New access method gives Shiplab customers a way to connect supported AI tools directly to their carrier cost data
Shiplab today announced the release of the Shiplab MCP, the first Model Context Protocol (MCP) server built specifically for parcel carrier cost data.
The new capability gives Shiplab customers another way to access and use the carrier cost data available through the Shiplab platform. Customers can connect supported AI tools, including Claude and OpenAI Codex, to their Shiplab data through MCP.
The release extends Shiplab’s broader approach to carrier data access: automatically collect difficult-to-access carrier cost data, then make it available through the interfaces and tools customers choose.
Making carrier cost data easier to use
Parcel carrier cost data can originate across carrier portals, APIs, files, and carrier-specific formats. Before that information can be used consistently across systems, it has to be collected, made useable, and made accessible.
Shiplab provides that data foundation for many industry leading solutions and companies.
Customers can access their carrier cost data through methods including API, cloud storage, and now MCP. MCP does not replace those existing methods. It provides an additional way for customers to work with the same underlying data through compatible AI tools.
Using carrier cost data through MCP
With the Shiplab MCP Server, a supported AI tool can access carrier data and capabilities made available through a customer’s Shiplab organization.
Customers can use natural language to explore their data and investigate questions such as:
- How has my billed carrier spend changed over time?
- Which charge types have increased recently?
- Which invoices, shipments, or charges contributed to a change in cost?
- How do costs compare across carriers or periods?
Customers can also use MCP as part of workflows they build themselves, including internal applications and processes that combine Shiplab carrier data with other tools.
The AI tool determines how information is interpreted, summarized, analyzed, or incorporated into a workflow. Shiplab provides access to the underlying carrier cost data and available platform capabilities.
Customer control and tool choice
MCP is one of several ways customers can access their Shiplab data.
Shiplab is vendor neutral by design. Customers can choose the access method and tools that fit their business, whether that means working directly with data, using an API, connecting an AI tool through MCP, or building an internal application or workflow.
This approach also gives customers the ability to build more capabilities around their own data rather than requiring a specific interface or workflow.
As AI tooling develops, the same carrier-data foundation can also support customer-built agentic workflows. Shiplab does not currently provide autonomous agents. MCP provides an access method that customers and technology partners can build on.
Current capabilities and limitations
The Shiplab MCP Server requires a Shiplab account and connected carrier data.
The data and capabilities available through MCP depend on the customer’s Shiplab organization, connected carriers, permissions, and the capabilities included in the current MCP release.
At the time of this announcement, Shiplab provides documented MCP connections for Claude and OpenAI Codex. Shiplab MCP is designed to work with all MCP-compatible clients, and support documentation for additional tools will be added regularly.
AI-generated answers, analysis, code, and workflows should be reviewed by the customer before being relied on for operational or business decisions.
Extending Shiplab’s carrier data access model
The MCP release follows Shiplab’s launch of its vendor-neutral API for parcel carrier invoice data. The API gave customers a programmatic way to access carrier-native billing data for use in their own applications and workflows.
The Shiplab MCP Server extends that same model to AI tools.
API and MCP are different access methods, but both are built around the same principle: customers should be able to access their carrier cost data and use it through the tools and systems that fit their business.
Carrier cost data is hard to get. It shouldn’t be hard to use.
Learn more
Learn more about the Shiplab MCP Server and how to connect your carrier cost data.