Read repair orders, appointments, customers, vehicles, parts and shop reference data. For automotive repair shop teams using Shop Boss for service and inventory work. Hosted by usefulapi — connect from Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, or any MCP client.
Team and Enterprise: an Owner adds the connector for the organization first.
Run this command, then run /mcp in Claude Code to log in:
Add to Cursor or add this to ~/.cursor/mcp.json:
{
"mcpServers": {
"shop-boss": {
"url": "https://shop-boss.usefulapi.io/mcp"
}
}
}Add to VS Code or add this to .vscode/mcp.json:
{
"servers": {
"shop-boss": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://shop-boss.usefulapi.io/mcp"
}
}
}No Add custom MCP server option? It depends on your account or workspace settings: see OpenAI's guide.
Run these commands. The second one opens the login page:
Other MCP clients (Windsurf, Cline, Zed and more): add the URL as a remote MCP server (Streamable HTTP). The client then opens the login page in your browser. Do not add an Authorization header: see Before you connect.
Find the customer, review their vehicles and read associated repair orders to understand the work before the visit.
shopboss_list_customers shopboss_list_vehicles shopboss_list_repair_orders
Review scheduled appointment dates alongside service bays and shop hours to prepare for the day.
shopboss_list_appointments shopboss_list_bays shopboss_list_shop_hours
Review the parts and quantities on a repair order, then look up inventory availability and supplier details.
shopboss_list_order_parts shopboss_list_parts shopboss_list_suppliers
Review recommended or previously declined repairs for a customer or vehicle and consult predefined services before drafting a follow-up.
shopboss_list_recommended_repairs shopboss_list_canned_jobs
The login page asks for your Shop Boss API key.
Request an API key from [email protected], describing the resources you need. The default scopes include appointments, customers, employees, repair orders and vehicles; other resources may need additional permissions. Your selected records pass through UsefulAPI to your chosen AI assistant and its model provider. Revoke the key through Shop Boss to stop access. Usage and billing are per API key: replacing the key starts a separate identity. This is an independent integration.
Add only the URL. Do not add an Authorization header or an API key to the client config. The server signs you in with OAuth: the login page asks for your Shop Boss API key. If the config has such a header, remove it: some clients then send that header instead of the login token, and every call fails with 401.
Turn on the Shop Boss connector, then ask in plain words. The AI picks the tools.
| Tool | Type | What it does |
|---|---|---|
shopboss_list_appointments | read | List appointments Review appointments, scheduled dates, customer and vehicle references. Dates use YYYY-MM-DD. Read-only. Resource permissions depend on your Shop Boss API key. |
shopboss_list_customers | read | List customers Find customers by ID, name, email or phone and review their contact and account context. Read-only. Resource permissions depend on your Shop Boss API key. |
shopboss_list_vehicles | read | List vehicles Find vehicles by ID, owner, VIN, make, model or year. Read-only. Resource permissions depend on your Shop Boss API key. |
shopboss_list_repair_orders | read | List repair orders Review repair orders with customer, vehicle, complaint and status context. Filter by order ID, customer or VIN. Read-only. Resource permissions depend on your Shop Boss API key. |
shopboss_list_order_parts | read | List repair-order parts Review parts, quantities, prices and ordering context associated with repair orders. Read-only. Resource permissions depend on your Shop Boss API key. |
shopboss_list_parts | read | List inventory parts Review inventory availability, reorder levels and part details. Read-only. Resource permissions depend on your Shop Boss API key. |
shopboss_list_part_sales | read | List part sales Review part-sale balances and statuses without taking payments or changing sales. Part-sale IDs may be negative, as shown in the vendor reference. Read-only. Resource permissions depend on your Shop Boss API key. |
shopboss_list_recommended_repairs | read | List recommended repairs Review recommended or previously declined work for a customer or vehicle. Read-only. Resource permissions depend on your Shop Boss API key. |
shopboss_list_canned_jobs | read | List canned jobs Look up predefined automotive services and their pricing context. Read-only. Resource permissions depend on your Shop Boss API key. |
shopboss_list_employees | read | List employee directory Look up employee names, job descriptions, mechanic numbers and active status. Payroll, home addresses and emergency contacts are omitted. Read-only. Resource permissions depend on your Shop Boss API key. |
shopboss_list_suppliers | read | List suppliers Review supplier contact details and terms; account numbers are omitted. Read-only. Resource permissions depend on your Shop Boss API key. |
shopboss_list_bays | read | List service bays List available service bays for appointment planning. Read-only. Resource permissions depend on your Shop Boss API key. |
shopboss_list_complaint_categories | read | List complaint categories Look up the shop's repair complaint categories. Read-only. Resource permissions depend on your Shop Boss API key. |
shopboss_list_shop_hours | read | List shop hours Review the shop's configured opening and closing hours. Read-only. Resource permissions depend on your Shop Boss API key. |
shopboss_list_sources | read | List customer sources Review the shop's configured customer and appointment source labels. Read-only. Resource permissions depend on your Shop Boss API key. |
shopboss_usage_status | Usage status (free-tier meter) Report the caller's current usage: the plan, calls used this month, the limit of the plan (the free monthly cap or the Pro fair use limit), remaining, and whether the limit is reached. Read-only; does not count against the meter. | |
shopboss_request_feature | Request a missing feature Tell usefulapi that the user needs something the Shop Boss tools cannot do yet (a missing tool, field or filter). Call it only when the user asks for something none of the tools can do, and tell the user that you send the request. Do not call it for errors or for normal requests. Do not include personal data, credentials or customer records. Stored with the product name and the client type (for example Claude or Cursor), without the user's account. At most 5 requests per day. Does not count against the meter. | |
shopboss_upgrade | Upgrade to Pro (unlimited*) Get Pro: unlimited tool calls (fair use limit: 10,000 a month) on Shop Boss (the free tier caps monthly usage). Plans: "monthly" — $9/month; "yearly" — $90/year (2 months free). Cancel any time: Pro then runs to the end of the paid period, so it also suits a one-time job. *A fair use limit applies. For heavy use (near Pro's limit): "plus" or "plus_yearly" — Pro+, $39/month or $390/year, unlimited tool calls (fair use limit: 100,000 a month); an existing Pro subscription changes to Pro+ in place (needs confirm: true; the price difference for the rest of the period is charged at once). Otherwise returns a short link to open in your browser (it opens Stripe Checkout); after payment the account upgrades automatically. Does not count against the meter. | |
shopboss_cancel_subscription | Cancel the Pro subscription Cancel the caller's Shop Boss Pro subscription at the end of the paid period (no refund for the current period; Pro continues until then, then the free tier applies). Requires confirm: true. Run shopboss_upgrade later to undo the cancel before the period ends. Does not count against the meter. |
| Plan | Price | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 50 tool calls / month |
| Proper API key | $9/mo · $90/yr | Unlimited* |
*Pro fair use limit: 10,000 tool calls a month on this server. For more, write to [email protected].
Pro covers this Shop Boss server only. Subscribe with shopboss_upgrade (it returns a Stripe Checkout link). Cancel any time with shopboss_cancel_subscription: Pro continues to the end of the paid period, with no refund for the current period, and running shopboss_upgrade before then undoes the cancel. Or write to [email protected].
Prepare for a customer visit. Review the appointment schedule. Check parts for a repair order. Prepare a recommended-work follow-up. See what you can do for the details.
No. usefulapi is an independent service. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Shop Boss. The server calls the Shop Boss API with your own Shop Boss access, so it sees only the data that your account can see.
Yes. In Claude, add this server's URL as a custom connector. In ChatGPT, add it as a custom MCP server in Plugins. Then log in once. Cursor, VS Code, Claude Code and Codex work too. See the setup steps.
The login page asks for your Shop Boss API key. See Before you connect for where to find it.
No. Add only the URL. Do not add an Authorization header or an API key to the client config. The server signs you in with OAuth: the login page asks for your Shop Boss API key. If the config has such a header, remove it: some clients then send that header instead of the login token, and every call fails with 401.
The login stores them encrypted in the authorization grant of your connection. The server uses them to call the Shop Boss API for you and to derive a private account id for usage metering. usefulapi does not show them on any page or in any reply. To stop all access, remove the connector and change or delete these credentials in Shop Boss.
All 15 Shop Boss tools are marked read-only.
The Free plan gives 50 tool calls / month. Pro costs $9/mo or $90/yr, with unlimited tool calls (fair use limit: 10,000 tool calls a month), for this Shop Boss server only. Cancel any time: Pro then runs to the end of the paid period. Run shopboss_usage_status to see how many calls you used.
Ask the AI to run shopboss_upgrade: it returns a Stripe Checkout link. To cancel, run shopboss_cancel_subscription. Pro continues to the end of the paid period.
Tell the AI what you wanted to do. It can send the request with shopboss_request_feature. We store the text with the server name, the type of AI client and the tool you tried, not with your account, and read every request when we plan new tools. You can send up to 5 requests per day.
Any client that supports remote MCP servers (Streamable HTTP) with OAuth login: Claude (web and desktop), Claude Code, ChatGPT, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf and others.
This is a Model Context Protocol endpoint — meant to be connected from an AI client, not opened in a browser. An invalid_token response at the URL is the auth gate working as designed; clients authenticate automatically.
Need a tool this server does not have, or a connection to another system? We build custom integrations and MCP servers.