MCP Server

Let AI assistants like Claude Desktop and Cursor control Sendbound directly via the Model Context Protocol.

The Sendbound MCP server implements the Model Context Protocol, exposing every Sendbound operation as a tool that AI assistants can invoke. Once connected, Claude or Cursor can send emails, manage contacts, draft campaigns, and check delivery stats — all from natural language.

What is MCP?

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard by Anthropic that lets AI assistants securely connect to external tools and data sources. Rather than copying API responses into a chat, the AI calls tools directly and works with real-time results.

Available tools

Tool	Description
`send_email`	Send a transactional email to any recipient
`list_contacts`	List and search contacts with filters
`create_contact`	Upsert a contact by email address
`update_contact`	Update a contact's fields by ID
`delete_contact`	Permanently delete a contact
`list_campaigns`	List campaigns with optional status filter
`create_campaign`	Create a new campaign draft
`send_campaign`	Send or schedule a campaign
`get_campaign_stats`	Get delivery and engagement stats
`list_templates`	List all saved email templates
`create_template`	Create a reusable email template
`list_domains`	List domains and their verification status
`add_domain`	Add a domain and get required DNS records
`verify_domain`	Trigger a DNS check for a domain
`list_segments`	List all contact segments
`list_webhooks`	List all webhook subscriptions
`create_webhook`	Subscribe to delivery/contact events

Quick start — Claude Desktop

Get your API key from the Settings → API Keys page in the Sendbound dashboard.
Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sendbound": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@sendbound/mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "SENDBOUND_API_KEY": "sk_live_your_key_here",
        "SENDBOUND_API_URL": "https://api.sendbound.com"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop. You will see a 🔌 indicator and Sendbound in the tools list.

Quick start — Cursor

Add to .cursor/mcp.json in your project (or the global Cursor settings):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sendbound": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@sendbound/mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "SENDBOUND_API_KEY": "sk_live_your_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Self-hosted via HTTP

The MCP server also supports StreamableHTTP transport at POST /mcp, which is useful for remote agents or services that communicate over HTTP rather than spawning a local process.

Point any MCP-compatible HTTP client at:

POST https://your-mcp-server.example.com/mcp

Example interactions

Once connected, you can talk to Claude or Cursor in plain English:

"Send a welcome email to jane@example.com from hello@myapp.com"

"Show me all contacts who signed up this week"

"Create a campaign called 'May newsletter' targeting the Pro segment"

"What are the open rates on my last 5 campaigns?"

Environment variables

Variable	Required	Description
`SENDBOUND_API_KEY`	Yes	API key from the dashboard
`SENDBOUND_API_URL`	No	Base URL (default: `https://api.sendbound.com`)

Keep your API key out of source control. Use your OS keychain, a .env file (gitignored), or your secrets manager to store it.