MCP — Model Context Protocol Coming soon
Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard from Anthropic that lets AI assistants connect to external tools and data sources through a standard interface. betterfound will expose an MCP server so Claude and other MCP-compatible agents can query your product catalogue directly.
What MCP unlocks for betterfound
Today, betterfound uses a fixed two-call pipeline (intent extraction → response generation). With MCP, any external agent or AI application can call betterfound's product search as a tool — enabling:
- Claude Desktop users querying your catalogue through a conversation
- Custom agents that combine betterfound with inventory, CRM, or logistics tools
- Multi-agent workflows where betterfound acts as the product-search specialist
- Enterprise internal assistants (e.g. sales enablement bots) backed by your catalogue
Planned MCP tools
| Tool name | Description |
|---|---|
search_products | Full-text + filter search across the indexed catalogue |
get_product | Retrieve a single product by ID with full detail |
list_categories | Return all available categories / collections |
get_recommendations | Get products similar to a given product ID |
Planned MCP server config
// claude_desktop_config.json
{
"mcpServers": {
"betterfound": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@betterfound/mcp-server"],
"env": {
"BETTERFOUND_TENANT_ID": "your-tenant-id",
"BETTERFOUND_API_KEY": "sk-sm-xxxxxxxxxxxx"
}
}
}
}Architecture
The betterfound MCP server runs as a local process (stdio transport) or as a hosted SSE endpoint (HTTP transport). It authenticates using your API key and proxies tool calls to the betterfound search API.
Use cases
Sales team assistant
An internal Claude agent connected to betterfound + your CRM can answer "What's the best camera for a customer who bought a beginner kit last year and has a £800 upgrade budget?" — combining purchase history from the CRM with live product search from betterfound.
Claude Desktop personal shopper
A shopper running Claude Desktop can add your store's MCP server to their config and query your catalogue conversationally without visiting your site at all.