Getting Started with Helium 10 MCP

Introduction

Welcome to Helium 10 MCP (Model Context Protocol) — your gateway to AI-powered Amazon data access. MCP lets you connect your Helium 10 account directly to AI tools like Claude, ChatGPT, and Cursor, enabling intelligent, real-time analysis of your seller data without ever leaving your AI assistant.

Instead of logging into Helium 10, navigating to a tool, exporting data, and pasting it into an AI — you simply ask a question in plain English and get an answer backed by live Helium 10 data.

Before MCP: Log into Helium 10 → Navigate to a tool → Export data → Paste into AI → Ask for analysis

With MCP: Connect once → Ask your AI assistant → Receive insights based on live data

What Is MCP?

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard that allows AI tools to connect securely to external data sources. Think of it as a secure bridge between Helium 10's powerful data and your favorite AI assistant.

When you ask your AI a question, here's what happens behind the scenes:

1. You ask a question — type your request in Claude, ChatGPT Codex, or another AI tool
2. The AI reads your query — it decides which Helium 10 data tool(s) to call
3. Secure data retrieval — your Helium 10 account is authenticated via OAuth 2.0; the AI never sees your credentials
4. Data is returned — Helium 10's servers send the requested data securely
5. Analysis & response — the AI interprets the data and provides insights in plain language

Who Should Use MCP?

Real-World Examples

Here are the kinds of questions you can ask directly in your AI assistant:

• "What keywords is ASIN B0XXXXXXXX ranking for right now in the US?"
• "Find high-potential products in the yoga mat category with over 500 monthly sales and less than 200 reviews."
• "Which of my products had the lowest net margin this month?"
• "Compare the keyword strategy of these three competitor ASINs."
• "Expand on the seed keyword 'stainless steel water bottle' and show me the top 20 by search volume."
• "What are the top search terms for my brand in Amazon Brand Analytics?"
• "Which of my FBA products have the worst inventory health right now?"
• "Show me my campaign performance broken down by ad group for last month."
• "List all my products and show me the advertising performance for my [XXXXXX] brand."
• "Show me how many units of my [XXXXXX] product sold last month."
• "What are the competing products for my [XXXXXX] product? Compare them against mine."
• "Find my [XXXXXX] product by name and pull the full P&L breakdown for the last quarter."

What Can the Helium 10 MCP Do?

The integration covers six major areas of Amazon seller intelligence, powered by 34 tools.

Keyword Research

Discover, expand, and score keywords for your listings and PPC campaigns.

• Seed keyword expansion (Magnet) — Start with one keyword and get a full list of related long-tail phrases with search volume, CPC, IQ score, CPR, title density, and Amazon Brand Analytics data
• Reverse ASIN lookup (Cerebro) — Enter any ASIN and see every keyword it ranks for organically, via sponsored ads, or through Amazon's recommendation engine, along with rank positions and metrics
• Batch keyword analysis — Score and enrich up to 200 keywords at once, useful for finalizing a set before launching a campaign or updating a listing

Product Research

Identify product opportunities and evaluate listing quality.

• Query your seller-owned products — List and search all your products by brand, product name, ASIN, or SKU to transition from vague product queries to precise results
• Search for active Amazon products using filters like category, revenue, BSR, review count, and more (Black Box)
• Search inactive or delisted products for market research
• Analyze any listing's content and receive a quality audit score
• Compare multiple listings side by side to identify gaps and opportunities

Rank Tracking

Monitor how your keywords and competitors' keywords perform over time.

• Pull rank history for any tracked keyword
• Get new keyword suggestions based on your current tracked set
• View your full Keyword Tracker list
• See how competitors rank for the same keywords you're tracking

Listing Analysis

Evaluate listing quality and keyword coverage.

• Get full listing details and a quality audit score for any ASIN
• Compare multiple listings to surface gaps and opportunities
• Identify keyword coverage weaknesses against competitors

Profit Analytics

Understand the financial health of your business at any level.

• View P&L summaries, breakdowns, and trend lines — for your entire account or individual products
• Track sales velocity (units sold over time) by day, week, or month
• Check FBA inventory health including days of supply and inventory value
• Get current inventory quantity metrics by fulfillment type

Advertising Data

Query your Amazon (and Walmart) ad data at any level of granularity.

The ad analytics feature works as a structured five-step workflow: select a platform → explore the data hierarchy → view the query schema → look up specific campaigns → run the query. This lets you analyze performance at the profile, campaign, ad group, or target level with custom filters and aggregations.

Full Tool Reference

How to Connect MCP

Before You Start

• Helium 10 Elite plan or higher
  • Note: The Elite Add-On does not grant you access. All Diamond and above plans will have access to the MCP in mid-to-late July without needing to have the Elite Add-On.
• A supported AI tool: Claude (Web or Desktop), ChatGPT Codex, or Cursor

Setup Steps (OAuth — Recommended)

OAuth is the easiest and most secure method. Your AI tool opens a browser window for you to log in once, and everything else happens automatically.

1. Open your AI tool settings:
   • Claude Web → Customize → Connectors
   • Claude Desktop → Customize → Connected Applications
   • Cursor → Settings → Features → MCP
2. Search for "Helium 10 MCP" in available connectors
3. Click Connect or Add to initiate the connection
4. Authorize in browser — enter your Helium 10 credentials
5. Choose the appropriate account and click Continue to approve

Setup Steps (Manual Configuration)

If you prefer to add the Helium 10 MCP connector manually, follow these steps:

Claude (Web or Desktop)

1. Open Claude Settings
   • Go to claude.ai and sign in
   • Click your name/initials in the bottom-left corner → Settings
2. Go to Connectors
   • In the Settings menu, click the Connectors tab
3. Add a custom connector
   • Scroll to the bottom and click Add custom connector
   • (If this button is missing on a company account, your admin needs to enable it)
4. Enter the connector details
   • Name: Helium 10 MCP
   • Remote MCP server URL: https://mcp.helium10.com/mcp
   • Click Add
5. Connect and sign in
   • The Helium 10 MCP connector now appears in your list
   • Click Connect, then complete the Helium 10 sign-in / OAuth prompt and authorize access
6. Enable it in a chat
   • Open a new chat
   • Click the tools/connector icon (the search-and-tools menu near the message box)
   • Make sure Helium 10 MCP is toggled on
7. Test it
   • Ask Claude something that uses Helium 10 data, e.g.: "Use Helium 10 MCP to pull keywords for ASIN B0XXXXXXXX."
   • If it returns data, you're connected

Codex App

1. Open Codex and go to Settings
2. Open MCP Servers
3. Click Add your own, Add server, or Connect to a custom MCP
4. For the server type, choose: Streamable HTTP
5. Enter the server details:
   • Name: Helium 10 MCP
   • URL: https://mcp.helium10.com/mcp
6. Leave all optional fields blank, including headers, bearer token, OAuth client ID, OAuth secret, and scopes
7. Click Save or Connect
8. Authenticate: After saving, Codex should show an Authenticate button next to the Helium 10 MCP server
9. Click Authenticate, then complete the Helium 10 login and authorization flow in the browser
10. After authentication finishes, return to Codex and start a new chat or refresh the current one
11. Test the connection with: "Use Helium 10 MCP to analyze keywords for an Amazon ASIN."

If The Authenticate Button Does Not Appear:

• Go to a Codex chat and type: "Use Helium 10 MCP to connect my Helium 10 account via OAuth."

Managing Your Connection

Once connected, you can view and revoke active MCP sessions at any time:

Helium 10 → Settings → MCP → Authorized AI Clients Management

What MCP Can and Cannot Do

✅ What MCP Can Do

• Pull live data from your Helium 10 account using the same data the dashboard displays
• Work with popular AI tools: Claude, ChatGPT Codex, and Cursor
• Authenticate securely via OAuth 2.0 — the AI never sees your credentials
• Access and analyze data across all six capability areas listed above

❌ What MCP Cannot Do (Current Release)

Important Data Limitations

Best Practices

Writing Good Prompts

Be specific:

• ❌ "Find keywords"
• ✅ "Find keywords that ASIN B0XXXXXXXX is ranking for in the US marketplace"

Always use ASINs, not other identifiers:

• Use the 10-character Amazon product identifier (e.g., B0XXXXXXXX)
• Do not use SKU, UPC, EAN, or GTIN — these won't work

Specify the marketplace:

• The default is the US marketplace
• Say "…for the UK marketplace" or "…on Amazon Germany" when needed

Combine tools in one request:

• You can ask Claude to pull data from multiple tools and synthesize it. For example: "Find the top keywords for ASIN B0XXXXXXXX and then score them alongside these 10 keywords I already use."

Ask for interpretation, not just data:

• Claude can go beyond reporting numbers — ask it to explain what the data means, suggest next steps, or highlight risks

Use follow-up questions:

• Within the same conversation, Claude retains context from earlier tool calls. You can ask things like: "Now show me rank history for the top 5 keywords from that list."

Use list_my_products to find your products first:

• ❌ "How much did I sell last month?" (too vague)
• ✅ "List all my yoga mat products, then show me sales for the top seller." (specific ASIN after lookup)

This is especially useful when you don't have an ASIN handy but know your product name or brand.

Avoid low-cost AI models:

• Use higher-cost models such as Sonnet and Opus, and avoid the use of lower-cost models such as Haiku and Instant

Performance Tips

• Keep queries specific to reduce response time
• Only request the fields and timeframes you need
• Space out large queries to avoid hitting monthly rate limits
• Simple queries take 2–5 seconds; complex multi-step reports take 5–15 seconds
• For batch keyword analysis, split lists larger than 200 keywords into multiple requests

Frequently Asked Questions

Is MCP included in my plan? Yes. MCP is a free feature for all Helium 10 Elite plan members and above, with no additional fees.

Which AI tools support MCP? Any MCP-compatible client works with Helium 10. Currently tested and supported: Claude (Web & Desktop), ChatGPT Codex, and Cursor.

How many API calls does one question use? It varies by complexity. A simple query uses 1–2 calls; a report with analysis uses 2–5 calls; complex multi-step research uses 5–15 calls. A typical conversation with 5–10 questions uses 15–50 API calls total. Your monthly limit is 1,000 calls.

Why does my data look different between MCP and the Helium 10 dashboard? Possible causes include data freshness (pipelines updated at different times), metric definitions (parent vs. child ASIN level), currency units (some values are in cents), or filters applied differently. Check your filters and timestamps first. If data consistently looks wrong, contact Helium 10 support.

Why is my ASIN showing no data? Common reasons: the ASIN doesn't exist in Helium 10 for that marketplace, it hasn't been added to Keyword Tracker yet (for tracker tools), the product has been inactive for 360+ days, the ASIN format is incorrect (must be exactly 10 characters), or your plan doesn't include the requested data type.

What does "permission denied" mean? Some features require specific plan levels or program enrollment. Amazon Brand Analytics (ABA) requires Elite plan AND Brand Registry. Keyword sales data requires Platinum+ for North America only. If you believe you should have access, try reconnecting MCP or contact Helium 10 support.

Why am I not seeing advertising data? To access advertising data through MCP, your ad profiles must be set to "Manage" mode in Helium 10 Ads. Read-only or unconnected profiles will not expose ad data to MCP.

To enable Manage mode:

1. Go to Helium 10 Ads in your account
2. Open Settings for the relevant ad profile
3. Switch the profile to "Manage" mode

⚠️ Important: Profiles set to Manage mode will incur a 2% fee on all ad spend within that account. Review your ad spend carefully before enabling this setting. For full details, see Helium 10 Ads Settings.

Why is Keyword Tracker showing "null" or "none" for rank values? This means the ASIN isn't currently ranked in that surface (organic or sponsored). For example, products without active Sponsored Ads campaigns will show null for sponsored rank. This is expected behavior, not an error.

Can MCP make changes to my listings or campaigns? No. MCP V1 is strictly read-only — it retrieves and analyzes data only. All write actions (listing updates, bid adjustments, campaign creation) must be performed in Helium 10 or Seller Central. Write capabilities are planned for a future release.

Is my data safe? Does the AI store it? Helium 10 uses OAuth 2.0 (the same standard used by banking apps), so the AI never receives your Helium 10 credentials. How your data is handled after retrieval is governed by your AI provider's privacy policy (e.g., Anthropic's Privacy Policy for Claude).

Why did the AI return different numbers for the same question asked twice? The AI likely called the tool again and retrieved slightly updated data if Helium 10's pipeline refreshed between requests. This is expected. If you need consistent numbers for comparison within a session, reference earlier results explicitly in your follow-up message.

My MCP connection stopped working. How do I fix it? For OAuth connections: disconnect and reconnect to refresh your OAuth token. Go to Helium 10 → Settings → MCP → Authorized AI Clients Management to manage or revoke connections.

Can I use MCP across multiple Helium 10 accounts? Each MCP connection is tied to one account. You'll need to set up a separate connection for each account you want to use with MCP.

What if Claude returns no results for my query? This usually means the ASIN or keyword wasn't found in Helium 10's database, the marketplace isn't supported for that tool, or there's a connectivity issue. Try rephrasing your question, specifying the marketplace explicitly, or verifying the ASIN format (must be exactly 10 characters).

Getting Help

• Helium 10 Support: kb.helium10.com or Contact Support
• Claude Support: support.claude.com
• Manage MCP Connections: Helium 10 → Settings → MCP → Authorized AI Clients Management