Imagine managing parts of your AutoDS workflow by simply describing what you want in a chat. Instead of manually searching the AutoDS Marketplace, reviewing product data, or navigating through multiple pages, you can use natural-language requests to find products, analyze your store, generate reports, import products to drafts, and publish listings.
The AutoDS MCP connector connects your AutoDS account to Claude, an AI assistant created by Anthropic. MCP (Model Context Protocol) is a standard that allows AI assistants to connect to external platforms and use their data and tools. In this case, it allows Claude to access your AutoDS store data and the AutoDS product catalog, helping you complete supported AutoDS tasks directly from a chat conversation.
This article explains what the AutoDS MCP connector is, how to install it, what you can do with it, and how to troubleshoot common issues.
What is Claude, and how does the connector work
Claude is an AI assistant created by Anthropic, available at claude.ai. You interact with it through a chat interface, similar to WhatsApp or iMessage, where you type messages and Claude responds. The difference is that Claude understands complex requests, reasons through problems, and can take actions connected to tools and platforms you use.
For example, instead of navigating to a page and applying filters manually, you can type "find me a wireless phone charger under $10 with shipping under 10 days" and Claude will search, process the results, and return a structured response with what you need.
Claude works with connectors, which are integrations that give Claude access to external platforms and accounts. When a connector is active, Claude can read data from that platform and take actions on your behalf, directly from the chat.
The AutoDS MCP connector is the integration that connects Claude to your AutoDS account. Once installed, Claude can access your store data and the AutoDS product catalog without you needing to open the AutoDS platform. You describe what you want, and Claude handles the navigation, search, and execution.
With the AutoDS MCP connector, you can:
Search the AutoDS product catalog using natural language.
Audit your active listings and draft products.
Generate store reports and margin analyses.
Upload products to your store draft list.
Publish draft products live to your marketplace.
Everything runs through your existing AutoDS account. All store types are supported, including eBay, Amazon, Shopify, Facebook, Wix, WooCommerce, and Etsy. The connector only works with the store currently set as active in your account.
Prerequisites
To use the AutoDS MCP connector, you need:
An active AutoDS account. The connector is available on all AutoDS plans.
A Claude account. If you don't have one yet, you can create it at claude.ai. Both the free and paid plans support the AutoDS MCP connector.
How to connect the AutoDS MCP connector to Claude
To connect the AutoDS MCP connector to Claude:
Open Claude on your browser at claude.ai or download the Claude desktop app at claude.ai/download, then click Customize.
In the top-left menu, select Connectors, click the + icon at the top-right of the Connectors panel and choose Add custom connector.
Fill in the following details and leave the OAuth fields empty, then click Add.
Name: AutoDS
On this page, the advanced settings fields are optional and are only used by connectors that require separate developer credentials. The AutoDS MCP connector does not use these fields. You can leave them empty.
After that, Claude will open an AutoDS login screen. Sign in with your AutoDS email and password. If you registered your AutoDS account with Google authentication, click "Continue with Google".
Once authenticated, you will be redirected to Claude, and AutoDS will appear in your Connectors list. This means that the connector is ready to use.
Note: If you are a developer and use Claude Code, a command-line tool for coding with Claude, you can connect the AutoDS MCP connector from your terminal instead of the Claude interface. Run the following command:
claude mcp add autods-public --transport http --callback-port 2048 https://mcp.autods.com/mcp
If this does not apply to you, you can skip this note and follow the steps above using claude.ai or the Claude desktop app.
AutoDS MCP connector capabilities
Once the AutoDS MCP connector is active, Claude shows you the connector details page, where you can see all the tools Claude has access to and control when each one can be used.
The tools are divided into two groups:
Read-only tools allow Claude to fetch and display information from your AutoDS account without making any changes. These include searching the product catalog, listing your stores, retrieving product details, and finding winning, recommended, or similar products.
Write/delete tools allow Claude to take actions that change your store data, such as uploading products to your draft list or publishing drafts to your marketplace. By default, these tools are set to Needs approval, meaning Claude will ask for your confirmation before executing any action that modifies your store.
Tool permissions
By default, Claude cannot make changes to your store without your approval.
Each tool has a permission setting that controls how much autonomy Claude has when using it.
You can configure permissions for an entire tool group, such as Read-only tools or Write/delete tools, using the dropdown menu at the top of each section. You can also override the setting for individual tools using the icons shown next to each tool.
The available permission levels are:
Icon | Permission | What it means |
✅ | Always allow | Claude can use the tool automatically without asking for confirmation. |
✋ | Needs approval | Claude must ask for your approval before using the tool. |
🚫 | Never allow | Claude cannot use the tool at all. |
For example, if Upload products is set to Always allow, Claude can add products to your draft list as soon as you ask. If the same tool is set to Needs approval, Claude will prepare the action and then ask for your confirmation before proceeding. If the tool is set to Never allow, Claude will not be able to perform that action, even if you explicitly request it.
You can change these permissions at any time from the connector settings page.
Important:
For write actions such as uploading products or publishing drafts, we recommend keeping the Needs approval setting active. This ensures Claude always confirms with you before making changes to your store.
Selecting Always allow, Needs approval, or Blocked from the group dropdown applies that permission to all tools in the section. Individual tools can then be adjusted separately if needed.
Tip:
For most users, the following setup works well: Read-only tools set to Always allow, and Upload products and Publish drafts to marketplace set to Needs approval. This allows Claude to research products, analyze your store, and generate reports without interruption, while still requiring your approval before any change is made to your store. If you become comfortable with a specific tool, you can change it to Always allow. If you never want Claude to use a tool, set it to Never allow.
What each tool does
The AutoDS MCP connector gives Claude access to 10 tools that let it search for products, analyze your store, and take actions on your AutoDS account on your behalf. The table below explains what each tool does and gives an example of how you can use it.
Tool | What it does | Example |
Get bulk action items | If you started a bulk action in AutoDS, such as uploading or updating multiple products at once, you can ask Claude to check its progress. | Check the status of my latest bulk upload. |
Get product by ID | If you already know which product you want more information about, you can ask Claude to fetch its complete details, including pricing, shipping, and images. | Get the full details for product ID 38291746. |
Get recommended products | You can ask Claude to suggest products tailored to your store based on your existing catalog. | Recommend products that would fit well with my current store. |
Get similar products | If you are looking at a specific product and want to compare it with similar options, you can ask Claude to find alternatives. | Find products similar to [product name or ID]. |
Get winning products | You can ask Claude to surface winning products curated and verified by AutoDS, useful when you are looking for new product ideas. | Show me winning products in the home and garden category. |
List products | You can ask Claude to list your active or draft products to get a quick overview of your catalog. | List all the draft products currently in my store. |
List stores | If you manage more than one store, you can ask Claude to show all your connected stores and their status. | List my connected stores and their current status. |
Search products | You can ask Claude to search the AutoDS Marketplace by keyword, category, price range, or shipping time. Claude returns product details such as title, price, shipping time, and supplier, but it does not return a direct link to the product page. To find the exact product, copy the details Claude gives you and search for them in the AutoDS Marketplace using the search bar, matching by price, supplier, and shipping time. | Search the catalog for a wireless phone charger under $10 with shipping under 10 days. Show me the top 3 options with margin estimates. |
Publish drafts | Once a draft product is ready, you can ask Claude to publish it live to your store. Since this is a write action, Claude will ask for your confirmation before proceeding, unless you have set this tool to Always allow. | Publish the top 3 drafts by profit margin to my store. |
Upload products | You can ask Claude to add a product to your draft list, either one found through a Claude search or one from an external supplier link, such as Amazon, AliExpress, or Walmart. Since this is a write action, Claude will ask for your confirmation before proceeding, unless you have set this tool to Always allow. | I want to test three products from different suppliers in my AutoDS store. Here are the links: [Amazon URL], [AliExpress URL], [Walmart URL]. Import all three to my draft list and give me a comparison table with buy price, sell price, estimated margin, shipping time, and supplier. |
Note:
The AutoDS MCP connector does not support editing existing product prices or descriptions, managing billing or subscription settings, or changing account configurations. For those actions, use the AutoDS platform directly.
To switch stores, change your active store in AutoDS before starting a new conversation in Claude.
Examples in practice
Below are two real examples of how Claude can respond when using the AutoDS MCP connector.
Example 1: Searching the AutoDS Marketplace
When asked to search the AutoDS catalog for a wireless phone charger under $10 with shipping under 10 days, Claude searched the AutoDS Marketplace and returned one matching product, including its price range, shipping options, and Product ID.
Claude also explained why other wireless chargers under $10 did not qualify, since their shipping times exceeded the 10-day requirement, and offered to check additional pages of results or look at similar or recommended products.
To find the specific product Claude gave to you, it is recommended that you search for it by product name in the AutoDS Marketplace, as Claude does not send you the product link in the conversation.
After that, you can confirm the match by comparing the price ($8.82 to $9.31) and shipping time shown in the Marketplace against what Claude reported.
Example 2: Importing a product from a supplier link
Claude was asked to add a new product to the dropshipping store from a CJ Dropshipping listing URL, import it to the draft list, confirm the buy price and estimated profit margin, then publish it directly to their Shopify storefront once ready.
Since importing can take a few minutes, Claude usually checks the action status to confirm the import is progressing without errors.
Once the import finishes, Claude reports that it landed successfully as a draft in your store, with full pricing details: buy price, sell price, and profit margin per variant.
You can choose to publish it as-is, adjust the price, or ask Claude to recalculate before publishing live to the store.
Tips for working with Claude
Working effectively with the AutoDS MCP connector comes down to how you phrase your requests to Claude. The tips below help you get more accurate results and avoid unnecessary back-and-forth.
Mention AutoDS explicitly. Claude has access to multiple connectors and tools, so a generic request may be answered using a general web search. Ask Claude to use AutoDS directly, or include "AutoDS" in your request. This also helps Claude complete the action more efficiently, without defaulting to a less accurate source.
Be specific. The more detail you provide, such as price range, shipping expectations, or supplier preference, the more precisely Claude can complete the action in a single step, without follow-up questions or repeated searches.
Expect follow-up questions on write actions. When a write action requires approval, Claude may ask which store to use if you have more than one connected, or whether to proceed if a calculated profit margin looks low compared to typical markups for similar products. Claude may also check the status of an in-progress action, such as a bulk import, before confirming the result. These checks depend on your Claude account setup and the specific request, so the exact questions can vary.
Claude remembers the context within the same conversation. If you start a new conversation, Claude starts with no memory of the previous one.
Combine tools for more complex tasks. Claude can combine multiple AutoDS AutoDS MCP connector tools into a single request to complete more advanced tasks.
Start a new conversation for unrelated tasks. Claude reprocesses the full conversation history with every message, so long conversations consume more tokens over time.
Writing in English typically uses fewer tokens than other languages for the same request, since Claude's underlying language processing is optimized for English. If you usually work in another language, you may notice you reach your usage limit faster than an English-speaking user performing the same tasks.
For more tips on writing effective prompts and working with Claude, see the official Claude documentation: Prompting guides | Claude tutorials and guides
Possible issues and workarounds
If you run into a problem while using the AutoDS MCP connector, check the table below for the most common issues and how to resolve them.
Issue | What to do |
A "renew your store token" warning appears. | Your store token may need to be renewed.
Renew the token for the affected store and wait up to 2 hours for the process to complete.
For detailed instructions, see the Store Settings guide. |
Claude shows a connection error. | Claude cannot reach your AutoDS account. This usually means the connector has been disconnected.
In Claude, go to Customize > Connectors, find the AutoDS MCP connector, and click on Connect. |
A feature or product is not available through the connector. | If you ask Claude to access something restricted by your plan or account status, Claude will let you know and may provide general information instead. Use the AutoDS platform directly for that action. |
Claude is not using the AutoDS connector. | Claude has access to multiple tools and may default to a general web search if your request does not clearly indicate that you want to use the AutoDS MCP connector. Mention "AutoDS" explicitly in your request, or ask Claude to use the AutoDS connector directly. |
Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
Can I connect more than one AutoDS account to Claude at the same time?
Can I connect more than one AutoDS account to Claude at the same time?
The AutoDS MCP connector supports one AutoDS account at a time. To switch to a different AutoDS account, go to Customize > Connectors in Claude, remove the current AutoDS connector, and add it again using the new account credentials.
Does using the AutoDS MCP connector consume AI credits from my AutoDS account?
Does using the AutoDS MCP connector consume AI credits from my AutoDS account?
Using the AutoDS MCP connector does not consume AutoDS AI credits. AI credits are only used when you trigger an AI generation feature within AutoDS, such as AI Rewrite or AI Product Page Templates. Searching products, listing stores, uploading drafts, and publishing listings through the connector do not deduct AI credits.