Foldsquare is an automated catalog maker, and its MCP server lets an AI assistant such as Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor use it for you. Describe what you need in plain words, for example a product catalog, a price list, a line sheet or a wholesale catalog. The assistant finds your products, builds the pages from your store data, shows a preview and publishes when you approve. You can then share the catalog as an online flipbook or download it as a PDF catalog.
This article explains what you can create, how to connect your assistant to the Foldsquare catalog maker, which actions are available and how to get good results.
What is MCP?
MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard that lets AI assistants use tools in other apps. Foldsquare runs a remote MCP server, so there is nothing to install on your computer. You add one web address to your assistant and sign in with your Foldsquare account.
What you can create with the Foldsquare catalog maker
- Product catalogs. A full catalog from a collection, or a hand-picked selection grouped by category, with SKUs, part numbers and custom fields next to each product.
- Price lists. A price list built from your store prices, refreshed from your store whenever prices change.
- Line sheets and wholesale catalogs. A wholesale catalog or line sheet with the discount you set for your wholesale buyers.
- PDF catalogs and online flipbooks. Publish an online catalog with its own link, and download the PDF catalog in a compressed version for sharing or a print version for press.
What you can do
- Find products. Search your store by name, SKU, collection, vendor, product type, tag or availability.
- Build catalogs and line sheets. Ask for a full catalog from a collection, or a hand-picked selection grouped by category.
- Edit existing catalogs. Add or remove products and pages, change the grid, rename categories, edit text, and change how each product tile looks.
- Preview pages. See any page, or the whole catalog, before anything goes public.
- Keep prices and images current. Refresh a catalog from your store, for all fields, prices only or images only.
- Publish and share. Publish, set a custom link, add a password or a lead form, and download the PDF.
- Put a catalog on your store. Embed a published catalog on a page of your Shopify or WooCommerce store.
- Read your results. View analytics and the leads collected by your catalog's lead form.
- Import products. Add products from a spreadsheet or list so they can go into a catalog, even if they are not in a connected store.
Before you start
- A Foldsquare account. The free plan works for building and previewing. Some actions depend on your plan (for example analytics and some publish options). When your plan does not include an action, the assistant tells you the reason.
- Your store connected in Foldsquare (Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Ecwid or Wix), or products imported into Foldsquare.
- An AI assistant that supports remote MCP servers.
Connect your AI assistant to the Foldsquare catalog maker
The server address (endpoint) is:
https://foldsquare.nowinstore.com/api/v1/mcp
The server uses the streamable HTTP transport. It is also listed in the official MCP Registry as com.nowinstore/foldsquare.
Claude (claude.ai and the Claude desktop app)
- Open Settings, then Connectors.
- Choose Add custom connector.
- Name it Foldsquare and paste the server address above.
- Select Connect and sign in to Foldsquare when the window opens.
- In a new chat, turn the Foldsquare connector on from the tools menu.
Claude Code
claude mcp add --transport http foldsquare https://foldsquare.nowinstore.com/api/v1/mcp
Then run /mcp inside Claude Code, select foldsquare and sign in.
Cursor
Add this to your mcp.json (Settings, then MCP), then sign in when Cursor asks:
{
"mcpServers": {
"foldsquare": {
"url": "https://foldsquare.nowinstore.com/api/v1/mcp"
}
}
}ChatGPT and other MCP clients
Any client that supports remote MCP servers over streamable HTTP can connect. Look for the option to add a custom connector or MCP server, paste the server address and sign in with your Foldsquare account. The name of the menu differs from one client to another.
Sign-in and permissions
- You sign in with your own Foldsquare account. The assistant works in that account and sees the store connected to it.
- The assistant can only reach the catalogs, products and settings that your account can reach.
- Owner-only actions, such as reading leads and embedding a catalog in your store, are available when you are signed in as the owner.
- To end access, remove the Foldsquare connector in your assistant's settings.
You approve before anything goes public
Foldsquare uses two different words on purpose. Share is for working with your team. Publish puts a catalog in front of the public.
For anything public, the assistant first shows you the catalog and the public link, and waits for your yes. This applies to:
- Publishing a draft catalog.
- Embedding a catalog on a page of your store.
Nothing is published until you confirm in the conversation.
Actions in plain words
| What you want | What the assistant does |
|---|
| Find products | Searches your store live, lists your collections and lists the vendors, types and tags you can filter by. |
| Choose a design | Shows the available templates so you pick one. The template is the whole design of the catalog. |
| Build a catalog | Checks the plan first, then creates the catalog and gives you a link to open it in the editor. |
| Edit a catalog | Adds or removes products and pages, changes the grid, edits text, headers, footers, product tiles and images. |
| See it | Opens a preview of the pages you ask for, or a live preview of the whole catalog. |
| Update it | Refreshes products, prices or images from your store. Wording you changed by hand in the catalog stays. |
| Undo | Lists restore points (kept for 30 days) and puts the catalog back to one of them. |
| Publish it | Publishes, renders the PDF, and sets the link, password, lead form, search engine visibility, click behavior and viewer look. |
| Put it on your store | Lists your store pages and embeds the catalog on the one you choose. |
| Measure it | Shows views, visitors and product clicks, and lists the leads from your lead form. |
| Bring in products | Imports products from a list or spreadsheet, up to 500 at a time. |
| Manage images | Adds an image to your image library so you can place it on a page or a product. |
Make your first catalog or price list
- Connect your assistant using the steps above.
- Ask for what you need, for example: "Build a price list from my Brake Parts collection."
- Pick a template when the assistant shows the choices.
- Give the wholesale discount if you are building a wholesale catalog or line sheet.
- Review the preview, then ask for changes in plain words.
- Say yes when the assistant asks to publish, then ask for the PDF catalog if you want to download it.
Example requests for catalogs, price lists and line sheets
- "Show me my collections, then build a price list from the Brake Parts collection."
- "Create a wholesale catalog from my Fasteners collection with 20% off for wholesale buyers."
- "Make a line sheet of my in-stock products from vendor Acme."
- "Find all in-stock products from vendor Acme with the tag clearance and put them in a one-page catalog called Clearance."
- "Show me page 2 of the Spring Line Sheet."
- "Add the Fasteners collection to the end of my Hardware catalog."
- "Update the prices in my Hardware catalog from the store."
- "Publish the Hardware catalog with the link /hardware-2026 and turn the lead form on."
- "How many views did my catalogs get in the last 30 days?"
What the assistant asks you
- Which template. The assistant always asks, because the template cannot be changed later without rebuilding the catalog.
- The wholesale discount. For a wholesale catalog or line sheet, you give the percentage off the regular price for your buyers (0 if none). The assistant does not choose it for you.
- Your confirmation. Before publishing or embedding, as described above.
Tips for good results
- Name the collection when a page is a whole collection. The catalog is built faster and the pages are titled after the collection.
- For a hand-picked selection, say how you want it grouped (for example "by brand") so the page headings make sense.
- Ask for a preview of one or two pages before a large edit, then apply it to the whole catalog.
- For large stores, ask the assistant to continue until it has covered everything. When a search is marked as partial, the assistant says so and keeps going on request.
- Open the editor link the assistant gives you after each build to fine-tune the design by hand. Close other editor tabs for the same catalog while the assistant edits, or reload them afterwards, so autosave does not overwrite its changes.
- For a different structure, such as a new page order or a new layout, ask the assistant to rebuild the catalog. Rebuilding replaces manual editor changes, so it asks you first.
Troubleshooting
The assistant does not list Foldsquare tools
Check that the connector is switched on for the current chat, and that you completed sign-in. Remove the connector, add it again with the exact address above, and start a new chat.
Sign-in window closes or loops
Sign in to Foldsquare in the same browser first (foldsquare.nowinstore.com), then connect again.
The assistant cannot find my products
Confirm your store is connected in Foldsquare. Products added with an import are not in the store, so ask the assistant to search the products stored in Foldsquare. Collection names must be matched to their ids, so ask it to list your collections first.
A publish option or analytics is refused
Some options depend on your plan or store. The reply includes the reason. See your plan under Settings in Foldsquare.
The PDF is still rendering
Large catalogs take a few minutes. The catalog link works right away, and you can ask the assistant for the PDF again a little later.
My change is missing in the editor
Reload the editor tab. An editor tab that was open during an edit saves its own version over the assistant's change.
I made a change I do not want
Ask the assistant to list the restore points of the catalog and restore the one before the change.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Foldsquare MCP?
It is a connection that lets an AI assistant such as Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor use Foldsquare, the automated catalog maker, to find products and to create, edit, preview and publish catalogs, price lists and line sheets.
How do I create a price list with an AI assistant?
Connect your assistant to the Foldsquare MCP server, ask for a price list from a collection, pick a template, review the preview and confirm when you want to publish. You can then download it as a PDF catalog.
Does the assistant change my store?
No. Edits apply to the catalog only. A price or title changed in a catalog stays in the catalog and your store keeps its own values. The assistant changes your store only to embed a published catalog on a page, and only after your confirmation.
Can the assistant delete a catalog?
It can delete a catalog when you ask it to. Restore points are kept for 30 days for catalogs you edit.
Which actions can I use?
Your Foldsquare plan decides which actions are available. When an action is not included, the assistant tells you the reason.
Related articles
- How to import or remove a collection in your catalog
- How to add, replace and remove products in your catalog
- How to reorganize your catalog