Put your products inside ChatGPT, Claude and Copilot with an MCP server

What an MCP server is, in one paragraph

It is a small web service with a list of named tools, such as "search products" or "get product". Each tool says in plain words what it does and what it needs. When a user asks an AI assistant a question your tools can answer, the assistant calls the tool, reads the result and writes its answer from your data, with your links. The assistant does the talking; your server only answers precise questions. Nothing runs inside OpenAI or Anthropic that you don't control, and you can switch it off at any time.

A real request and the real answer

Request (JSON-RPC, POST to https://kriradigital.com/api/mcp): {"jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 2, "method": "tools/call", "params": {"name": "find_pull_stud", "arguments": {"taper": "BT40", "standard": "MAS-BT", "thread": "M16", "head_angle": "45°", "coolant": "coolant"}}}

Response, trimmed, from the live server on 1 November 2026: "total_matches": 3, "returned": 3. First result: "code": "PSBT4016MCP", "name": "BT40 Pull Stud 45°, M16, Coolant", "family": "MAS-BT Pull Studs", "key_specs": {"Knob Ø (A)": "17 mm", "B": "15 mm", "Neck Ø (C)": "10 mm"}, "url": "https://www.ptpcnctoolings.com/p/PSBT4016MCP". Then PSI4B4001COOT and PSI4B4001RCO in the same shape, and "note": "Prices and CAD on request from PTP".

An assistant turns that into a short answer with three part numbers and three links. The engineer clicks through to PTP's page, checks the drawing and asks for a quote. The numbers come from PTP's own pages, copied by a sync script; nothing is typed in by hand and nothing is guessed. Where a page does not publish a value, the server returns null rather than invent one.

Is a ChatGPT app the same as an MCP server?

Mostly, yes. OpenAI's Apps SDK is built on MCP: the app's tools are an MCP server on a public HTTPS address. An app can also add its own small interface inside the chat, such as a product card or a spec table, but the data and actions come from the same server. Claude and Copilot Studio connect to the same server without any change.

So the order of ChatGPT app development is: build the MCP server with good tools first, test it in ChatGPT, Claude and the Inspector, then decide whether a directory listing or a custom chat interface is worth it.

How your data stays safe

A catalog server only needs public facts, so the simplest safe design is read-only tools over data you already publish. That is how PTP's server works: the data is bundled with the code, it makes no outside calls when a tool runs, it holds no secrets and it cannot write anything. Inputs are checked, responses are small, and there is a rate limit per caller.

When a tool must touch private data, such as dealer prices or stock, we add OAuth so each user signs in, and give each tool only the access it needs. Under OpenAI's rules, ChatGPT asks the user to confirm write actions by default, and a published directory app cannot quietly add new tools: they wait for review. The MCP spec itself says clients should keep a human in the loop who can deny a tool call.

MCP server for ecommerce, Shopify and WooCommerce catalogs

The same pattern works for an online store: search, product details, stock and a link to the product page. Some ecommerce platforms now offer their own MCP or AI shopping connections, so check what yours gives you first.

A custom server earns its place when buyers ask questions a generic store connection can't answer: which part fits this machine, which size matches this drawing, which item replaces an old code. Those need your own finder logic, like PTP's pull stud finder. We read your store's product export or API, keep prices and checkout on your site, and send the buyer there.

Getting listed in the ChatGPT app directory

OpenAI opened its app directory to submissions on 17 December 2025. Its submission guide (now calling them plugins) asks for a verified publisher, a public HTTPS MCP server, website, support, privacy-policy and terms URLs, a domain-verification token on your server, five positive and three negative test cases and a video walkthrough. OpenAI reviews it and decides. After approval it rescans the server daily, and new tools stay unavailable until approved.

PTP's server is not in the directory. We have not submitted it: listing is PTP's decision as the owner, and the server is useful without it, because anyone can add it by URL today. We prepare the submission pack for clients who want a listing. We cannot promise approval, and we cannot promise that ChatGPT will pick your tools for a given question.

Who maintains it when the spec changes

MCP moves fast. The current revision, 2026-07-28, removed the old start-up handshake and sessions, so every request now carries its own protocol version, and a client can ask server/discover what a server supports. Many clients still speak the 2025 versions. PTP's server speaks both: 2026-07-28 and 2025-11-25, 2025-06-18 and 2025-03-26 on the same URL, and we tested it in the Inspector's modern and default modes on the live URL.

We maintain it for you on a monthly plan, or hand over the code with notes so your own developer can. Either way the server is yours, on your domain and your hosting account.