Product Hub MCP (Model Context Protocol) connects your Canto Product Hub data to an AI assistant, such as Claude, ChatGPT, or Microsoft Copilot. Once connected, you can search your product catalog, generate and update content, run bulk operations, and manage your data using plain-language prompts — without exporting files or editing records one at a time.

This article covers everything you need to get started and make the most of the connection:

• Part 1: Setup — prerequisites, generating your API key, and connecting your AI assistant
• Part 2: What you can do — use cases and example prompts once you're connected

Please note: Product Hub MCP is included with the Product Hub add-on — no separate license is required. If Product Hub has not been enabled on your account, reach out to your Account Manager or submit a support request.

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Part 1: Setup

Before you start

To set up Product Hub MCP, you will need:

• An active Canto account with the Product Hub add-on enabled
• Product Hub Admin permissions in Canto
• A supported AI assistant: Claude, ChatGPT, or Microsoft Copilot

Please note: The API key step requires Product Hub Admin permissions. For more details on Product Hub roles and permissions, please see How to: Manage Product Hub user privileges.

How access works

Product Hub MCP is available to Product Hub Admins. To connect, an Admin generates an API key for the organization (Step 1), then connects their AI assistant using that key (Step 2).

Step 1: Generate your API key

This step is performed once by a Product Hub Admin.

1. Log in to Canto as an Admin.
2. Click your profile icon to open the Profile & Settings menu, then select Settings.
3. Open the Configuration Options tab.
4. Locate the API Keys section and click Create API Key.
5. Copy the API key — you will need it to complete Step 2.

You will also need your MCP server URL, which follows this format:

https://{your-subdomain}.canto.com/api/v1/pim/mcp

Replace {your-subdomain} with the part of your Canto URL that appears before .canto.com when you are logged in.

Please note: The API key is a credential for your entire organization. Treat it like a password — do not share it publicly or include it in shared documents or version-controlled files. If the key is ever lost or compromised, return to Settings > Configuration Options to generate a new one. Find additional information on how to Create an API key here.

Step 2: Connect your AI assistant

Select your AI assistant and follow the steps for that platform.

Claude

Claude has native MCP support and provides the most complete Product Hub experience.

1. Go to claude.ai/settings/integrations while logged in to Claude.
2. Select Add custom integration or Add MCP server, depending on your Claude plan.
3. Fill in the following fields:
   • Name: Canto Product Hub (or any label you prefer)
   • MCP Server URL: https://{your-subdomain}.canto.com/api/v1/pim/mcp
   • API Key / Token: Paste the key generated in Step 1
4. Click Connect, then follow the prompt to authorize with your Canto credentials.

Once connected, the integration will appear in your active connectors list.

ChatGPT

Please note: ChatGPT MCP connector setup may vary depending on your plan. The steps below describe the general process. For organization-wide setup in ChatGPT Enterprise, contact your OpenAI account team or IT admin.

1. In ChatGPT settings, navigate to Connectors or Custom integrations.
2. Add a new connection using the following details:
   • Endpoint URL: https://{your-subdomain}.canto.com/api/v1/pim/mcp
   • Authentication: API key (use the key from Step 1)
3. Authorize with your Canto credentials when prompted.
4. Save the connection.

Microsoft Copilot

Please note: Copilot MCP connector setup is managed through Copilot Studio or the Microsoft 365 admin center. For Copilot deployments managed by your IT team, share the MCP server URL and API key with your Microsoft admin — they will handle the connector configuration centrally.

1. Open Copilot Studio and navigate to Connections or Custom connectors.
2. Create a new connector with the following details:
   • Server URL: https://{your-subdomain}.canto.com/api/v1/pim/mcp
   • Authentication: OAuth / API key (use the key from Step 1)
3. Publish the connector to make it available in your Copilot environment.
4. Authorize with your Canto credentials when prompted.

Verify your connection

Once connected, start a new conversation in your AI assistant and try one of the following prompts:

• "List my Product Hub catalogs."
• "List all product categories."
• "Show me all product types and their attributes."

If your catalog data is returned, the connection is working correctly.

Troubleshooting

The connection fails or times out

• Check that the MCP server URL is entered exactly as shown, with no trailing slash.
• Check that the API key was copied in full with no extra spaces.

"Unauthorized" error after entering credentials

• Check that API access is enabled on your account under Admin Settings > User Management.

The API key was lost or needs to be replaced

• Return to Admin Settings > Custom Configuration to generate a new key.
• Update your AI assistant connector with the new key to restore the connection.

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Part 2: What you can do

Once connected, you can manage your product catalog using plain-language prompts. This section covers the main use cases and includes example prompts to get you started.

The prompts below are starting points — adapt the language to match your own catalog structure, attribute names, and workflows.

Please note: All operations described in this section apply to both parent-level SKUs and variant SKUs. Operations involving variants may require an additional step to map variant dimensions correctly.

Generate and populate product content

Product content teams spend significant time writing descriptions, marketing copy, and localized text — drawing on fragmented inputs like SKUs, material lists, categories, and colors. The work is repetitive, output is inconsistent across team members, and products routinely go live with empty fields or placeholder text.

With Product Hub MCP, you can describe what you want in plain language. Your AI assistant reads your existing attribute data, generates content that fits your catalog structure, and writes results back to the correct fields — across hundreds or thousands of products in a single session. Teams shift from writing to reviewing.

Example prompts

• "Write a marketing description for every product in my Fall catalog that doesn't have one, using the name, material, and category."
• "Translate every English description in the Outerwear category into German."
• "Write a short description for all active products in the Footwear category using the name, color, and material attributes."

Find and fix content gaps

Incomplete product records are hard to spot until they cause a problem — a channel export fails, a storefront shows a blank field, or a buyer presentation reveals products with no copy. Without a reliable way to audit the full catalog, gaps only surface after something goes wrong downstream.

With Product Hub MCP, you can ask your AI assistant to audit your catalog against any set of attributes, auto-fill what can be generated, and return a clear picture of what still needs a human. You get actionable visibility at the moment it matters — before anything is published.

Example prompts

• "Show me every product in my Spring channel that's missing a description or a localized field, and fill in what you can."
• "List all products in the Outerwear category where the material attribute is empty."
• "Find all active products with no linked assets and no description."

Bulk create and update products from a file

Keeping Product Hub in sync with supplier files, planning sheets, agency hand-offs, and legacy exports means constantly handling data that wasn't prepared with your Product Hub in mind. Column names don't match your attributes, some rows are new products that need to be created, others are existing records that need specific fields updated, and required values are often missing or inconsistently formatted. Reconciling all of this manually is slow and error-prone at scale.

With Product Hub MCP, you can upload a file and describe what you want done. Your AI assistant reads the data, asks clarifying questions before making any changes, and then executes the right operation on each row — creating what's new, updating what exists, and flagging what it couldn't confidently resolve.

Please note: When you upload a file, your AI assistant will ask clarifying questions before taking any action — for example, confirming how a column should map to a Product Hub attribute, or flagging rows it couldn't confidently resolve. This is expected behaviour. Review the questions carefully before confirming, as changes made to product records cannot currently be undone from within the interface.

Example prompts

• "Sync this file with Product Hub."
• "Upload this supplier sheet — create any new products and update the existing ones."
• "I've uploaded a planning file with new Outerwear products. Create the new SKUs and update any existing ones you find."

Tips for writing prompts

When writing a prompt, try to include:

• The scope of products you want to work with — a catalog, category, product type, or specific SKU
• The attributes you want to read or update
• Any conditions that should apply — for example, "only products with no description" or "only active products"

Example: Less specific: "Update my product descriptions." More specific: "Write a short marketing description for every active product in the Outerwear category that currently has no description, using the name, material, and color attributes."