How to use EmailShepherd from your AI tool

This article shows you how to connect an AI tool to EmailShepherd, and what you can do once it’s connected.

In this article, AI tool means an AI app you chat with that can connect to other software using MCP (Model Context Protocol), such as Claude or ChatGPT. These apps are also called MCP clients.

EmailShepherd provides an MCP server, which you add to your AI tool as a connector. You can then ask your AI tool to work in EmailShepherd for you, for example:

• “Find last week’s newsletter and change the headline to ‘Autumn sale’.”
• “Create a new email in the Spring campaign project using our product launch layout.”
• “Render the German version of the welcome email so I can check it.”

Your AI tool can do anything you can do in EmailShepherd. It signs in as you, so it has the same permissions as your role.

Does it use AI credits?

No. The AI runs in your AI tool, so it’s covered by your AI tool’s plan, not by EmailShepherd AI credits.

The one exception is AI reviews. If you ask your AI tool to run an AI review, EmailShepherd runs the review and it uses an AI credit, unless your organization has connected its own AI provider.

Before you begin

• Your AI tool must support custom connectors. These are sometimes called remote MCP servers. Some AI tools only offer them on certain plans, or need a workspace admin to add them for business accounts. Check your AI tool’s documentation.
• Your organization needs an MCP App. An Admin creates this once in EmailShepherd and shares the details with you. See How to set up an MCP App.

From the person who set up the MCP App, you need:

• Server URL: https://mcp.emailshepherd.com/mcp
• Client ID
• Client Secret

Add EmailShepherd to your AI tool

The steps depend on your AI tool, but they usually look like this:

1. In your AI tool, open its connector settings and choose to add a custom connector.
2. Give the connector a name, such as “EmailShepherd”.
3. In the server URL field, enter https://mcp.emailshepherd.com/mcp.
4. Find the OAuth settings. These are often under Advanced settings. Enter the Client ID and Client Secret from your MCP App.
5. Save the connector.

For example, in Claude you add it under Settings > Connectors > Add custom connector. Check your AI tool’s documentation for its exact steps.

Sign in to EmailShepherd

The first time you use the connector, your AI tool opens EmailShepherd in your browser.

1. If you’re not already signed in, sign in to EmailShepherd with your usual account.

2. Check the list of what the app will be able to do.

   

3. Click Allow.

You go back to your AI tool, and the connector is ready. Each person who uses the connector signs in with their own account, so anything your AI tool changes is recorded as you, just like changes you make in EmailShepherd yourself.

Work with EmailShepherd in your AI tool

Ask your AI tool for what you want in plain language, and mention EmailShepherd if it isn’t obvious, e.g. “In EmailShepherd, list the emails in the Black Friday project.”

Some tips:

• Be specific about which email. Give the email’s name, project or a link to it.
• Check changes before you publish. Ask your AI tool to render a preview, or open the email in EmailShepherd to check it.
• Your role still applies. If you can’t do something in EmailShepherd, your AI tool can’t do it either. Your organization may also have limited what MCP Apps can do.

Disconnect

To stop your AI tool using EmailShepherd, remove or turn off the connector in your AI tool’s settings.