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The PartFinder MCP server gives an AI agent the PartFinder API as tools. Your agent then calls PartFinder itself when a question needs it: stock and lead times for a part, its supply risk, alternates, a BOM scan, disruptions by country or a request for quote.

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Connect and sign in

The server address is:
  1. Add the server address in your AI app.
  2. The app opens the PartFinder sign-in page. Sign in with your console account.
  3. Choose the organization the app works for.
  4. Approve the two permissions below.
Any AI app that supports signing in to an MCP server works. You need no API key. If you are not in an organization yet, create one in the console first, or ask an admin to add you to one. These pages show the steps for one app each:

ChatGPT & Codex

~/.codex/config.toml

Claude Code

claude mcp add

Claude and Claude Desktop

Custom connector

Cursor

.cursor/mcp.json

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The two permissions

The sign-in page asks you to approve two permissions for the organization you chose: Read covers looking things up. A lookup such as researching a part uses credits. Write covers starting searches, comparisons and BOM analyses, and sending or deleting requests for quote. If you did not allow a permission, a call that needs it is refused. Connect the app again and allow it.

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Let your agent set it up

A coding agent can add the server for you. Paste this prompt into it:

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What the tools are

Each tool is one API operation, named by its operation id in the API reference: researchPart is GET /v1/parts, searchParts is POST /v1/search, sendRfq is POST /v1/rfq.
  • Tools that read are marked read-only. deleteBom, deleteSearch, deleteComparison, deleteRfq and sendRfq are marked destructive.
  • sendRfq and sendRfqMessage send a real email to the supplier named in the call.
  • Key and webhook operations are not tools. Set them up from your own code (see Authentication and Webhooks).
  • A file upload is not a tool. To scan a CSV or XLSX file, send it to POST /v1/bom/upload from your own code (see Analyze a BOM), or give the agent its lines for analyzeBom.
A tool result carries the API’s JSON response. Its summary names the next tool to call, never an HTTP path.

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What a tool call costs

A tool call is the matching API call. It costs the same credits, counts toward the same rate limit and appears in the console’s usage like any other call. Calls from an app you signed in with appear under that app. ping is free, and a refused call is not charged. Listing the tools costs nothing. Prices per call are at api.partfinder.dev/llms.txt.

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Jobs answer with an id

searchParts, compareParts and analyzeBom start a job and answer at once with its id.
  1. Call getSearch, getComparison or getBom with that id right away. Do not wait first.
  2. The tool waits while the job runs. It returns when the job ends, or after 45 seconds with status processing.
  3. While status is processing, call it again.
Reading a job costs no credits, but each read counts toward the rate limit.

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Disconnect an app

The console’s Connected apps page lists the apps people signed in with, one row per app and person. Organization admins see every app in the organization. Members see the apps they signed in with themselves. Disconnect stops that app for that person. Every call it makes is then refused, even if it signs in again, until someone chooses Allow again on the same row. A member cannot allow again an app an admin disconnected. To stop a person entirely, an admin removes them from the organization.

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When a call is refused

A refused call comes back as a tool error. The JSON carries the API’s error code and a summary that says what to change. A call with no sign-in and no key, or an invalid one, is refused before any tool runs, with HTTP 401. Every code is listed in Errors.

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Can I use my own API key?

Yes. An agent that cannot sign in, or a script you run yourself, can send an API key instead. Any agent that accepts a remote MCP server with a header needs two values. Create the key in the console. Where your agent can read it from your environment, keep it in PARTFINDER_API_KEY. A configuration file that holds the key, such as Claude Desktop’s, stays on your computer: never share or commit it. A key can call every tool. Each app page above shows its key configuration too. To have a coding agent set it up with a key, paste this prompt into it: