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Help Scout API and MCP server

Help Scout's API replies, tags and edits Docs on paid plans, but it takes your own OAuth app and code you write and host. Sign in to Help Scout once in your own Cloud Browser, and your AI agent does the work there for you. The same tools work over MCP for agents and as a REST API for scripts.

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Not affiliated with Help Scout.

Help Scout has no API for this. So we run one for you.

Help Scout's own API, a GitHub MCP server and Cotlet compared
What you need Help Scout's APIGitHub MCP serverCotlet
Use without an API key or code No Partly Yes, 14 tools
Acts as you, signed in 24/7 No No Yes, Cloud Browser
Fixed for you when Help Scout changes N/A No Yes, tested every 6h
Runs with your laptop off N/A No Yes, hosted

Checked Oct 16, 2026. Sources: Help Scout Docs: Connect your AI agent with Help Scout · Help Scout blog: Introducing Help Scout MCP · Help Scout Mailbox API 2.0 · Help Scout Docs API: Update Article

Your own Cloud Browser, on 24/7. Sign in once. We keep it connected.

  1. 01Sign in to Help Scout in your own Cloud Browser

  2. 02Connect it for your agents

  3. 03Cotlet keeps it signed in and working

How do I connect Help Scout to Claude, ChatGPT or my code?

AI agents connect over MCP, scripts call the REST API. Both reach the same 14 tools with one API key.

For AI agents: MCP

Add Cotlet to your agent once. Help Scout and every other app you connect show up as its tools.

  • Claude
  • ChatGPT
  • OpenClaw
  • Hermes
  • GrokBot
  • Cursor
  • n8n
  • Any MCP client
  1. 1

    Add Cotlet to your agent

    Claude Code
    claude mcp add --transport http cotlet \
  https://cotlet.dev/mcp/v1 \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $COTLET_API_KEY"
    Cursor
    {
  "mcpServers": {
    "cotlet": {
      "url": "https://cotlet.dev/mcp/v1",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer ${COTLET_API_KEY}"
      }
    }
  }
}
    Codex
    # ~/.codex/config.toml
[mcp_servers.cotlet]
url = "https://cotlet.dev/mcp/v1"
bearer_token_env_var = "COTLET_API_KEY"

    Paste the snippet for your client. The same server and key serve every app you connect, so you do this once.

For scripts: REST API

Every tool is an endpoint under /api/v1/help-scout with its own method and path, such as POST /api/v1/help-scout/conversations/{conversation_id}/replies, with the same API key. Our open-source repo has ready scripts to start from.

REST API docs

What can the Help Scout API and MCP server do?

14 tools on your own Help Scout account. Agents call them as operations of the MCP tools help_scout_read and help_scout_write; scripts call each one at its own REST endpoint, with the same inputs and answers.

API reference
Help Scout tools in Cotlet's MCP server and REST API
Tool What it does Access
search_conversations Conversations matching a Help Scout search: status, tag, assignee, subject and free text. read
get_conversation One conversation with its customer, status, assignee, tags and every thread, notes included. read
list_inboxes Inboxes your account can open, with their folders. read
list_saved_replies Saved replies of an inbox, with their names and text. read
list_tags Tags in use, with how many conversations carry each. read
search_docs_articles Docs articles matching a search, across your Docs sites. read
get_docs_article One Docs article with its text, status, collection and draft. read
send_reply Reply to the customer of a conversation and set its status. writeasks first
add_note Add an internal note to a conversation. write
tag_conversation Add or remove tags on one conversation. write
assign_conversation Assign a conversation to a teammate, a team or nobody. write
set_conversation_status Change a conversation to active, pending or closed. write
save_docs_article_draft Save new text as the draft of a Docs article without changing the live article. write
publish_docs_article Publish the draft of a Docs article, or unpublish the article. writeasks first

Scroll the table for all 14 tools.

Ask in plain words. Your agent does the rest.

All Help Scout use cases

Is it safe to connect Help Scout?

You sign in yourself in your own Cloud Browser, we never save your password, and anything that reaches your readers waits for your OK. The browser profile is encrypted in the EU. Independent scanners grade cotlet.dev A+.

Security overview

How much do the Help Scout API and MCP server cost?

One price for both: a tool call costs the same over MCP or REST. Free 7-day trial with 2,000 credits, no card needed. Then one-time credit packs, no subscription, valid 12 months. Most calls use 25 credits, and your Cloud Browser uses 50 credits a day while Help Scout is enabled for agents, so 20 calls a day come to 550 credits.

See full pricing
Cotlet credit packs: price, credits and calls at 25 credits each
Credits Price, one time Calls at 25 credits Per 1,000 credits
5,000 $29 200 $5.80
15,000 $79 600 $5.27
32,000 $149 1,280 $4.66
60,000 $249 2,400 $4.15

Only successful calls use credits; failed calls and timeouts cost nothing. At a balance of 0 calls pause, never a surprise charge. Authenticate with the Authorization: Bearer header.

Questions

Does Help Scout have an API?

Yes. Help Scout has a Mailbox API 2.0 and a Docs API on paid plans, and since 28 July 2026 an official MCP server at mcp.helpscout.net, but new MCP connections are read-only: they cannot reply to customers, add notes, change tags or edit Docs (checked 16 Oct 2026). Help Scout says write support is planned and gives no date.

How do I get access?

Sign up free, open Help Scout under Integrations in the console and press Request access. Your free trial starts with your account, no card needed.

Is the MCP server different from the API?

No, only the way in. Cotlet builds each integration as a REST API and puts an MCP server on top, so both have the same 14 tools, the same inputs and answers, one API key and one price. AI agents such as Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor use MCP; scripts, cron jobs and HTTP steps in n8n, Make or Zapier use the REST API.

What is the Cloud Browser?

Your own Chrome that Cotlet runs for you in the EU, around the clock. You open it from the console, sign in to Help Scout yourself and press Enable for agents. Your agent's calls go through it, from its IP with its cookies, so Help Scout sees the browser you signed in with. Password saving is off and the profile is stored encrypted with AES-256-GCM.

Can my agent act without asking me?

Not on anything that reaches other people: send_reply, publish_docs_article wait for your OK by default. You can switch that off per tool for scheduled runs.

Can the agent see conversations in inboxes I cannot open?

No. Help Scout searches only the inboxes your account has access to, except for Account Owners, who can search all inboxes. Filtering by tag or folder is a query choice, not a permission.

Should I use a Help Scout MCP server from GitHub instead?

Pick one if you want the code on your own computer and do not mind the upkeep: you install it, sign it in and fix it when Help Scout changes. Pick Cotlet if you want it hosted and kept working for you.

Can I use it in n8n, Make or Zapier?

Yes. Add https://cotlet.dev/mcp/v1 in n8n's MCP Client node, or call the REST endpoints from an HTTP step in Make or Zapier.

Who runs Cotlet?

Cotlet is run by Take Group, a Polish software company working since 2019. Take Group runs about 3,200 websites on its own systems and has its own DevOps team for infrastructure security. We built and used integrations like this inside the company for years before opening them as Cotlet.

Is Cotlet affiliated with Help Scout?

No. Cotlet is independent and not affiliated with Help Scout.

Give your agent access to Help Scout.

Free 7-day trial with 2,000 credits, no card needed.

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