How to Connect an AI Assistant to By the Numbers

Connecting an AI assistant lets it read your store’s data in By the Numbers, and make changes if you allow it. Most AI apps connect with a sign-in. Scripts, and apps that can’t sign in, use a token instead.

Before You Start

  • You need your own By the Numbers login. Each connection belongs to the team member who sets it up.
  • Your AI app needs to support MCP servers. Claude Desktop, Claude.ai and Claude Code do, and so do other apps that support MCP with OAuth 2.1 sign-in.

Steps

Connect With a Sign-In

  1. Open MCP in By the Numbers. Under Connect an AI Assistant, copy the MCP endpoint: https://bythenumbersapp.com/mcp.
  2. In your AI app, add a custom MCP server or connector, and paste the endpoint.
  3. Your AI app opens a By the Numbers page that asks you to connect the app to By the Numbers. Sign in to By the Numbers if it asks.
  4. Under Choose what it can access, keep Read ticked. Tick Write only if the assistant should make changes.
  5. Under Which store?, choose the store to connect.
  6. Select Authorize.

The By the Numbers sign-in page an AI app opens, titled Connect Claude to By the Numbers, with Read ticked and Write unticked under Choose what it can access, the store Harbor & Pine chosen under Which store?, and Authorize and Deny buttons.

The page ticks Read and leaves Write unticked, even if the AI app asks for both. The app gets only what you tick, and only what it asked for. Leave Write unticked to keep the connection read-only.

Connect With a Token

  1. On the MCP page, open Advanced: Personal Access Tokens and select Create Token.
  2. Enter a Name that says what the token is for, such as the app’s name.
  3. Tick Allow changes, not just reads only if the assistant should make changes.
  4. Select Create Token, and copy the token. It’s shown once and can’t be shown again.
  5. In your AI app, use the MCP endpoint and send the token in an Authorization header, as Bearer followed by a space and the token.

The Create an API Token dialog

What Happens Next

  • Ask the assistant a question about your store, such as last month’s sales.
  • An app you connected with a sign-in is listed under Connected Apps on the MCP page, with its access, who authorized it, and when it was last active. Everyone on your team can see this list.
  • A token is listed under Advanced: Personal Access Tokens, with when it was last used and when it expires. Only you can see or revoke your own tokens. A store owner can’t see or revoke a teammate’s.
  • Tokens expire 90 days after they’re created. Create a new one before then, and replace it in your app.
  • Each connection can make up to 120 requests a minute.

Disconnect an App or Revoke a Token

  • An app: in Connected Apps, select the X beside it, then Disconnect. It loses access at once. You can only disconnect apps you connected yourself: a store owner can’t disconnect a teammate’s.
  • A token: select the X beside it, then Revoke. Any app using it loses access at once.

Disconnecting in By the Numbers doesn’t remove the connection from the AI app itself, so remove it there too.

Connected Apps lists an app only while its latest sign-in is under 2 hours old. An app that hasn’t been used for a while drops off the list but is still connected. To disconnect one that isn’t listed, use it once from the AI app so it shows again, then disconnect it.

When a teammate leaves or is removed from the team, their tokens and apps stop working at once. Their apps can stay listed for up to 2 hours.

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