make changes by asking. Claude can add notes, create sales leads, update contacts, move jobs forward and more.

Questions you can ask

  • How many orders did we take today, Chicago time, and what were they worth?
  • Pull up order 2168. Who is it for, what is the total, and what state is it in?
  • What invoices have we raised lately?
  • How much is still owed on invoice 7001?
  • What quotes are out at the moment?
  • What is in our sales pipeline at the moment?
  • Give me the full picture on Acme Signs: contacts, recent orders, invoices.
  • Where is production on sales order 2168 up to?

You do not need to know shopVOX field names or report screens. Claude decides what to look up.

Changes you can ask for

  • Add a note to Acme Signs: "Called about the summer campaign."
  • Log a lead called "Mall signage refresh" for a new prospect, Northside Mall. The deal is worth $12,000.
  • Change Sam Reyes's title at Acme Signs to Production Manager.
  • Mark the current step on order 2168's job as finished.

Claude can:

  • create, update and delete companies, contacts, notes and sales leads,
  • create sales orders and update their details (title, dates, PO number, contact, sales rep),
  • create jobs, and start, stop and complete job steps,
  • record payments that you already received.

What Claude cannot do. Do these in shopVOX:

  • Create or change quotes, or turn a quote into an order.
  • Create an invoice, or void or delete one.
  • Add, remove or change the line items on an existing order.
  • Price the line items of a new order with materials, machine time or labor. Each line item on an order that Claude creates has only a name, a quantity and a unit price. Build priced production items in shopVOX.
  • Change the status of an order, or delete an order.
  • Show the whole Production Board, or every job that is late. Claude looks up the jobs of one order, invoice or quote at a time.
  • Take a card or bank payment. Claude only records a payment that you already received.
  • Change many records at once. Claude changes one record at a time.

Before You Begin

You need:

  • A shopVOX PRO plan with Advanced API access. The connector does not work on the Express plan.
    • On the newest PRO plan, an admin can turn on Advanced in Settings > API. Advanced adds a monthly charge.
    • If you do not see that screen, or you are not sure, contact shopVOX support.
    • If Webhooks are turned on, this includes the MCP server access.
  • Your shopVOX email and password.
  • A Claude account. Any plan works (Free, Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise).
    If you do not have a Claude account yet, Part 1 of this guide shows you how to create a free account.
    • On the Free plan, you can have only one custom connector. If you already have another custom connector, remove it before you add shopVOX, or use a paid Claude plan.
    • On Team and Enterprise plans, an Owner must first add the connector for the whole organization (see the note in Part 3).
      Then each person connects it with their own shopVOX login.

We recommend you set the connector up in Claude on the web or in the desktop app. Once connected, it also works in the Claude mobile app.

REQUIRED for MCP Server Access:
Paid API Access for your shopVOX Account

Add the Paid API Access to your shopVOX Account

  1. Click Settings
  1. Click API in the Settings menu
  1. Open the shopVOX API settings

Part 1: Create Your Free Claude Account

Skip to Part 3 if you already have a Claude account.

  1. Go to Claude. Search Google for "Claude" and click the "Claude by Anthropic" result, or go straight to claude.ai.
Google search result for Claude by Anthropic
  1. Choose how you want to sign up: Continue with Google, Continue with Apple, or enter your email address and click Continue with email.
Claude sign-up page
  1. If you chose Google, click Continue to let Claude use your Google name and email to sign in.
    (If you chose email, follow the verification prompt Claude shows you.)
Google sign in to Claude consent screen
  1. On the "Let's create your account" screen, select the agreement checkbox.
Agreement checkbox
  1. Click Create account.
Create account button
  1. Select your use type on the "How are you planning to use Claude?" screen.
Use type selection
  1. Select your plan. For a free account, click Use Claude for free.
Plan selection with Free plan highlighted
Note: The Free plan includes connectors with remote MCP, which is what the shopVOX connector uses.
This is subject to change and subject to all Claude terms and conditions, which shopVOX does not control.
  1. Optional: Install the desktop app if using a Mac. Click Download for macOS (the button matches your computer type), or click Skip.
Optional desktop app download

If you download it, open the Claude.dmg file from your downloads and drag Claude into your Applications folder. If you would rather install it later, click Install later. Or follow steps for PC install.

Install later button
  1. On the "Before your first chat" screen, click Continue.
Before your first chat screen
  1. Enter your name, then click Continue.
Name entry
Continue after entering name
  1. Open the role selector and choose your role (or Other).
Role selector open
  1. Select any starting option you like. Your free account is now ready.
Starting options

Part 2: Add the shopVOX Connector to Claude

Team and Enterprise plans: an Owner adds the connector once for everyone. Go to Organization settings > Connectors, click Add, hover over Custom, choose Web, enter https://mcp.shopvox.com/mcp, and click Add. Everybody else: skip to Part 3.
  1. Click your profile icon (your name, bottom-left of the screen).
Profile menu
  1. Click Settings.
Settings menu item
  1. In Settings, click Connectors. (You can also reach this screen from Customize > Connectors in the left-hand menu.)
Connectors in settings
  1. Click Add, then click Add custom connector.
Add custom connector menu
  1. Enter these values, then click Continue:
  • Name: shopVOX
  • MCP server URL: https://mcp.shopvox.com/mcp
Add custom connector dialog filled in
  1. Claude checks the server and selects the sign-in options for you. Both show Detected:
  • Authentication: Sign in now
  • OAuth client: Use Claude's published identity

Do not change them, and do not enter a client ID or a secret. Click Add.

Sign-in options with Add button highlighted

Part 3: Connect and Sign In to shopVOX

  1. Open the shopVOX connector. If you just added it in Part 2, Claude already shows it with the message "You're not connected to shopVOX yet." (If an Owner added it for your organization, open Customize > Connectors and click shopVOX in the list.) Click Connect.
Connect button for shopVOX connector
  1. The shopVOX sign-in page opens. Sign in with your normal shopVOX email and password, then click Sign In.
    Sign in with your usual shopVOX Email and Password
shopVOX sign-in page
  1. shopVOX asks "Authorize Claude to use your account?" and shows what Claude will be able to do:
  • Read your shop data: orders, invoices, quotes, customers and jobs.
  • Create, change and delete your shop data: companies, contacts, notes, sales leads, sales orders, jobs and payments.
    Deleting a company also removes its contacts. Enabling the company does not enable all contacts simultaneously. Each contact must be individually enabled. Claude cannot do this for you.
  • Stay connected: so you do not have to sign in again each time.
  1. Click Authorize. If you click Deny, nothing is connected.
shopVOX authorization screen
  1. You return to Claude. The connector now shows Disconnect and its list of tools. The connection is active.

Part 4: Use the Connection

  1. Open a new chat in Claude and ask about your shop in your own words, for example: "What are my 5 most recent sales orders? Show order number, customer, total and status."
  2. Claude may ask you to approve the shopVOX tool before it uses it, and shows what it is about to do. Click Allow once or Always allow, then review your results.
Tool approval prompt

Here is an example of the kind of answer you should see:

Example answer listing five recent sales orders

If Claude does not find what you want on the first try, add more detail: a customer name, an order number or a date range.

Optional: Connector Settings and Access

Choose Which Tools Claude Can Use

You control each tool the connector gives Claude:

1. Open Customize > Connectors and click shopVOX.

2. Under Tool permissions, the tools are in two groups: Read-only tools and Write/delete tools.

3. For a whole group, or for one tool, choose one of the options below.

  • Always allow: Claude uses the tool without asking.
  • Needs approval: Claude asks you each time before it uses the tool.
  • Blocked: Claude cannot use the tool.

We recommend Always allow for read-only tools and Needs approval for write/delete tools. Check these settings after you connect.

Tool permissions screen

Helpful Information

Your access and permissions

  • Reading data: Claude reads the shop data that the shopVOX API gives: orders, invoices, quotes, payments, customers, contacts, sales leads and jobs.
    • Your divisions, and the role settings Show Only Objects Assigned to Given Sales Rep and Show Only Objects Assigned to Given Project Manager, also limit what Claude reads for sales orders, invoices, quotes, payments, jobs and sales leads.
    • These settings do not limit companies, contacts and notes. Claude can read all of them.
    • Other role settings do not limit what Claude reads. For example, a role that cannot see invoices in shopVOX does not stop Claude from reading invoices.
  • Making changes: Claude can change only what your shopVOX role lets you change. Everything Claude does, it does as you.

To let Claude change…

Your role needs

Companies and contacts

Customers: Editable

Sales leads

Sales Lead: Editable

Sales orders

Sales Orders: Editable

Payments

Payments: Editable

Job steps

Jobs: Visible

New jobs

Jobs: Visible and Create Job: Enabled

Notes

Nothing extra

Making changes in shopVOX

  • When a tool needs approval, Claude shows what it is about to do. Read it carefully before you approve, especially when it deletes something.
  • Deleting does not erase a company, a contact or a sales lead. shopVOX makes it inactive and keeps it. To bring it back, open the record in shopVOX and click Enable Customer (company), Enable Contact (contact) or Mark as Active (sales lead). Claude cannot do this for you. Support cannot do this for you.
  • Deactivating a company also makes its contacts and addresses inactive. Making the company active again does not do the same for its contacts. Make each contact active again separately.
  • A deleted note cannot be brought back. Treat deleting a note as final.
  • Creating a job is not a draft. shopVOX makes the job's first step current at once, so the job goes onto the shop floor immediately.
  • Other changes have no undo. To reverse one, make the opposite change in shopVOX.
  • shopVOX does not remove duplicates. If Claude reports an error after a change, ask it to check whether the record was saved before you ask it again.

Tips for better answers

  • Say your time zone for questions about "today" or "this week", for example "today, Chicago time". Without it, Claude counts in UTC.
  • Use numbers when you have them: order, invoice or quote numbers find the exact record.
  • Ask what is switched on: "Check my shopVOX connection." Claude tells you which shopVOX features your account has.

Some tools are missing, or answers are short

Some tools depend on features that are turned on for your shopVOX account. If Claude says it cannot find your orders, invoices or jobs, or it returns only 5 results, ask: "Check my shopVOX connection." Then contact shopVOX support to turn on the missing features. After support makes a change, it can take up to 10 minutes before Claude sees it.

Managing access

To remove Claude's access to shopVOX:

  • Disconnect: open Customize > Connectors > shopVOX and click Disconnect. To connect again later, click Connect.
  • Remove: on the same screen, open the three-dot menu and click Remove.

If a person leaves your company, deactivate their shopVOX user. Their Claude connection then stops working at once. To stop all access from the shopVOX side, contact shopVOX support.

Troubleshooting

What you see

What to do

"A connector with this URL already exists…"

shopVOX is already added, often by your organization's Owner. Do not remove it and add it again. Open Customize > Connectors, click shopVOX in the list, and click Connect. If shopVOX is not in the list, contact shopVOX support.

"Authorization with shopVOX failed…" (Claude uses the name you gave the connector)

Remove the connector and add it again. If it happens again, contact shopVOX support and tell us the date and time. The reference in the message (it starts with ofid_) is Anthropic's; include it too.

Claude says it can only read, not make changes

You connected before changes were available. Disconnect, click Connect again, and click Authorize.

Every request fails

Check that your shopVOX user is active and that your account has Advanced API access.

You cannot add the connector on the Free plan

The Free plan allows only one custom connector. Remove your other custom connector before you add shopVOX, or use a paid Claude plan.

Need Help? Have Beta Feedback?

For If you cannot connect, or Claude's answers do not look right, contact shopVOX support.

If you have Beta Testing Feedback, use the details emailed to you from our team. Or contact shopVOX support.

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