WooCommerce MCP Integration: Connecting AI Assistants to Your Store

Managing a WooCommerce store involves repetitive tasks: checking inventory, looking up order details, updating product information. What if an AI assistant could handle these queries directly? WooCommerce 10.3 introduced beta support for the Model Context Protocol (MCP), a standard that lets AI assistants like Claude and ChatGPT interact with external systems. This tutorial walks you through setting up WooCommerce MCP integration with Claude Desktop, from enabling the feature to running your first query.

Beta Status: WooCommerce MCP is in Developer Preview as of October 2025. Test on staging environments before production use.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, confirm you have:

• WooCommerce 10.3 or later installed
• WordPress 6.5+ (6.9+ recommended for full Abilities API support)
• HTTPS enabled on your store (required for production; workaround available for local development)
• Claude Desktop installed (or ChatGPT with Pro/Plus/Business/Enterprise/Education account)
• Node.js 20.0.0+ installed on your computer
• Admin access to WooCommerce settings

Step 1: Enable WooCommerce MCP Beta

First, activate the MCP feature in your WooCommerce settings:

1. Navigate to WooCommerce > Settings > Advanced > Features
2. Locate the MCP Beta toggle
3. Enable the feature and click Save changes

Alternatively, developers can enable MCP via WP-CLI:

wp option update woocommerce_feature_mcp_integration_enabled yes

After enabling, the MCP endpoint becomes available at yourstore.com/wp-json/woocommerce/mcp. You can verify this by visiting the URL directly in your browser.

Step 2: Generate REST API Credentials

MCP authentication uses WooCommerce REST API keys. You’ll need to generate a dedicated key pair:

1. Navigate to WooCommerce > Settings > Advanced > REST API
2. Click Add Key
3. Enter a description (for example, “Claude MCP Integration”)
4. Select Read/Write permissions (or Read only if you only need query access)
5. Click Generate API Key
6. Copy both the Consumer Key and Consumer Secret immediately - the secret won’t display again

Store these credentials securely. Treat them like passwords - anyone with these keys can access your store data through the API.

Step 3: Configure Claude Desktop

With MCP enabled and your API credentials ready, you can now configure Claude Desktop to connect to your store.

3.1 Locate the Configuration File

Find your Claude Desktop configuration file:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

If the file doesn’t exist, create it.

3.2 Add WooCommerce MCP Server Configuration

Open the configuration file and add the following JSON structure:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "woocommerce": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@automattic/mcp-wordpress-remote@latest"],
      "env": {
        "WP_API_URL": "https://yourstore.com/wp-json/woocommerce/mcp",
        "CUSTOM_HEADERS": "{\"X-MCP-API-Key\": \"ck_xxxxx:cs_xxxxx\"}"
      }
    }
  }
}

3.3 Replace Placeholders

Update the configuration with your actual values:

• Replace yourstore.com with your store’s domain
• Replace ck_xxxxx:cs_xxxxx with your Consumer Key and Consumer Secret, separated by a colon

Important: The authentication header uses the format consumer_key:consumer_secret with a colon separator.

3.4 Restart Claude Desktop

For the configuration to take effect:

1. Completely quit Claude Desktop (not just close the window - use Quit from the menu)
2. Reopen the application
3. Look for the tools icon (hammer) in the input area - this indicates MCP servers are connected

The @automattic/mcp-wordpress-remote package acts as a local proxy, translating MCP protocol messages into WooCommerce REST API calls. Claude Desktop downloads and runs this package automatically when you start a conversation.

Source: WooCommerce MCP Documentation

Step 4: Configure ChatGPT (Optional)

ChatGPT also supports MCP connections, though the setup differs from Claude Desktop.

Requirements:

• ChatGPT Pro, Plus, Business, Enterprise, or Education account
• Developer Mode enabled

Setup steps:

1. Open ChatGPT settings
2. Navigate to Connectors > Advanced
3. Enable Developer Mode
4. Add an MCP server with your WooCommerce endpoint URL and API credentials

ChatGPT’s MCP implementation uses server-side connections rather than a local proxy. The configuration interface may vary, so refer to OpenAI’s MCP documentation for current steps.

Step 5: Test Your Integration

With everything configured, verify the connection works by running a few test queries.

Test 1: List Products

Open Claude Desktop and type:

“List the first 5 products in my WooCommerce store”

Expected response: Product names, prices, and IDs from your store.

Test 2: Check an Order

“Show me the details of order #1234”

Expected response: Order status, customer information, and line items. Note that this exposes personally identifiable information (PII).

Test 3: Update Inventory (requires Write permission)

“Update product ID 42 to have 50 units in stock”

Expected response: Confirmation of the stock update.

If Claude responds with “MCP server not available,” double-check your configuration file syntax and restart the application completely.

Practical use cases for WooCommerce MCP integration:

• Bulk product description updates during catalog refreshes
• Quick inventory checks while handling customer support calls
• Generating sales summaries from order data for reporting

Security Best Practices

WooCommerce MCP integration provides direct access to your store data. Follow these practices to minimize risk:

1. Use Least Privilege Keys - Create read-only API keys if you only need to query data; reserve Read/Write keys for operations that require changes
2. Test on Staging First - Run your integration on a development environment before connecting to production
3. Be Aware of PII Exposure - Order and customer operations expose names, emails, addresses, and payment details; consider data handling requirements
4. Review AI Output - Always verify suggested changes before confirming bulk operations
5. Rotate Keys Periodically - Replace API credentials on a regular schedule
6. Don’t Share Configuration Files - Treat your claude_desktop_config.json as sensitive; never commit it to public repositories

Source: WooCommerce MCP security guidance

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Issue	Cause	Solution
MCP server not available	Config file syntax error	Validate JSON format; check for missing commas or brackets
Authentication failed	Invalid API key format	Use consumer_key:consumer_secret format with colon separator
HTTPS required error	Local development without SSL	Add filter: add_filter('woocommerce_mcp_allow_insecure_transport', '__return_true');
Tools icon missing	Server didn’t connect	Verify Node.js 20.0.0+ is installed; restart Claude Desktop completely
No response from store	MCP not enabled	Confirm the feature flag is enabled in WooCommerce settings

Next Steps

You’ve connected your WooCommerce store to AI assistants using the Model Context Protocol. As a beta feature, expect ongoing improvements and expanded operations in future WooCommerce releases. Test thoroughly on staging environments, and monitor the WooCommerce developer blog for updates on stable release timelines.