inboxassure-mcp-server/inboxassure-mcpx-dev/README.md

Comprehensive MCP server for InboxAssure email marketing platform with full API coverage including campaigns, replies, and email account management.

# InboxAssure MCPX Dev

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) bridge for connecting to the InboxAssure Bison Hello API. This package enables Claude to use custom tools provided by the Bison API service.

## Installation

You don't need to install this package directly. Claude desktop will automatically install it using npx.

If you want to install it globally for testing:

```bash
npm install -g inboxassure-mcpx-dev
```

## API Key

To use this package, you need a valid API key from InboxAssure. 

The API key must follow this format: `iak_*****` (starts with "iak_" followed by a string of characters).

Contact InboxAssure support to obtain an API key if you don't have one.

## Usage with Claude Desktop

Add this to your Claude desktop configuration, replacing `YOUR_API_KEY` with your actual API key:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "My Bison Hello Server": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "inboxassure-mcpx-dev",
        "--api-key=YOUR_API_KEY"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```

For Windows users, you can also use:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "My Bison Hello Server": {
      "command": "cmd",
      "args": [
        "/c",
        "npx",
        "-y",
        "inboxassure-mcpx-dev",
        "--api-key=YOUR_API_KEY"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```

After adding this configuration:
1. Save the file
2. Restart Claude desktop
3. You should see the Bison Hello Server tool available

## Available Tools

- `get_bison_hello`: Gets a greeting from the Bison Hello API.

## Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues:

1. Check the Claude logs (`%APPDATA%\Claude\logs\mcp*.log` on Windows)
2. Make sure you have Node.js installed (version 14 or higher)
3. Verify that your API key is valid and properly formatted
4. Try running the package directly with `npx inboxassure-mcpx-dev --api-key=YOUR_API_KEY`
5. Check your internet connection and ensure you can reach the InboxAssure API server

### Common Error Messages

- `Invalid API key format`: Make sure your API key starts with "iak_" and is sufficiently long
- `Server error: Request timed out`: The API server could not be reached within 10 seconds
- `Server returned 401: Unauthorized`: Your API key is invalid or expired

## Development

This package acts as a bridge between Claude desktop and the InboxAssure Bison API server. It:

1. Accepts MCP protocol messages from Claude
2. Forwards them to the InboxAssure server
3. Returns the responses back to Claude

### Development Setup

1. Clone the repository
2. Install dependencies with `npm install`
3. Run the bridge with `npm start -- --api-key=YOUR_API_KEY`

### Architecture

The bridge implements the [Model Context Protocol (MCP)](https://github.com/anthropics/anthropic-model-context-protocol) to communicate with Claude, and uses HTTP to communicate with the InboxAssure Bison API server.

## License

ISC