help-scout

The Help Scout MCP Server exposes Help Scout conversations, threads, and inbox data via the MCP standard so AI agents can search, summarize, and pull context without leaving your editor or chat client. It supports tools for listing recent tickets, keyword-based searches, retrieving full conversation history, and generating summaries. To use it, configure your MCP client to point at the server alias (for example, helpscout) and provide your Help Scout App ID and App Secret. The server will auto-discover inboxes once connected and expose inbox IDs to the AI’s prompts, enabling scoped searches as configured.

Typical usage involves authenticating with Help Scout credentials/credentials-based app, starting the MCP server, and then issuing the MCP tool calls (e.g., searchConversations to list tickets, getThreads for full histories, getConversationSummary for quick overviews). You can also enable optional PII redaction and limit searches to a specific inbox via environment variables. When integrated with Claude, Cursor, or other MCP clients, you’ll interact with the same set of tools through those clients’ interfaces, with the server handling authentication and data access behind the scenes.

Prerequisites:

• Node.js (recommended latest LTS) and npm installed on your machine
• Access to a Help Scout API app with App ID and App Secret
• Optional: Docker if you prefer containerized execution

Install from source (Node.js/npm):

1. git clone https://github.com/drewburchfield/help-scout-mcp-server.git
2. cd help-scout-mcp-server
3. npm install
4. npm run build (if a build step is defined in package.json)
5. npm start

Alternative: Run via npx (as recommended for quick starts)

1. Ensure you have npm installed
2. Run: npx help-scout-mcp-server

Docker (alternative):

1. Build/run with environment variables: docker run -e HELPSCOUT_APP_ID="your-app-id"
   -e HELPSCOUT_APP_SECRET="your-app-secret"
   drewburchfield/help-scout-mcp-server

Configuration after install:

• Create or update your MCP client config to include the server alias and credentials
• Example config snippet (in your MCP client):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "helpscout": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["help-scout-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "HELPSCOUT_APP_ID": "your-app-id",
        "HELPSCOUT_APP_SECRET": "your-app-secret"
      }
    }
  }
}

For local development, you can also run the server with environment variables defined in your shell, e.g. export HELPSCOUT_APP_ID=...; export HELPSCOUT_APP_SECRET=...; then start the server accordingly.

Environment variables: • HELPSCOUT_APP_ID and HELPSCOUT_APP_SECRET are required. Optional: HELPSCOUT_DEFAULT_INBOX_ID to scope searches to a single inbox; HELPSCOUT_BASE_URL to change the Help Scout API endpoint; REDACT_MESSAGE_CONTENT to hide bodies in responses; CACHE_TTL_SECONDS to tune cache duration; LOG_LEVEL to control verbosity.

Common issues:

• Authentication failures often mean invalid credentials or misconfigured app permissions. Double-check the App ID/Secret and that the app has Read access to Mailboxes and Conversations.
• If inbox auto-discovery isn’t returning IDs, ensure the Help Scout app is properly connected and the API credentials are valid.
• When using npx to run the server, ensure you have network access to fetch the package; if behind a proxy, configure npm accordingly.

Security note: Use OAuth2 Client Credentials as documented by Help Scout. Do not leak App ID/Secret in logs or shared configs.