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Setting up Iterable's Self-Hosted MCP Server

BETA FEATURE

Iterable's self-hosted MCP Server is currently in beta. MCP functionality may change, be suspended, or be discontinued at any time without notice. This software is provided "as is" and is open source and ready for you to experiment with. For more information, refer to Iterable Beta Terms.

See the readme file for all the details about this feature, including the latest requirements and updates.

# In this article

# Prerequisites

Before you can set up the Iterable self-hosted MCP Server, you need access to:

  • An Iterable project with permissions that allow the actions you want to perform with the MCP server. We highly recommend that you use an internal demo or sandbox project, at least for testing purposes.

  • An Iterable API key.

  • Node.js version 20 (v22 LTS recommended) or later

  • A desktop client that supports local MCP servers over standard input/output (stdio). For now, websites like chatgpt.com, gemini.google.com, and claude.ai can't connect with local MCP servers, so you need to use a desktop app to use the Iterable MCP Server (a paid license may be required).

# Configuring Iterable's self-hosted MCP Server

Follow these steps to set up Iterable's self-hosted MCP Server.

  1. Download and install your preferred AI tool (MCP client). For example:

    Follow the manual setup instructions in the readme file to setup any desktop or cli-based software that supports MCP servers.

  2. Sign in to a demo or sandbox Iterable project as an org admin or as a member that has the Manage Integrations project permission.

  3. Once your credentials are set up, run this command to download the package, configure your API key, and set up Cursor, Claude Desktop, or Claude Code:

    npx @iterable/mcp setup

    NOTE

    By default, the setup wizard configures the server in a safe, read‑only mode, (no PII tools, no writes, no sends). To selectively enable elevated capabilities, including write operations, during setup, pass npx @iterable/mcp setup --advanced, instead.

    We recommend that you test write operations in a sandbox environment before trying them in production.

  4. Ensure that you see Iterable's MCP Server running in your desktop app.

    • In Claude Desktop, go to Claude > Settings > Developer.
    • In Cursor, go to Cursor > Settings > Cursor Settings… > Tools.

    For example, in Cursor:

    Iterable's MCP Server in Cursor

  5. Ask a simple question to validate the setup, for example:

    "List my Iterable templates"

    TIP

    Some API calls return paginated results; in these cases, ask the AI to “show next page” to view the full results.

Congratulations! You've successfully set up the Iterable self-hosted MCP Server.

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