ebay-mcp

I want to set up the eBay MCP Server for my AI assistant. Please help me:

1. Install the eBay MCP server:
   npm install -g ebay-mcp

2. I need to configure it for [Claude Desktop / Cursor / Cline / Zed / Continue.dev / Windsurf / Claude Code CLI / Amazon Q] (choose one)

3. My eBay credentials are:
   - Client ID: [YOUR_CLIENT_ID]
   - Client Secret: [YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET]
   - Environment: [sandbox / production]
   - Redirect URI (RuName): [YOUR_REDIRECT_URI]

Please:
- Create the appropriate config file for my MCP client
- Set up the environment variables
- Help me complete the OAuth flow to get a refresh token for higher rate limits
- Test that the connection works

If I don't have eBay credentials yet, guide me through creating a developer account at https://developer.ebay.com/

The setup wizard (npm run setup) handles OAuth automatically. Here's where to find your credentials in the eBay Developer Portal:

Step 1 — In the Developer Portal, copy your App ID (Client ID) and Cert ID (Client Secret):

Step 2 — In your app's User Tokens settings, copy the RuName (eBay Redirect URL):

Step 3 — Run npm run setup. It opens your browser for OAuth login and guides you through eBay sign-in:

Step 4 — Paste the authorization code from the callback URL when prompted:

The wizard exchanges the code for tokens, saves them, and configures your MCP client. You now have user-token authentication (10k–50k requests/day instead of the default 1k/day).

📖 Full reference — every environment variable, OAuth step, and scope — is in the Configuration Guide. npm run setup writes the .env for you; the variables below are for reference.

EBAY_CLIENT_ID=your_client_id
EBAY_CLIENT_SECRET=your_client_secret
EBAY_ENVIRONMENT=sandbox            # or "production"
EBAY_REDIRECT_URI=your_runame
EBAY_MARKETPLACE_ID=EBAY_US         # default marketplace (overridable per tool)
# EBAY_SITE_ID=0                    # Trading API site override; defaults from EBAY_MARKETPLACE_ID
EBAY_CONTENT_LANGUAGE=en-US         # default request content language
EBAY_USER_REFRESH_TOKEN=your_token  # for higher rate limits
EBAY_MCP_UI=on                      # interactive MCP Apps views (beta); "off" forces plain JSON
EBAY_MCP_TOOLS=all                  # tool exposure: "all", "dynamic", or a family list (see below)
EBAY_READ_ONLY=false                # when true, only register read-only tools (gets/lists/searches)
# HTTP deploy (optional — Docker / Railway / self-hosted):
# MCP_HOST=0.0.0.0                  # default is 0.0.0.0 when PORT is set
# MCP_PORT=3000                     # preferred over platform PORT
# MCP_AUTH_TOKEN=secret             # static Bearer for HTTP MCP (skips OAuth verifier)

Tool exposure (EBAY_MCP_TOOLS)

By default all tools are advertised to the agent at once. On a long conversation that catalogue is a meaningful slice of the context window, so two opt-in modes let you shrink it:

The family list is literal — you get exactly what you name. ChatGPT connectors need the connector family (its search/fetch tools); add it explicitly, e.g. EBAY_MCP_TOOLS=connector,inventory. An unknown family name fails fast at startup with the valid list. Valid families: connector, token-management, account, inventory, fulfillment, marketing, analytics, metadata, taxonomy, communication, browse, other, developer, trading.

Authentication & rate limits

User-token limits vary by account tier (Individual 10k · Commercial 25k · Enterprise 50k+). On a 429, the server retries with exponential backoff and surfaces the error. See the Configuration Guide and OAuth Quick Reference for details, and monitor usage in the Developer Portal.

MCP client compatibility

Auto-configured by npm run setup. Requires Node.js ≥ 20 and MCP protocol 1.0+ over STDIO (default) or HTTP.

299 tools, 100% Sell API coverage, organized by category. Each link points to the tool definitions and handlers in src/tools/categories/:

Example tools: ebay_get_inventory_items, ebay_get_offers_by_skus, ebay_get_orders, ebay_create_offer, ebay_get_campaigns, ebay_get_oauth_url.

For the complete machine-readable index, see llms.txt.

Beta — this feature is new and evolving alongside the MCP Apps spec, and host support is still rolling out. It is opt-in and falls back to plain JSON, so it never breaks existing clients. Toggle it with EBAY_MCP_UI (see Configuration).

On hosts that support MCP Apps, common read tools render their results as interactive views instead of raw JSON — a sortable table, a detail card, a chart, or a stat grid — using the host's own theme. Everywhere else, the exact same tools return plain JSON, so nothing breaks. It is built on the official MCP Apps SDK (@modelcontextprotocol/ext-apps), the extension that lets MCP servers ship interactive UI to conversational clients.

• Opt-in and host-gated. Views are advertised only to clients that announce the MCP Apps capability (e.g. Claude). Hosts without it (e.g. Cursor) silently get JSON.
• Kill-switch. Set EBAY_MCP_UI=off to force plain JSON everywhere, even on capable hosts.
• Token-cheap. Each view's HTML is fetched once by the host out of band (never into the model's context); the model only ever sees a one-line summary plus the structured data it would have received anyway.
• Read-only. Views only ever trigger read tools (drill into a row, page, refresh) — they never mutate your eBay data.

15 core-workflow tools opt in today, across four archetypes:

The views build into self-contained HTML with npm run build (or npm run build:ui); they ship in the published package and load with no network access of their own.

A local Model Context Protocol server that exposes 299 tools covering 100% of eBay's Sell APIs (270 endpoints) to AI assistants — inventory, order fulfillment, marketing, analytics, and developer tools.

No. This is an unofficial, third-party open-source project. It is not affiliated with, authorized, or endorsed by eBay Inc.

Nine clients are auto-configured by npm run setup: Claude Desktop, Cursor, Zed, Cline, Continue.dev, Windsurf, Roo Code, Claude Code CLI, and Amazon Q Developer. Any MCP-compatible client can connect.

Yes. It works with Claude Desktop and Claude Code out of the box, with Cursor and other MCP-enabled IDEs, and with any assistant that supports the Model Context Protocol. The one-click setup prompt above works with ChatGPT and other assistants too.

Interactive MCP Apps views only appear on hosts that announce the capability (e.g. Claude); other clients get the same data as plain JSON. Also confirm you have not set EBAY_MCP_UI=off and that the views are built (npm run build runs build:ui).

299 tools across 270 unique endpoints — 100% of eBay's Sell APIs.

Yes. It is released under the MIT license.

It runs entirely on your machine over STDIO (or local HTTP). There is no cloud relay — your eBay credentials never leave your computer.

Node.js ≥ 20, a free eBay Developer Account (Client ID + Client Secret), then run npm run setup.

Client credentials (the default) allow about 1,000 requests/day. Authenticating with a user token via OAuth raises this to 10,000–50,000 requests/day depending on your account tier.

Yes. Switch with the EBAY_ENVIRONMENT variable (sandbox or production).

Credentials are stored locally in your .env file and used only to call eBay directly. See SECURITY.md and EBAY_COMPLIANCE.md.

You interact in natural language through your AI assistant. OAuth token management, automatic retries with backoff, and type-safe Effect-backed validation are built in. See the comparison table above.

Yes. Fixed-price listing create, revise, relist, and end operations are supported through the Trading API tools.

Complete the OAuth flow with npm run setup to authenticate with a user token (10k–50k requests/day instead of the default 1k).

TypeScript and Node.js (ESM), using the official MCP SDK, Effect-backed validation with a Zod-compatible MCP adapter, and OpenAPI-generated types.

Run npm install -g ebay-mcp@latest (or npm update -g ebay-mcp).

No. "Runs locally" means the server process runs on your machine — it still needs an internet connection and valid credentials to reach eBay's live APIs.