Goal
Add the Altera MCP server to Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, or another AI tool that supports MCP (Model Context Protocol). The AI tool can then export, edit, and import data from your Shopify store for you. For ChatGPT and the Claude apps, see Connect Altera to ChatGPT or Claude.
Prerequisites
An Altera account with at least one Shopify store connected.
An AI tool that supports remote MCP servers over HTTP with OAuth sign-in.
A paid Altera plan to create imports and exports. On other plans, the AI tool can only browse documentation, field references, and shop metadata.
Steps
All clients use the same server URL: https://mcp.getaltera.com/mcp. The setup for each client is also in the app: open Settings > MCP connections and select the tab for your tool (Claude, Claude Code, Cursor, ChatGPT, VS Code, or Other). Each tab has a Copy button for its configuration.
Claude Code
In your terminal, run this command:
claude mcp add --transport http altera https://mcp.getaltera.com/mcp
Then start Claude Code. The first time it connects to Altera, sign in with your Altera account, choose the shop, and authorize the connection.
If you already connected Altera from the Claude connector directory on claude.ai, the directory connector also works in Claude Code, and you don't need to run the command.
Cursor
Open Cursor settings, go to MCP, and add a new server with this configuration:
{
"mcpServers": {
"altera": {
"url": "https://mcp.getaltera.com/mcp"
}
}
}
When Cursor connects to Altera, sign in with your Altera account, choose the shop, and authorize the connection.
VS Code
Add this configuration to your VS Code MCP settings, either the .vscode/mcp.json file in your workspace or your user settings:
{
"servers": {
"altera": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://mcp.getaltera.com/mcp"
}
}
}
When VS Code connects to Altera, sign in with your Altera account, choose the shop, and authorize the connection.
The server name (altera) and the URL are separate values. Don't use the URL as the server name.
Other MCP clients
Most MCP clients accept a server URL directly. Add a remote (HTTP) server with the URL https://mcp.getaltera.com/mcp, then sign in with your Altera account, choose the shop, and authorize the connection.
Outcome
The connection shows in Altera under Settings > MCP connections, with the client name, the user who authorized it, and its access (Full access or Limited). To test it, ask your AI tool: "Use Altera to show me my five most recent jobs."
Each authorization gives access to one shop, the shop you chose when you signed in.
Troubleshooting
VS Code with GitHub Copilot shows a config error
GitHub Copilot can show an error like this when it loads its MCP servers:
Error: (sendFailed) Request session.mcp.listConfigured failed with message: mcpServers.https://mcp.getaltera.com/mcp: MCP server name must not contain control characters or '}', and must not start or end with a slash or contain consecutive slashes mcpServers.altera.url: Invalid url
The error means that one MCP configuration file has two broken entries: one uses the URL https://mcp.getaltera.com/mcp as the server name, and one is named altera but has no valid URL. The broken entries are often not in your user configuration. Copilot also reads .mcp.json and .github/mcp.json in the workspace folder, and these files take priority over your user configuration. A correct user configuration doesn't fix the error while a workspace file has broken entries.
To fix the error:
In your workspace folder, open
.mcp.jsonand.github/mcp.json.Delete the broken Altera entries (or the whole file, if it has no other entries).
Add Altera once, with the configuration from the VS Code steps.
Start a new Copilot session, and sign in to Altera when it asks.
Next steps
Connect Altera to ChatGPT or Claude explains how to limit a connection to specific data, what the AI tool can do, and how to disconnect it. These sections apply to all MCP clients.