Connect Claude
Add MerchLens AI to Claude once, then ask about your sales, best sellers, stock and buying plans in any Claude conversation. It takes about three minutes.
What you need
- Any Claude plan, including Free. Free accounts can add one custom connector; Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise can add more.
- A computer for the setup, at claude.ai or in the Claude desktop app. Once it's added, it works in the Claude phone apps too.
- Your connector link from MerchLens AI (step 1).
On a Team or Enterprise plan, an owner adds the connector for the organization instead. See the last question under Troubleshooting.
Set it up
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Copy your connector link
In MerchLens AI, open the 🔧 Tools menu, choose 🔌 Connect a chatbot, and click Copy link.
It looks like
https://mcp.merchlensai.com/. Treat it like a password: anyone who has it can read your store's numbers.…/mcp -
Open Connectors in Claude
In Claude, go to Customize › Connectors. Click + Add, then Add custom connector.
-
Add MerchLens AI
Name:
MerchLens AI
Remote MCP server URL: paste your connector linkClick Continue. Under Authentication, choose No sign in, leave Request headers empty, and click Add.
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Turn it on in a chat
In a chat, click + at the lower left of the message box, choose Connectors, and switch on MerchLens AI.
Try it
Start with a broad question, then follow up. Claude looks up the exact numbers it needs:
Claude may ask your permission the first time it uses a tool. You can choose Always allow: every MerchLens AI tool only reads data, and none of them can change your store.
What Claude can see
- Shared: daily sales totals, sales by product, brand and collection, products and stock levels, forecasts, discounts, customer segments as counts, your buying and marketing plans, and your weekly AI briefings.
- Never shared: customer names, emails, phone numbers or addresses, and your Shopify login.
- How fresh: updated every night, and through the selling day while MerchLens AI is running.
Troubleshooting
Claude says it couldn't connect
Copy the link again from 🔌 Connect a chatbot. The whole link must be pasted, including the long code in the middle and /mcp at the end. Choose No sign in for Authentication.
I'm on the Free plan and can't add it
Free accounts can have one custom connector. If you already added another one, remove it in Customize › Connectors first, or upgrade to Pro.
The answers use old numbers
The connector panel in MerchLens AI shows when the data was last updated. If it's more than a day old, open 📤 Export for ChatGPT and click Export now. That refreshes the data for Claude too.
Claude isn't using my store data
Check that MerchLens AI is switched on under + › Connectors in this chat. It also helps to say so in your question: "Use MerchLens AI to…"
We're on a Team or Enterprise plan
An owner adds the connector in Organization settings › Connectors: click Add, hover over Custom, choose Web, and follow step 3. Each person then finds it in Customize › Connectors and clicks Connect. Everyone in the organization who connects it can see the store's numbers.
I shared my link by mistake
Email support@merchlensai.com and we'll issue a new link right away. The old one stops working, and you update the connector in Claude with the new one.
Using ChatGPT instead? See Connect ChatGPT. Claude's menu names were checked in October 2026 and may change.