Integrations

Set up and run your program from your assistant

A hosted MCP server. Your assistant can set up your affiliate program with you, then help you run it in plain language. It has 44 tools: 22 read and 22 write. Every change shows you a confirmation card first. You sign in and press Allow, so there's no key to paste. Nothing touches payouts or moves money. It's on every plan, the trial too.

Published 3 September 2026. Every claim on this page was read off the documentation linked below on 3 September 2026. Written by Jimi Barkway, who built AffiliateRail. Jimi has run affiliate programs from both sides of the link. Corrections go to support@affiliaterail.com.

01 Setup

How does an assistant set up my program?

Paste the address into your assistant. Sign in to AffiliateRail and press Allow. Then say "set up my affiliate program".

It works through your Getting started steps with you. It sets your commission rule, adds the tracking tag to your code and checks it's live. It invites your first partner and sets your branding. Connecting Stripe stays your click. It hands you the link.

The setup, step by step

setup_guide
Says which steps are done and which tool does the next one. The assistant calls it again after each step.
get_install_instructions, then check_install
The exact tag for your framework, then a check that it's on your live page.
payment_connection_status
The link you open to connect Stripe. An assistant can't click it for you.

02 Tools

What can an assistant do with it?

Ask who your top partners are this month, which commissions wait for approval, who has gone quiet, why a payout failed. The 22 read tools cover setup, partners, commissions, revenue, reports, payouts, risk, messaging and the docs.

The 22 write tools act with your yes. They set up the program: settings, branding, commission rules, groups, partner links, coupons and removing sample data. They also work the review queues, invite partners and send campaigns.

What is on the surface

22 read tools
setup_guide, check_install, top_partners, pending_commissions, payout_status, search_docs and the rest.
22 write tools
Settings, branding, commission rules, groups, links, coupons, sample data, the review queues and campaigns.
Two resources
program://current and catalog://events.

03 Connecting

How does it connect without a key?

You press Connect. AffiliateRail opens in your browser. You sign in the way you always do and press Allow. The assistant gets a short-lived token that lasts an hour and refreshes on its own. You never see or paste a key.

Each assistant is listed under Settings, API keys, Connected agents. Press Disconnect and it stops on its next request. Removing the connector in your assistant ends its access too.

# Claude Code
claude mcp add --transport http affiliaterail \
  https://mcp.affiliaterail.com/mcp

# Codex
codex mcp add affiliaterail --url https://mcp.affiliaterail.com/mcp
codex mcp login affiliaterail

Claude Code or Codex. Both open the same Allow screen.

04 Boundaries

What can it never touch?

Moving money: payout batches, payout connections, bank details. Minting credentials: API keys, webhook secrets (a webhook is AffiliateRail calling your server when something happens), domain settings. Deleting partners, customers or programs. Billing and team roles. None of it is on the surface, whatever you allowed.

A connected assistant can't move funds, because AffiliateRail never holds any. Every change shows a card first. Every write it makes lands in your audit log, named as the assistant's connection.

Never on the surface

Payouts
No payout batches, payout connections or bank details.
Credentials
No API keys, webhook secrets or domain settings.
Deletes
No deleting partners, customers or programs.

Step by step

Connected in about a minute

The address is https://mcp.affiliaterail.com/mcp. It's part of every plan, the free trial included.

Add the connector
Claude: Settings, Connectors, Add custom connector, with the address. ChatGPT: Settings, Apps, Developer mode, Create app, OAuth. In Cursor or VS Code, use the one-click install in the docs. In Claude Code or Codex, run the commands above.
Sign in, then press Allow
AffiliateRail opens in your browser behind your normal sign-in. Nothing is created until you press Allow.
Keep writes on needs approval
Leave the read tools on Always allow. Keep every write tool on Needs approval, so you confirm each change.
Say: set up my affiliate program
It walks the setup steps with you. Once you're live, ask who went quiet or who to pay this month.

Start your affiliate program Read the MCP overview in the docs

14 days free, no card. The steps above are the whole setup.

Said plainly

What it does, and does not do

Both lists are read off the same docs pages as everything else here.

It does

Sets up your program
Settings, branding, commission rules, groups, links, coupons, the tracking tag and its check.
Reads your live program
Answers come from your ledger, not the model's memory. Numbers arrive formatted as money.
Shows a card before every change
Names resolved, amounts formatted, a list of what would change. Nothing applies until you agree.
Connects with OAuth 2.1 and PKCE
Dynamic client registration, one-hour access tokens, thirty-day refresh tokens, audience-bound.
Attributes every write
The audit log names the assistant's connection, with before and after state.
Comes with a skill
The AffiliateRail skill teaches Claude how to run a program well, connected or not.

It does not

Move money
Payout batches, connections and bank details are not on the surface. There is no money here to move.
Connect Stripe for you
It hands you the link. You open it and connect Stripe yourself.
Mint credentials
No API keys, webhook secrets or domain settings over MCP.
Delete partners, customers or programs
The dashboard, with a signed-in human, is the only place.

Questions

Common questions

Which assistants work?

Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, VS Code and anything that speaks MCP over streamable HTTP. The address is https://mcp.affiliaterail.com/mcp.

Can an assistant set up my affiliate program?

Yes. Connect it and say "set up my affiliate program". It works through your Getting started steps with you. You still open the Stripe link yourself.

Is it safe to give an assistant access?

Every write shows you a confirmation card first, and nothing applies until you say yes. Nothing touches payouts. It can't move money, because AffiliateRail never holds any.

Is the MCP server on every plan?

Yes, the free trial included.

How do I disconnect one assistant?

Settings, API keys, Connected agents. Press Disconnect next to it and it stops on its next request. Removing the connector in your assistant ends its access too.

Sources

Where these facts come from

Every claim on this page was read off the product's own documentation on the date shown. The docs change with the product, and then this page is behind until we fix it. Email support@affiliaterail.com and we will correct it and move the date.

MCP overview: what it can and cannot do, setup by agent, connecting in a minutechecked 14 September 2026
Connect your assistant: Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, VS Code and Claude Code, setting up a program with an agent, Connected agentschecked 14 September 2026
Tool reference: the 22 read tools, the 22 write tools, the two resourceschecked 14 September 2026
Security: OAuth 2.1 with PKCE, scopes, short-lived tokens, the boundaries that never movechecked 14 September 2026
Set up with an AI assistant: the setup steps an agent works throughchecked 14 September 2026

Start

Fourteen days of the full API, with nothing on the line

Start your affiliate program See every integration

No card. Cancel in one click. Full refund within 30 days of your first payment.