MCP at Orbit
Orbit speaks the Model Context Protocol, the open standard AI assistants such as Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor use to call tools. It shows up in three places, each with its own audience, credential and release status. This page is the map; each surface has its own guide.
The MCP surfaces
| Surface | Who connects | What it reaches | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
For partners & developers — mcp-dev | You, from your coding assistant, while building a plugin | The public API reference and these guides; no store data | Available now |
| For merchants — merchant connection | A merchant, from their own AI client | One store's data and settings, within a permission tier | Live — pilot (allowlisted stores) |
| For affiliates — affiliate connection | An affiliate who builds stores for clients | Their own dev stores: create, build inside, hand over | Live — early access (affiliates whose programme has dev stores enabled) |
| For partners — partner connection | A plugin or theme developer, from their AI client | Their partner account: plugins, themes, review status, earnings, payouts — never a store | Live |
| Shopper (agentic commerce) | End customers | — | Parked; deliberately not built, no guide |
Which guide do I need?
- I am building a plugin or integration and want my coding assistant to know the API. MCP for developers. No account, no key;
npxand you are done. - I run a store and want to let an assistant read or change it. MCP for merchants. One-click connect from your assistant, permission tiers you choose, revocable from the dashboard.
- I build stores for clients as an affiliate. MCP for affiliates. Dev stores your assistant can create, build inside and hand over to a client.
- I publish plugins or themes and want my assistant to see how they are doing. The partner connection, the second half of the same guide. Review status, earnings and payouts from your partner account; the writes follow.
What they share
- One protocol, so any MCP client works with all of them.
- The hosted surfaces (merchants, affiliates, partners) share one server, one OAuth 2.1 authorization server, the same three permission tiers and the same confirmation step on destructive actions — described once in MCP for merchants. The requested scope decides which dashboard hosts the consent screen; the token decides what the server offers.
- The developer server is different on purpose: it runs on your machine, holds no credential and can reach no store data, which is what makes it safe to hand to any assistant.
Where things stand
- Developers:
@orbitcommerce/mcp-devis published and usable today. - Merchants: live in production for stores on the pilot allowlist. A merchant connects from Settings → AI Assistants in their store dashboard by pasting
https://api.myorbitcommerce.net/mcpinto Claude or ChatGPT, then approves the permissions on Orbit's consent screen. Stores not on the list are refused; email support@myorbitcommerce.net to join. Details in Status: pilot. - Affiliates: live in production as early access. An affiliate connects from Settings → AI assistants in the affiliate dashboard by pasting
https://api.myorbitcommerce.net/mcp/affiliate(not the merchant/mcpaddress, whose approval goes to the store dashboard). The connection (OAuth routing, the affiliate dashboard's approval screen, the/v1/affiliateendpoints) and the hosted server's dev-store tools —list_dev_stores,select_dev_store,clear_dev_store,create_dev_store,transfer_dev_store,cancel_dev_store_transfer,close_dev_store— are all there, so an assistant can create a dev store, build inside it and hand it over. The gate is the affiliate programme: dev stores must be enabled on it. Details in What is live, and what gates it. - Partners: live. A partner connects from Settings → AI Assistants in the partner dashboard by pasting
https://api.myorbitcommerce.net/mcp/partner: the connection family in the API, the partner dashboard's consent screen and connections list, and the hosted server's partner tools — reads (plugins, themes, earnings, payouts) and writes (drafts, submissions, visibility, install links, review replies, plans and prices, theme versions and publishing), every live change behind the same confirmation step a merchant's uses. Details in MCP for partners and developers, part 2.