Setup

Step 1: Open your Connectors settings

Open claude.ai in your browser. From the sidebar, go to Customize → Connectors.

Step 2: Add a custom connector

Click the + icon → Add custom connector. Enter the name ShipBob and paste the server URL for your environment. Click Add.

Or use a direct deep-link:

• Production: Add ShipBob (Production)
• Sandbox: Add ShipBob (Sandbox)

Step 3: Sign in and grant access

Claude opens a browser tab for ShipBob sign-in. Sign in with your ShipBob account and approve the permissions on the consent screen.

Step 4: Verify the connector is connected

Back in your claude.ai settings, the connector shows as Connected.

ChatGPT supports remote MCP servers as custom connectors (“Apps”). The flow mirrors claude.ai — paste the ShipBob URL, then sign in through the browser tab ChatGPT opens.

Prerequisites

• A ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, or Edu account (custom connectors are not available on Free).
• Developer Mode enabled on your account (see Step 1).

Step 1: Enable Developer Mode

Sign in to chatgpt.com, then open Settings → Connectors (labeled Apps & Connectors on newer accounts) → Advanced settings and toggle Developer mode on.

Step 2: Add a custom connector

Back on the Connectors page, click Add (or Create) to add a custom connector. Fill in:

• Name: ShipBob
• MCP Server URL: the URL for your environment
• Authentication: OAuth (leave the default — ShipBob’s server drives the OAuth flow itself, no client ID/secret needed)

Click Create.

Step 3: Sign in and grant access

ChatGPT opens a browser tab for ShipBob sign-in. Sign in with your ShipBob account and approve the permissions on the consent screen. The connector then appears as Connected in your ChatGPT settings.

Step 4: Use ShipBob in a chat

In a chat, open the + (attach) menu, pick ShipBob under connectors, and start asking about your data.

Step 1: Open Connectors settings

Open Claude Desktop. From the sidebar, go to Customize → Connectors.

Step 2: Add a custom connector

Click the + icon → Add custom connector. Enter the name ShipBob and paste the server URL for your environment. Click Add.

Step 3: Sign in and grant access

Claude opens a browser window for ShipBob sign-in. Sign in with your ShipBob account and approve the permissions on the consent screen.

Step 4: Verify the connector is connected

Back in Claude Desktop, the connector shows as Connected.

If you don’t see the option to add a custom connector

Register the ShipBob MCP Server by editing Claude Desktop’s config file directly. This uses the mcp-remote helper to bridge Claude Desktop to the hosted server while still keeping the browser-based OAuth sign-in.

Prerequisite — Node.js

The mcp-remote helper runs on Node.js. If you don’t already have it, download and install Node.js (LTS). After installing, open a terminal and run node --version to confirm — you should see a version like v24.15.0.

Steps

1. Open the config file:

   • Windows: File → Settings → Developer → Edit Config
   • Mac: Claude (menu bar) → Settings → Developer → Edit Config

   A file called claude_desktop_config.json opens in your text editor (Notepad on Windows, the default editor on Mac).

2. Add the ShipBob server:

   Empty config file

   File already has other servers

   If the file is empty or contains only {}, replace its contents with:

   1
   {
   2
     "mcpServers": {
   3
       "shipbob-mcp": {
   4
         "command": "npx",
   5
         "args": [
   6
           "-y",
   7
           "mcp-remote",
   8
           "https://api.shipbob.com/developer-api/mcp"
   9
         ]
   10
       }
   11
     }
   12
   }

   For sandbox, swap the URL for https://sandbox-api.shipbob.com/developer-api/mcp.

3. Save the file and fully quit Claude Desktop (don’t just close the window). Reopen it.

4. On first use of a ShipBob tool, Claude Desktop opens a browser for the ShipBob sign-in / consent screen — same flow as the GUI path.

Claude Code registers MCP servers from the terminal — no config-file editing needed.

Add the ShipBob server (production):

$
claude mcp add --transport http shipbob-mcp --scope user https://api.shipbob.com/developer-api/mcp

Add the sandbox server:

$
claude mcp add --transport http shipbob-sandbox --scope user https://sandbox-api.shipbob.com/developer-api/mcp

• --transport http matches the Streamable HTTP transport the ShipBob server uses.
• --scope user registers the server for your user across every Claude Code project. Use --scope project (or omit the flag) if you only want it inside the current project.

The first tool call against the server opens a browser for ShipBob sign-in and the consent screen — the same OAuth flow every other client uses.

Remove the server:

$
claude mcp remove "shipbob-mcp"

Run claude mcp list at any time to see which servers are registered.

Prerequisites

• Latest Visual Studio Code
• Access to GitHub Copilot

One-click install:

Click the link below to add the ShipBob MCP server to VS Code automatically:

• Production: Install ShipBob MCP Server in VS Code
• Sandbox: Install ShipBob Sandbox MCP Server in VS Code

VS Code opens a prompt to confirm the server installation. After confirming, it opens a browser for sign-in.

Manual setup:

1. Choose where the MCP config lives:

   • Workspace (.vscode/mcp.json): use this for project-specific access. Teammates who check out the repo also get the server.
   • User profile (run MCP: Open User Configuration from the Command Palette with Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P): use this to make the server available across all your projects.

2. Add the ShipBob server:

   1
   {
   2
     "servers": {
   3
       "shipbob": {
   4
         "type": "http",
   5
         "url": "https://api.shipbob.com/developer-api/mcp"
   6
       }
   7
     }
   8
   }

   Swap the URL for https://sandbox-api.shipbob.com/developer-api/mcp to point at sandbox.

3. Run MCP: List Servers and start shipbob. VS Code opens a browser for sign-in.

4. Sign in with your ShipBob account and grant access.

Any app that supports remote MCP servers works the same way:

1. Add a new remote / custom MCP server in the app
2. Paste the ShipBob URL for your environment
3. Sign in to ShipBob in the browser window your app opens

No API tokens, headers, or extra tools are needed.