MCP overview

AffiliateRail runs a hosted MCP server. MCP (Model Context Protocol) is the standard way an AI agent plugs into another app. You can connect Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code or Codex.

Once it's connected, say "set up my affiliate program". Your agent works through the setup steps with you, from your commission rate to the tracking tag in your code.

After that, you run the program in plain language. For example, ask:

• "Who are my top partners this month?"
• "Which commissions over $50 are waiting?"
• "Why did this payout fail?"

It can act too. You confirm every change first.

Server URL: https://mcp.affiliaterail.com/mcp Included in: every plan, the free trial included.

Why it exists

The dashboard answers the questions we predicted. An assistant answers the ones we didn't:

• "Compare my top five partners' revenue this quarter with last."
• "Which idle partners earned money before June?"
• "Summarise what happened in the program this week."

The server gives the model live access to your data, limited to the scopes you allow. So those answers come from your ledger, the record of every sale and commission in your program.

Amounts come back as integer minor units (cents, for dollars) with the currency and a formatted string. The assistant is told to quote the formatted one, so you read amounts like $42.00.

How connecting works

You don't paste a key anywhere.

1. Add the server address to your agent.
2. AffiliateRail opens in your browser.
3. Sign in the way you always do, and press Allow.

The agent gets a short-lived token. Each connection is listed under Settings, API keys, Connected agents, named after the app that asked. Press Disconnect and that one agent stops on its next request. The rest carry on.

Connect your assistant or editor has the steps for each app, including the one-click installs.

What it can and can't do

There are 44 tools.

• 22 tools read. They cover the setup guide, the payment and install checks, and docs search. They also read your partners, customers, commissions, revenue and payouts, plus your rules, risk flags, resources and messages.
• 22 tools write. They change program settings, branding, commission rules, groups, and partner links and coupons. They can also clear the demo data and work the review queues. The rest cover invites, risk flags, the resources shelf and campaigns.

Two resources describe your program and the webhook event catalogue, and the tool reference lists every tool and resource with its inputs.

Before any write applies, the server sends back a confirmation card. It shows ids resolved to the names you recognise, amounts formatted, and a field-level list of what would change. The assistant shows you the card and repeats the call as confirmed only once you agree. So "approve com_x93" reads as "$42.00 to Maria Alvarez, matured 28 Aug" before it happens.

The limits are on purpose. Whatever you allowed, no tool moves money, makes credentials, deletes partners or customers, or touches billing. An assistant holding your token can't move funds, because AffiliateRail never holds any: payouts run on your own PayPal or Wise account and aren't on this surface.

Your audit log records who changed what. Every write the server performs lands there, named as the assistant's connection. Security explains the whole model.

The skill: the same answers, with or without a connection

A skill is a set of instructions and reference files that Claude loads when a topic matches. The AffiliateRail skill teaches Claude how to run an affiliate program well. It covers commission design, terms, recruiting and fraud. It also covers the tax-form and payout mechanics, and how to combine these tools into answers.

Unconnected, it's a competent advisor. Connected, it reads your live program. Recipes shows the question-to-tools sequences it uses.