# Cursor MCP server for Shopify inventory and cash data > Connect Cursor to Keel HQ's read-only MCP server with a bearer token in mcp.json, then query inventory, cash and ad spend from your editor. Source: https://keelhq.io/integrations/cursor · Published 2026-10-27 · Last verified 2026-10-27 **TL;DR:** Cursor connects to Keel HQ's read-only MCP server through an entry in mcp.json: the URL and an Authorization header carrying a token you create in Settings. Cursor can then read inventory, cash, ad spend and published reports while you work. It can't change anything in Keel HQ or Shopify, and the token is revocable at any time. Cursor can read your Keel HQ numbers from inside the editor. That's handy if you build against your own store data or want an answer without leaving your work. Add one entry to mcp.json and the tools appear. ## What Cursor can read Keel HQ serves a read-only [Model Context Protocol](https://modelcontextprotocol.io) server. These are the tools it exposes: | Tool | What it returns | | ------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `get_overview` | Month-to-date vitals, alerts, trends, inventory health and recent activity. | | `get_cash_dashboard` | Cash balances, debts, upcoming bills, expected income, runway and cash alerts. | | `list_inventory_products` | The first `limit` active products (default 50, up to 200), ordered by product id. It doesn't paginate: a larger catalog is truncated, and `pagination.truncated` and `pagination.total` say so. | | `get_inventory_product` | One SKU: catalog fields, days of cover on a 90-day pace, and every product carrying that SKU. | | `get_ads_spend` | Meta campaign spend by calendar month, for up to 12 months. Refreshed when a monthly report is generated, not by the daily Meta pull. | | `get_monthly_report` | A published monthly report as JSON, with notes on data quality. | | `get_brand_settings` | Brand profile and alert thresholds. No secrets. | Two resources come with it: `eos://docs/metric-calculations`, which defines how each figure is calculated, and `eos://reports/monthly/{year}-{month}`, a published report as markdown. These tools read your Shopify orders and products, Meta Ads campaign spend, Mercury balances and published monthly reports, all from what Keel HQ has already synced. There is no tool for Klaviyo or Google Ads data on its own. **Read-only** Every tool is marked read-only. Cursor can look, calculate and explain; it can't change anything in Keel HQ or Shopify. ## Questions it can answer "How many days of cover does one of my SKUs have, and which products share that SKU across my stores?" "What's my cash runway, and which bills are coming up?" "Show Meta spend by campaign for the last three months. Was any month only partly synced?" "Summarize last month's published report, and tell me which figures were withheld and why." "Is everything you just told me current? Check the data freshness." The questions that pay off are the ones across sources: inventory against cash, spend against revenue. Keel HQ has already joined them, and your assistant just reads the result. ## Connect Cursor **Create a token** In Keel HQ, open **Settings → MCP & API tokens**, and find **AI assistants (MCP)**. Click to create a token for Cursor. It carries the read scope and expires in 90 days by default. It's shown once, so copy it before you leave the page. **Add Keel HQ to mcp.json** Add this to `~/.cursor/mcp.json`, or to `.cursor/mcp.json` in a project. Settings fills in your URL and token: ```json { "mcpServers": { "keel": { "url": "https://app.keelhq.io/api/mcp", "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer eos_YOUR_TOKEN" } } } } ``` Keep the token out of any file you commit. **Test the connection** Back in Settings → MCP & API tokens, **Test connection** runs the same `tools/list` call an assistant makes and shows the tool names it got back. Then ask a question. ## Tokens, scopes and revoking **Scope.** MCP needs a token with the `read` scope. A token without it gets a 403, and a missing or revoked one gets a 401. **Expiry.** 30, 90 or 365 days when you create it; 90 by default. **Revoking.** Revoke the token in Settings → MCP & API tokens. The assistant loses access immediately. **Rate limit.** 120 requests a minute per token. Your organization comes from the token, never from the request, so an assistant can only see the workspace the token was created in. ## Known limits Read-only, by design. Cursor can't update products, record costs or send anything. Data is as fresh as the last sync. Shopify orders sync every six hours, so a very recent sale may not be there, and each result says so in `data_freshness`. Ad spend is by calendar month and limited to a 12-month range. There is no daily breakdown. Keel HQ is in private beta, with a waitlist. ## FAQ ### Global or per-project config? Either. ~/.cursor/mcp.json applies everywhere, and .cursor/mcp.json inside a project applies there only. Don't commit a file that holds a token. ### Can the AI change anything in Keel HQ or Shopify? No. Every tool is read-only, and the server only accepts POST requests that read. The AI can't edit a product, a cost, a report or a setting, and it has no route into Shopify. ### Which token does it use, and can I revoke it? An API token with the read scope, created in Settings → MCP & API tokens. Revoke it from the same list and the assistant stops working at once. Create a separate token per assistant so revoking one doesn't break the others. ### Is there a rate limit? Yes, 120 requests a minute per token. Over that, Keel HQ answers 429 and the assistant waits. ### How do I know the data is current? Every tool result starts with a data_freshness block: one entry per synced source it read, with the last sync time and a status of fresh, stale, never_synced or failed. Ask the assistant to mention it when a figure isn't fresh. ### What if a number isn't available? You get null with a reason, never 0. A failed query comes back as a tool error, not as empty data. ## Sources - [Model Context Protocol introduction](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/docs/getting-started/intro), modelcontextprotocol.io (accessed 2026-10-27) - [Model Context Protocol (MCP)](https://docs.cursor.com/context/model-context-protocol), Cursor documentation (accessed 2026-10-27)