The Katana MCP connects your Katana account to AI tools like Claude and ChatGPT, allowing you to check stock levels, create and update orders, and manage your operations more directly — no need to switch between tabs or manually navigate around Katana's interface (if you don't want to).
Using the Model Context Protocol (MCP), an open standard for securely connecting AI tools to external tools and data sources, Katana can provide your account's inventory, order, and manufacturing information directly to your AI chat interface so that you can simply ask questions from it, and the AI reacts.
What is MCP?
MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard developed by Anthropic that allows AI tools to securely connect to external data sources and services.
Rather than copying and pasting data into a chat window, MCP gives your AI tools live, read/write access to your business tools — so it can look things up, create records, and take action on your behalf.
Currently supported AI tools
Katana MCP is compatible with:
Claude (claude.ai and Claude desktop)
ChatGPT (via compatible MCP clients)
Examples of what you can do
Once connected, you can ask your AI tool to perform a wide range of tasks across your Katana account.
Through the MCP, your AI tool can read, create, and update nearly anything in your Katana account (deletions are not possible). This can give you a lot of power, so you want to use it wisely.
Examples include:
Inventory management
Check current stock levels and inventory across all locations
View bin inventory and bin locations
Identify negative stock situations
Adjust inventory and set safety stock levels
Perform and manage stocktakes
Transfer stock between locations
Sales orders
Create sales orders and sales order rows
Retrieve or update existing orders
Search orders using filters
Manage fulfillments, shipping fees, and order addresses
Process sales returns
Purchase orders
Create and manage purchase orders
Add and update purchase order rows and additional cost rows
Receive purchase orders into stock
Manufacturing orders
Create and manage manufacturing orders (including make-to-order)
Track manufacturing order productions and recipe rows
Manage operation rows
Products & materials
Look up, create, and update products, variants, and materials
Manage Bills of Materials (BOM rows)
Set up and manage services
Work with price lists and price list rows
Customers & suppliers
Create, retrieve, and update customer and supplier records
Manage addresses for both customers and suppliers
Assign customers to price lists
Reporting & visibility
Review inventory movements
Access demand forecasts
Check batch stock levels
View operator lists and factory details
Getting started
To connect your Katana account to an AI tool via MCP:
Open your AI tool — Claude (claude.ai) or ChatGPT.
Add the Katana MCP server — Use the MCP server URL [https://mcp.katanamrp.com] and authenticate with your Katana credentials.
Start chatting — Ask questions or give instructions in plain language. For example:
"What's the current stock level for SKU-1042?"
"Create a sales order for 10 units of the Deluxe Widget for Acme Corp."
"Show me all purchase orders in a draft state."
"Which variants are currently in negative stock?"
Key benefits
Natural language control — Ask in plain English and get results instantly.
Real-time data — Your AI tool queries your live Katana data, so answers reflect your current stock, orders, and production status.
Read and write — It's not just for lookups. You can create records, update statuses, and manage fulfillments directly from the chat.
Works where you work — Whether you're in Claude, ChatGPT, or a custom AI workflow, the same Katana capabilities are available.
Security considerations
All connections are made using your Katana credentials. Keep your credentials secure and do not share it publicly.
MCP endpoints use authenticated connections — only authorized users can access your Katana data through the integration.
Treat any AI-initiated write actions (order creation, stock adjustments, etc.) with the same care as manual entries, since they will affect your live Katana data.
Don't forget that, much like a human, AI makes mistakes. Because of this, make sure you always double-check before the AI takes action, and always ask it to verify and reverify what it will do.
Your feedback is invaluable. Let us know your thoughts on this article or anything in Katana you'd like to see improved: [email protected]