MCP server Rubik Combined Listings Swatch
The MCP server lets AI assistants like Claude work with your combined listings. Once connected, you can simply ask your assistant to do things like "combine my three Aurora hoodies into one listing with color swatches" or "hide out-of-stock swatches storewide", and it happens in your store, using the same reliable operations as the app itself.
MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard supported by Claude and a growing number of AI tools. Rubik Combined Listings Swatch ships a built-in MCP server, so there is nothing to install: you create a connection token in the app and add it to your assistant.
What you can do with it
You talk to your assistant in plain language, and it carries out the work in your store using the same reliable operations as the app itself. Here is the full range, grouped by task. Every quoted line below is something you can actually say.
Understand your store and setup
Ask about your plan and usage, read your shop-wide settings, list your combined listings, and open any one in full detail. When you open a group, its products (titles, prices, stock status, images) are fetched live from Shopify, so what you see is current, not a stale copy.
How many combined listings do I have, and how many more can I create on my plan?
Show me the Aurora Hoodie group with all its products.
Which of my groups are turned off right now?
Find products
Search your catalog the same way Shopify does: plain terms, or filters like vendor, tag, status, and title. This is how the assistant gathers the products to combine into a listing.
Find all my hoodies.
Search for active products tagged summer.
Build combined listings
Create a new product group from the products you name. Each product becomes one swatch with its own option value (like "Red") and an optional swatch color. New listings count against your plan's group limit, and the assistant checks that first.
Combine the red, blue, and black Aurora hoodies into one listing with a Color option and matching swatch colors.
Group your whole catalog at once
Instead of building groups one by one, the assistant can scan your entire catalog and detect groups automatically: by splitting product titles (like "Summer Shorts - Red"), by RUBIK:: tags, or by a shared metafield. It first shows you a preview (how many groups it found, their names, and how many your plan still has room for), and only creates them after you confirm. Creation runs in the background and you get a summary email when it finishes; the assistant can check progress for you.
Scan my catalog and group products whose titles look like "Name - Color", then show me what you found before creating anything.
Go ahead and create all of those groups, then tell me when the job is done.
Edit and organize groups
Add or remove products, rename the group or the option label shoppers see, change swatch colors, reorder groups, and turn a group on or off. You can also delete a group, though the assistant always asks you to confirm first, because deletion cannot be undone.
Add the green Aurora hoodie to that group.
Rename the "Color" option to "Shade" on the Aurora group.
Turn off the Boot Mini group for now.
Style the swatches
Change how a group's swatches look: size, shape (from square to circle), spacing, borders, labels, price display, grid or carousel layout, image or button swatches, and much more. Styling is set per device (desktop and mobile) and per placement (product pages and product cards). The assistant can read a built-in reference of every visual setting and every custom CSS variable, so it knows the exact options and safe values before it changes anything.
Make the swatches on the Aurora group round and a little larger on desktop.
Show the price under each swatch on product cards.
Once one group looks right, the assistant can copy its styling to your other groups, so you style once instead of repeating the same settings everywhere. Only the look is copied: each group keeps its own products, names, order, and visibility. It runs in the background and you get a summary email when it finishes.
Copy the styling from my Aurora group to all my other groups.
Configure app-wide settings
Change any setting from the app's Settings page: where swatches appear (product pages, cards, featured products), out-of-stock behavior, sorting, image sizes, hover and performance options, custom CSS, and Search & Discovery filter sync. Updates are partial, so the assistant changes only what you ask and leaves everything else untouched.
Hide out-of-stock swatches across my whole store.
Turn on product-card swatches and push out-of-stock ones to the end.
Everything it can do, at a glance
These are the exact capabilities your assistant sees when it connects. Read capabilities only look; write capabilities change your store and appear on the storefront immediately.
| Capability | What it does | Access |
|---|---|---|
| Shop info get_shop_info | Your plan, product-group usage vs your limit, whether the app is active, and your language. | Read |
| App settings get_shop_settings | Every shop-wide setting and its current value. | Read |
| List groups list_product_groups | Your combined listings with name, status, and product count. Supports filtering and paging. | Read |
| Group details get_product_group | One group in full, with products fetched live from Shopify and, on request, its complete visual settings. | Read |
| Search products search_products | Live product search using Shopify's search syntax (terms, vendor, tag, status, title). | Read |
| Create group create_product_group | Combine products into a new listing with swatches, option values, and colors. | Write |
| Update group update_product_group | Edit membership, names, swatch colors, order, visibility, and visual styling. | Write |
| Delete group delete_product_group | Permanently remove a group and its swatches. Always confirmed with you first. | Write |
| Copy styling copy_group_settings | Copy one group's visual styling to specific groups or all others. Products, names, order, and visibility are kept. Runs in the background. | Write |
| Preview auto-grouping analyze_bulk_groups | Scan the whole catalog and detect groups by title, tags, or metafield. Returns a preview only; changes nothing. | Read |
| Create groups in bulk create_bulk_groups | Create the previewed groups (all or a chosen subset) in the background. Always confirmed with you first. | Write |
| Bulk job status get_bulk_job_status | Check progress of a bulk creation job: how many groups are done, failed, and any errors. | Read |
| Update settings update_shop_settings | Change any shop-wide setting. Partial: only the settings you name change. | Write |
Alongside these, the assistant can read two built-in reference documents so its changes are accurate:
- Visual settings reference: every appearance setting, its allowed values, and its default, across the four contexts (product page and product card, on desktop and mobile).
- Custom CSS reference: the full list of --rcl-* CSS variables (100+), each with its default and what it controls.
Example conversations
Create a combined listing
You: "Combine my red, blue, and black Aurora hoodies into one listing with color swatches."
Claude searches your catalog, confirms the three products it found, creates the group with a Color option and matching swatch colors, and tells you the new group is live. The swatches appear on those product pages right away.
Restyle a group's swatches
You: "Make the Aurora group's swatches circular and show the price underneath."
Claude reads the group's current styling and the visual-settings reference, changes only the shape and price-display options (keeping everything else exactly as it was), and saves. The storefront updates immediately.
Tune settings across the store
You: "Hide out-of-stock swatches everywhere and sort swatches alphabetically."
Claude flips those two settings and leaves the rest of your configuration untouched, then confirms what changed.
Read-only or full access
You choose the access level for each connection, and you can keep several connections with different levels.
- Read-only can view everything: your setup, settings, groups, products, and styling. It can never change anything. Ideal for reporting, audits, or just letting an assistant explore safely.
- Full access can do everything read-only can, plus create, edit, and delete groups and change settings. Every change goes live on your storefront immediately, exactly as if you had made it in the app.
Create a connection
1Open the MCP server page
In the app, open MCP server from the navigation menu, then select Create connection.
2Name it and choose the access level
Give the connection a name you will recognize later (for example "Claude on my laptop"). Then pick the access level:
- Read-only: the assistant can look at your groups, settings, and products, but can never change anything. A safe way to start.
- Full access: the assistant can also create, edit, and delete product groups and change app settings.
3Copy your token
The token is shown only once, right after you create the connection. Copy it and store it somewhere safe. If you lose it, revoke the connection and create a new one.
Connect your assistant
Claude Code (terminal)
Paste the ready-made command from the app, or build it yourself:
Claude Desktop
Claude Desktop connects to HTTP MCP servers through a small local proxy. Add this to your claude_desktop_config.json (Settings → Developer → Edit config), then restart Claude Desktop:
The token is passed via the env value (note: no space around the colon in the --header argument). This form avoids a known Claude Desktop on Windows bug where spaces inside arguments get mangled.
claude.ai custom connectors
claude.ai custom connectors currently authenticate with OAuth only, so they cannot use these bearer tokens yet. OAuth support for one-click setup is planned. For now, use Claude Code or any MCP client that accepts a custom header (below).
Other MCP clients
Any client that supports MCP over Streamable HTTP with a custom Authorization header works. Use the server URL https://rubikswatch.com/mcp and send Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN with each request.
Tip: once connected, start by asking your assistant something like "What can you do with my combined listings?" or "How many product groups do I have?" to confirm everything works.
Good to know
- One store per connection. A token only ever works with the store it was created in.
- Changes are immediate. A full-access change appears on your live storefront right away, the same as making it in the app.
- Current data. Product searches and opening a group read straight from Shopify, so titles, prices, and stock status are accurate at that moment.
- Deletion is always confirmed. The assistant will not permanently remove a group without your explicit go-ahead.
- Generous per-store limits. Connections are rate limited per store so an assistant can never overload your setup. Everyday use never hits the limits; if a rapid burst does, the assistant simply pauses briefly and continues.
- Focused scope. The assistant works within Combined Listings: your product groups, swatches, and this app's settings. It does not reach into the rest of your Shopify admin.
- Works alongside the app. Anything an assistant changes shows up in the app's screens too, and vice versa. You can keep editing in the app whenever you prefer.
Security
- Per-store tokens. A token only ever gives access to the store it was created in.
- Shown once, stored hashed. We keep only a cryptographic hash of your token; nobody (including us) can read it back.
- Read-only by default. Full access is an explicit choice when you create a connection.
- Revoke anytime. Revoking a connection takes effect immediately; assistants using that token stop working on the spot.
- Deletion is confirmed. Assistants must confirm with you before permanently deleting a product group.
- Rate limits. Connections are rate limited per store, so a misbehaving assistant cannot overload your setup.
- Uninstall safety. If you uninstall the app, every connection stops working automatically.
Troubleshooting
- Authentication errors: the token was mistyped, expired, or revoked. Create a new connection and update your assistant with the new token.
- "Rate limit exceeded" messages: the assistant is calling faster than the per-store limits allow. It should wait the indicated number of seconds and retry; no action needed from you.
- "Plan limit reached" when creating groups: your plan's product group limit is used up. The message includes a link to upgrade.
- Shopify API errors right after a long break: open the app once in your Shopify admin, then try again.
Not supported yet
- claude.ai custom connectors. They require OAuth, which these bearer tokens do not use yet. One-click OAuth setup is planned. For now, connect with Claude Code, Claude Desktop, or any client that accepts a custom header.
- Some app features aren't exposed to assistants yet, including translations, CSV import of groups, and exporting. If you would use any of these through an assistant, tell us and we will prioritize them.
Questions or ideas for new assistant capabilities? Contact support, we would love to hear how you use it.