MCP
Merchant Center MCP server: product feeds and Shopping data from Claude
TL;DR
Merchant Center is the integration most likely to fail for reasons that have nothing to do with your permissions. There is a one-time Google Cloud registration wall, and a multi-client account answers 403 to product queries in a way that reads like access denied and is not.
What already exists for this platform
Google has not shipped a platform-official Merchant Center MCP server at the time of writing (September 2026). The underlying API also changed: Content API for Shopping was sunset in August 2026 and the replacement is Merchant API v1.
- No official server, and any community one written before mid-2026 may target an API that no longer exists.
- Content API for Shopping was sunset on 18 August 2026, with progressive errors from 1 September. A server built against it is broken rather than deprecated.
- Merchant API v1 requires a one-time developer registration between your Google Cloud project and the merchant account — and it refuses every call until that is done, including the call that would tell you about it.
What a full MCP server adds
| Typical option today | Agent Planners MCP | |
|---|---|---|
| Merchant Center tools | Community, possibly on a sunset API | 6 reads, 5 writes |
| API generation | Often Content API (sunset) | Merchant API v1 |
| Registration handling | Left to you | Handled during connect where the id is discoverable |
| Product writes | Rare | Via productInput, approval-gated |
| Google Ads in the same session | No | Yes |
Tool counts are derived from the live catalogue rather than typed by hand: this family exposes 6 reads and 5 writes of the 384 tools on the endpoint. A key only sees the writes if it carries `tools:write`.
How to configure it
- 1Create a key in API & MCP. `tools:read` for questions; add `tools:write` if the agent should be able to change things. Tools mode needs a paid plan and fails closed.
- 2Connect Merchant Center under Integrations — that OAuth step is why the MCP key never carries platform credentials.
- 3Add the server to Claude Code, Claude Desktop or Codex using the snippet below.
- 4Have the agent call `describe_permissions` first — it reports the key's mode, scopes, plan entitlement and connected accounts.
- 5Call `list_accounts` for the account ids, and scope each call with one. Resolution is exact or it refuses, naming the candidates.
bash
claude mcp add --transport http agentplanners https://www.agentplanners.com/api/mcp \
--header "Authorization: Bearer ap_live_…"Claude Desktop and Codex
Claude Desktop takes the same endpoint as JSON:
json
{
"mcpServers": {
"agentplanners": {
"url": "https://www.agentplanners.com/api/mcp",
"headers": {
"Authorization": "Bearer ap_live_…"
}
}
}
}Codex uses the same endpoint from `~/.codex/config.toml`, with the key in an environment variable rather than the file: `[mcp_servers.agentplanners]` / `url = "…/api/mcp"` / `bearer_token_env_var = "AGENTPLANNERS_API_KEY"`.
Two 403s that are not permission problems
- The registration wall. Merchant API refuses every call from an unregistered Cloud project — including `getAccountForGcpRegistration`, whose own description is about reporting an existing registration. It reports one; it cannot create one.
- The advanced-account 403. A multi-client (parent) account answers 403 to product and issue queries with "only subaccounts and standalone accounts", while a plain account lookup succeeds. It reads as access denied; it means you queried the wrong level, and the fix is to name a subaccount.
- The mirror of that, which is easy to miss: listing subaccounts on a standalone account returns the same 403 — so "this account has no subaccounts" is an answer that arrives as an error.
Writes go through `productInput` against a data source rather than a `products` collection — Merchant API has no direct product write, and a tool that assumes one fails at the first call.
Use cases
- Feed issue triage — which products are disapproved, why, and which fixes recover the most impressions.
- Shopping performance joined to feed quality, with Google Ads on the same key.
- Product data corrections proposed and approved, written through the data source the API actually accepts.
- Subaccount reporting for agencies running an advanced account, with the right level addressed explicitly.
Frequently asked questions
- Is there an official Merchant Center MCP server?
- Not from Google at the time of writing (September 2026). Take particular care with community servers here: Content API for Shopping was sunset in August 2026, so anything built against it no longer works.
- Why does Merchant Center return 403 for my products?
- Two common causes, neither about permissions. Your Cloud project may not be registered with the merchant account, which Merchant API requires once. Or you queried a multi-client parent account, which refuses product queries — those belong to subaccounts or standalone accounts.
- Can an agent update my product data?
- Yes, through productInput against a data source — Merchant API has no direct products write. Every change pauses for approval and records an audit row.