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Help Scout MCP Server

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Connect AI assistants to your Help Scout tickets, customers, and knowledge base
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★ 46 Stars Category · Other Popular
67FMRS · C

A mature community-built Help Scout integration: 55 read operations covering conversations, customers, organizations, reports, and Docs via a three-tool gateway design that avoids schema overload. Writes are off by default and tiered (customer-visible operations require two flags plus explicit confirmation), with redaction, rate-limit retry, and optional inbox scoping. Documentation is thorough and installs are available via npm, Docker, and MCPB, but it is a third-party implementation, not an official Help Scout product.

Reliability
9/20
Security and permissions
15/20
Maintenance
12/20
Documentation
17/20
Setup experience
14/20
Read the FMRS scoring method →

An MCP server for Help Scout that gives AI assistants direct access to inboxes, conversations, customers, organizations, threads, and the Docs knowledge base, with full read coverage (55 operations across the Mailbox and Docs APIs) plus opt-in writes (draft replies, internal notes, tags, status, assignment, snooze) that are off by default. It keeps the advertised tool surface compact via a three-tool gateway (search/describe/read) and supports message content redaction and scoped inbox access. Auth uses Help Scout OAuth2 Client Credentials; MIT licensed; installable via npm (npx), Docker, or a Claude Desktop extension (.mcpb).

Tools

search_help_scout
Find Help Scout operations by intent (e.g., 'customer conversation history', 'happiness report').
describe_help_scout
Load the full input schemas for the operations you selected.
read_help_scout
Execute one operation, e.g., getThreads, searchConversations, searchCustomersByEmail, and other read operations.
write_help_scout
Optional write tool (operator-enabled) carrying 11 tier-1 conversation operations; customer-visible operations (sendReply, publishDraft) need an extra flag plus explicit confirmation.

Setup

  1. In Help Scout, go to My Apps > Create Private App and copy the App ID and App Secret. 2a. Claude Desktop/Cowork: download the latest .mcpb from Releases, double-click to install, enter credentials in extension settings, and restart. 2b. Claude Code: run claude mcp add helpscout --env HELPSCOUT_APP_ID=... --env HELPSCOUT_APP_SECRET=... -- npx -y help-scout-mcp-server. 2c. Other MCP clients (Cursor, VS Code, etc.): add npx [email protected] with the env vars to your mcpServers config. 2d. Docker: docker run with HELPSCOUT_APP_ID and HELPSCOUT_APP_SECRET env vars. Optionally set HELPSCOUT_DOCS_API_KEY for Docs tools and HELPSCOUT_ENABLE_WRITES=true for writes.
claude_desktop_config.json
{"mcpServers":{"helpscout":{"command":"npx","args":["[email protected]"],"env":{"HELPSCOUT_APP_ID":"your-app-id","HELPSCOUT_APP_SECRET":"your-app-secret","HELPSCOUT_DOCS_API_KEY":"optional-docs-api-key"}}}}

Fit and risk

Best for

  • Support teams using Help Scout who want AI assistants (especially Claude) to query tickets, customers, and knowledge base quickly
  • Engineers who want customer context without leaving their editor or chat window
  • Security-conscious teams needing read-by-default, auditable opt-in writes

Not for

  • Teams not using Help Scout as their help desk
  • Environments unwilling to grant AI access to support data
  • Users expecting out-of-the-box email sending, deletes, or admin config writes (deliberately not exposed)

Required permissions

  • Help Scout OAuth2 App ID and App Secret (required; authenticates as the creating user with their permissions)
  • Optional: HELPSCOUT_DEFAULT_INBOX_ID to scope searches
  • Optional: HELPSCOUT_DOCS_API_KEY for Docs knowledge base tools
  • Optional: HELPSCOUT_ENABLE_WRITES and HELPSCOUT_ENABLE_CUSTOMER_VISIBLE_WRITES for write operations

Risks and side effects

  • AI can access all support data (conversation content, customer and organization info); credential leakage risks data exposure
  • Message content is included by default; REDACT_MESSAGE_CONTENT is not a compliance boundary and does not remove all customer identifiers
  • When writes are enabled, the server can modify conversation status, tags, assignments, etc.; tier-2 operations (sendReply/publishDraft) email customers and require care despite confirmation mechanisms
  • Help Scout OAuth2 has no separate scope selection; the app acts with the creator's permissions, so shared credentials widen impact

Troubleshooting

  1. Authentication failed: verify credentials with curl against api.helpscout.net/v2/oauth2/token
  2. Empty search results: searchConversations is the single search tool (use contentTerms/subjectTerms for keywords); check inbox IDs from server instructions rather than guessing; broaden terms or time range
  3. Tools missing in Cowork: update the desktop app to the latest version and start a fresh session
  4. Need more detail: run with LOG_LEVEL=debug

Use cases

Search conversations by keyword, status, tag, email domain, or ticket number
Look up customers by name or email and pull contact channels
Inspect organizations, their members, and support history
Pull full thread history before drafting a reply
Search and retrieve Docs knowledge base articles
Pull reports and metadata (company, channels, productivity, happiness, users, teams)
Monitor inbox activity across multiple inboxes with optional redaction

Supported clients

Claude DesktopFull support
Claude CodeFull support
CursorFull support
VS CodeFull support
WindsurfFull support
Continue.devFull support
GooseFull support
Claude CoworkFull support
CodexFull support
Gemini CLIFull support
OpenCodeFull support