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Connect your AI client to Subi (MCP)

Let Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or your own agent read and manage your subscriptions through Subi's MCP server. You approve every connection in your Shopify admin.

Subi has an MCP server. MCP (Model Context Protocol) is the open standard AI assistants use to work with other apps. Once you connect an AI client to it, you can ask that client to read your subscription reports, find contracts and customers, and change plan and portal settings in plain language, from wherever you already talk to your assistant.

You stay in control: every connection is approved by you inside your Shopify admin, a client only gets the permissions you grant it, and every call it makes is listed in an activity log in Subi.

Before you start

  • Your store is on the Subi Plus plan, or has the API & webhook access add-on. On other plans the page shows an upgrade prompt instead of the connection list.

  • You use an AI client that supports remote MCP servers. Claude (web and desktop), Claude Code, ChatGPT (with Developer mode) and Cursor all do.

  • You are logged into the Shopify admin of the store you want to connect, in the same browser you will approve from.

Step 1. Add Subi's MCP server in your AI client

The server address is the same for every client:

  • Claude (web or desktop): Settings, then Connectors, then Add custom connector. Paste the address and click Connect.

  • Claude Code: run claude mcp add --transport http subi https://api.subi.co/mcp, then type /mcp and choose Authenticate next to subi.

  • ChatGPT: turn on Developer mode in Settings, then go to Connectors, Create, and paste the address.

  • Cursor: open MCP settings, add a new server of type HTTP, and paste the address.

  • Any other client: add a remote (HTTP) MCP server with the address above. Subi supports the standard OAuth flow, so the client registers itself and asks you to sign in.

Step 2. Approve the connection in your Shopify admin

Right after you add the server, your client opens a browser window. This is where you tell Subi which store to connect and what the client may do.

  • Enter your store name, the part before .myshopify.com. Some clients pass it along for you, in which case this step is skipped.

  • You are taken to Subi inside your Shopify admin. The screen shows which client is asking, which store it will connect to, and the permissions it wants. Each permission is a read or write on one area of Subi, such as subscriptions, plans, analytics or the customer portal.

  • Clients that registered themselves are labelled Unverified. That is normal for Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor; it means Subi cannot vouch for the name the client gave. Only approve clients you set up yourself.

  • Click Approve. You are sent back to your client, and it can start using Subi.

A connection request is valid for five minutes. If it expires, start again from your client.

Step 3. Ask your client to do something

A few things to try once you are connected:

  • "How many active subscribers do I have, and how many churned this month?"

  • "Find Jane Smith's subscription and show me its next billing date."

  • "Which of my subscription plans has the most subscribers?"

  • "Turn on the one-time purchase option on my Monthly plan."

What your client can do depends on the permissions you granted. Read permissions let it look things up. Write permissions let it change settings, so grant those only to a client you trust, and review the activity log after a session.

Manage your connections

In Subi, go to Settings, then AI clients (MCP). The page lists every connected client, when it was connected, and its permissions. Click Revoke on a connection to cut it off immediately; the client will have to be approved again to reconnect. Click View activity log to see every call a client has made, with the tool it used, when, and whether it succeeded.

Troubleshooting

  • "MCP access is not included in your current plan": the store is not on Subi Plus and does not have the API & webhook access add-on. Upgrade, or add the add-on from Subi billing, then reload the page.

  • The client says it is unauthorized after working before: the connection was revoked or the store's plan changed. Remove the server in your client and add it again to reconnect.

  • You run more than one store: approve the connection once per store, each from that store's own Shopify admin.

  • Your client does not open a browser window: check that it supports remote MCP servers with OAuth. Older clients that only accept a local command cannot connect.

Questions? Message us from the chat bubble in your Subi admin.

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