MCP setup

MCP setup lets an outside AI tool — Codex, Claude, WorkBuddy, Qoder, Hermes Agent, Pi — call Vibe Seller. You talk to Codex in its chat; Codex calls the tools Vibe Seller exposes over MCP: create tasks, check progress, answer the tasks' questions, fetch results and files. The work inside Seller Central is still done by Vibe Seller's tasks; Codex hands them out, follows them and sums them up for you.

sequenceDiagram
    participant U as You
    participant C as Codex (outside AI tool)
    participant V as Vibe Seller
    participant S as Seller Central
    U->>C: Use Vibe Seller to look at Store A's ads from last week
    C->>V: MCP call: create a task
    V->>S: The task reads the ads in Store A's browser
    V-->>C: The task's question (e.g. include the AE store?)
    C-->>U: Passes the question on
    U->>C: You answer in the chat
    C->>V: MCP call: answer the question
    V-->>C: Task done: findings and files
    C-->>U: The summary

The rest of this page uses Codex as the example; the other tools work the same way.

Everything on this page is said to Codex

The example sentences below go into Codex's chat box, and Codex decides which Vibe Seller tool to call. They are not task descriptions for Vibe Seller — when Codex creates a task, it writes the task description itself.

Any MCP-capable tool works; all you need is an API key. Where each integration is configured and how they divide up: see the Integrations overview.

What you can ask

Once connected, talk to Codex like a colleague. Mentioning "Vibe Seller" in the sentence helps Codex think of calling it:

You say in Codex	What Codex does in Vibe Seller
How many stores are in Vibe Seller right now?	Reads the store list and answers — no task
Use Vibe Seller to look at Store A's ad spend over the past week and suggest improvements — don't change anything yet.	Creates a task on Store A, waits for it, brings the findings back to the chat
How far along is that task?	Reads the task's progress and tells you
In Vibe Seller, schedule this check for every Monday morning — show me the plan first.	Creates a schedule and brings its plan back for you to review

No commands to learn — Codex decides which tool to call. When a task needs an answer from you or a plan approved, the question shows up in the Codex chat; answer it there, no need to switch to the Vibe Seller web app. A full walkthrough: Export a Ziniao store's financial data with Codex and analyse it.

What it can and cannot do

• Can: create tasks (with attachments), follow progress, answer the task's questions, approve or reject plans, confirm generated images, send follow-ups, stop / retry / delete tasks, read a task's output files, manage the knowledge base, skills and schedules.
• Cannot: drive the browser (click, open pages, take screenshots) or edit your store directly.

Anything store-facing happens inside a Vibe Seller task, and plan approval, the ad-scope checks and the rest of the gates work exactly as they do in the web UI. Routing work through Vibe Seller keeps each store's data isolated and keeps the AI from going hands-on.

Ad tasks created from an AI tool follow the same rules as ones you create in the web UI: before any work starts the task must state exactly what it will check and change; a report that skips marketplaces gets sent back to finish the job; and a report-only task never touches your ads.

First: create an API key

In the Vibe Seller web UI, open Settings → Integrations → API keys and click New API key:

1. Give it a name you'll recognise later, like claude-desktop;
2. Pick an expiry: 30 days, 90 days, 365 days, or never;
3. Copy the key right away. It is shown only once — close the dialog and it's gone for good.

The same dialog also hands you ready-to-paste configs, one card per tool: the "In the app" tab for tools you set up inside the app, "Command line / config file" for the rest — the same tabs each setup page uses. Set the server address to one the tool can reach first; the configs update as you type:

A few things to keep in mind:

• Keys start with vst_: a tool holding one acts as you, with your permissions.
• Revoke it in the same place whenever you like — if you're done with it or suspect it leaked.
• Create a key even if your Vibe Seller runs without login. Turn login on later and the tool won't suddenly stop connecting.

Choose your AI tool

Take the key you just created and open the page for the tool you use:

Tool	How you connect
Codex	Fill a form in the app
WorkBuddy	Paste JSON
Qoder	Paste JSON
Hermes Agent	Paste JSON
Pi	Command line
Claude	Command line

Using another MCP-capable tool, or after the technical details (the protocol, all 32 tools, curl examples)? See Connect an External Agent.

Troubleshooting

401 Unauthorized

The key is wrong, revoked, or expired, or its owner is deactivated. Check the key under Settings → Integrations → API keys. A revoked or expired key is rejected even when the server runs with login off — revoking really revokes.

405

The address is wrong, or your Vibe Seller is too old to have the MCP endpoint. Make sure the address ends in /api/mcp, and upgrade Vibe Seller if needed.

Connection refused, or certificate (TLS) errors

Check the address and port, and whether the tool's machine can reach Vibe Seller at all. A server bound to 127.0.0.1 is only reachable from the same machine; put an HTTPS reverse proxy in front for remote use.

Tools are listed but every call fails

Usually a wrong address. All the configs on the tool pages want the address ending at /api/mcp; the only exception is the Claude plugin, which takes just the server root (e.g. http://localhost:7777) and appends /api/mcp itself. Also check for a stray trailing slash.

It answers without creating a task

It answered from its own knowledge instead of running anything. The Claude plugin helps a lot here — it requires the agent to report only what the task really produced. You can also say outright use vibe-seller to create a task for this.