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Connect to the Dotdigital MCP server

Interact with your Dotdigital account using AI-powered MCP clients.

Written by Gareth Burroughes
Updated today

The Dotdigital MCP server lets you connect AI tools directly to your account. Once connected, you can use natural language to work with your contacts, campaigns, and data through any compatible MCP client.

Coming soon

We’re launching our MCP server soon!


Before you start

Things you need to know:

  • The MCP server must be enabled in your account. Go to Settings > Access > MCP Server, then enable Enable MCP server for Account.

Required permissions

To use this feature, you must have the following user permission:

  • MCP server access (for individual user)

Learn more about user permissions.

These account permissions are also required:

  • MCP server access


Find your MCP server URL

Each Dotdigital account has a region-specific MCP server URL. Use this URL when connecting any MCP client.

The base URL format is:

https://r1-mcp.dotdigital.com

Replace r1 with your account's region identifier, for example, r2, or r3.

Use the correct region

If you don't replace r1 with your account's region, the MCP server connection won't work.

  • r1-mcp.dotdigital.com if you have an account belonging to Region 1 (Europe)

  • r2-mcp.dotdigital.com if you have an account belonging to Region 2 (North America)

  • r3-mcp.dotdigital.com if you have an account belonging to Region 3 (Asia Pacific)


Connect a client

Expand your MCP client below and follow the steps to connect.

Claude

This feature is available to Claude and Claude Desktop users on Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise plans.

  1. In Claude, go to Settings > Connectors.

  2. Select Add custom connector.

  3. Enter the following details:

    • Name: Dotdigital

    • Remote MCP server URL: Enter your region-specific MCP server URL.

  4. Select Add.

  5. Next to the connector, select Connect.

  6. Review the access permissions and select Approve.

ChatGPT

  1. In ChatGPT, select your profile icon, and go to Settings > Apps & Connectors.

  2. Select Advanced settings.

  3. Select the toggle to activate Developer mode.

  4. Select Create app.

  5. Enter the following details in the connector modal:

    • Name: Dotdigital

    • MCP Server URL: Enter your region-specific MCP server URL.

    • Authentication: Select OAuth.

  6. Select I understand and want to continue.

  7. Select Create.

  8. Review the access permissions and select Approve.

  9. If you're connecting multiple accounts, choose the account you want to connect.

  10. Review the permissions for your Dotdigital account and select Allow.

If you're connecting multiple accounts, include the account name to tell them apart, for example, "Dotdigital - Your Company".

Cursor

  1. In Cursor, go to Settings > Cursor Settings > MCP > New MCP Server, and add the following configuration:

    {
    "mcpServers": {
    "dotdigital": {
    "url": "YOUR_REGION_SPECIFIC_MCP_SERVER_URL"
    }
    }
    }


  2. Save your changes, then go to Settings > Cursor Settings > Tools & Integrations.

  3. Select Connect and authenticate the server when prompted.

  4. Verify the connection by checking for visual indicators and running a test query.

Troubleshooting authentication errors

If you encounter authentication errors, first log out of the MCP server and re-authenticate. If that doesn't resolve the issue, sign out of your Cursor account and sign back in.

VS Code

  1. In VS Code, open the command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P on Windows, Cmd+Shift+P on Mac) and search for MCP: Open User Configuration.

  2. Add the following configuration:

    {
    "servers": {
    "dotdigital": {
    "url": "YOUR_REGION_SPECIFIC_MCP_SERVER_URL"
    }
    }
    }


    If you already have a servers entry, append the Dotdigital configuration to it.

  3. Save your changes.

  4. Open the command palette again and search for MCP: List Servers, then select dotdigital > Start Server. Authenticate the server when prompted.

  5. Verify the connection by checking for visual indicators and running a test query.

The connection may take time

The remote MCP server connection can sometimes be slow to fully initialise and load all available tools. If the server doesn't start, or your first test query doesn't work, try restarting VS Code.

Other clients

The Dotdigital MCP server is compatible with any MCP client that supports remote servers.

You may need the following details when connecting:

  • URL: Your region-specific MCP server URL

  • Authentication method: OAuth

  • Transport: Streamable HTTP


Available tools

Once connected, the following tools are available through your MCP client.

Category

Tool name

Description

Read only

Contains personal data

Account

Get account information

Get details of your account.

Yes

No

Contacts

Get contacts

Get contacts based on criteria from a specified list or segment.

Yes

Yes

Contacts

Get contact

Get details of a specific contact by email, mobile number, or custom identifier.

Yes

Yes

Contacts

Create contact list

Create a new contact list in Dotdigital.

No

No

Contacts

Add contacts to lists

Add existing contacts to one or more lists.

No

Yes

Campaigns

Get email campaigns performance in a date range

Get performance data for your email campaigns for a specified date range.

Yes

No

Campaigns

Get all time activity for a single email campaign

Get performance data for the entire runtime of an email campaign.

Yes

No

Campaigns

Get email campaign

Get details of an email campaign, including its content.

Yes

No

Benchmarks

Get industry benchmarks

Get marketing and engagement benchmarks across channels, broken down by industry vertical and region.

Yes

No

Surveys, pages, and forms

Get forms

Get activity for your forms, including the number of responses.

Yes

No

Surveys, pages, and forms

Get form responses

Get responses to each question for a specified form.

Yes

Yes

Get contacts limitations

The Get contacts tool requires you to specify a list or segment. It isn't currently possible to retrieve contacts by criteria across your entire contact base. The available criteria are limited to channel subscriptions, preferences, and data fields. Insight data and campaign engagement data aren't supported.

Add contacts to lists

This tool only adds contacts that already exist in your Dotdigital account. It isn't possible to add new contacts through the MCP server. When your MCP client confirms the action is complete, it takes around ten seconds for the contacts to appear on the list.


Example prompts

Here are some examples of how to use the MCP server through your connected client.

Contacts

"Find all the contacts in my 'VIP' list who live in France."

Campaigns

"How did my 'Welcome' email campaign perform in February 2026 compared to February 2025?"

Benchmarks

"How does my email open rate compare to industry benchmarks?"

Surveys, pages, and forms

Prompts can be chained together, using the results of one query as the input for the next.

  1. "For my 'Travel preferences' form, what % of respondents replied that they are interested in solo travel?"

  2. "Now add these contacts to a new list called 'solo travelers'."


Pre-register OAuth credentials

Some MCP clients don't support Dynamic Client Registration (DCR) or Client-Initiated Metadata Discovery (CIMD). These clients require pre-registered OAuth credentials.

Enterprise licence required

Pre-registering OAuth credentials is only available on an Enterprise licence. Contact your account manager to get started.

When you register with Dotdigital for the OAuth 2.0 service, you must provide a redirect URI. This is the URL that receives authorisation responses. The redirect URI must:

The redirect URI is case-sensitive

The URL you provide during registration must exactly match the one you use in your application, including letter case.

If they don't match, you'll encounter errors.

When registration is complete, you receive:

  • A client ID: a string used to identify you when making authorisation and token requests.

  • A client secret: a string used to authenticate you when making token requests. Keep this secret.

Child accounts

Registering your main Dotdigital account for OAuth access enables all your child accounts for OAuth authentication by default. New child accounts just need to complete the initial authorisation phase before obtaining an access and refresh token.

SSL certificate required

You must have an SSL certificate for your application domain. If you don't have one, speak to your account manager.

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