# Connect ILC MCP to Fishbowl and Claude Code

> Connect Claude Code to your live Fishbowl data with ILC MCP from the terminal: add a remote HTTP MCP server with claude mcp add, authenticate over OAuth with your own Fishbowl login, and query read-only. Here's every step.

ILC MCP connects Claude Code to your live Fishbowl database so you can ask about your data from the terminal and get answers from the actual numbers. Unlike the consumer chat apps, Claude Code is configured from the command line rather than a settings screen — but it's a two-step connect.

New to this? Start with [What is an MCP Query?](/blog/ai-mcp-queries-fishbowl) and [When not to use an MCP](/blog/when-not-to-use-an-mcp). Claude Code's own reference is its [MCP documentation](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/mcp).

## Already connected it in Claude.ai?

If you've [added ILC MCP in Claude.ai](/blog/connect-fishbowl-mcp-claude), you may not need to do anything here. When you sign in to Claude Code with the same Claude account, the connectors from your account are available automatically — skip straight to asking. The steps below are for adding it directly instead, or when you sign in to Claude Code a different way. If a connector carried over from Claude.ai needs re-authorizing, do that at `claude.ai/customize/connectors`.

## Before you start

You'll need three things:

- **Your MCP URL.** ILC hosts the server and sends you your endpoint. Below it looks like `https://yourmcp.example.com/mcp` — use the real one we send you.
- **Your own Fishbowl login.** You sign in as yourself over OAuth, in the browser. It's never a shared key, and your Fishbowl permissions carry over.
- **Claude Code installed.**

## Connect it

1. **Add the server.** In your terminal, outside a Claude Code session, add ILC MCP as a remote HTTP server:

   ```bash
   claude mcp add --transport http fishbowl https://yourmcp.example.com/mcp
   ```

   The `--transport http` flag matters: without it, Claude Code treats the URL as a command to run instead of a remote server. Add `-s user` if you want the server available across all your projects rather than just the current one.

2. **Authenticate.** Start Claude Code with `claude`, run `/mcp`, and select **fishbowl**. A browser opens; sign in with your own Fishbowl user and grant the read-only scopes — `sql:read` and `docs:read`. Claude Code handles the OAuth registration and stores and refreshes the token for you.

3. **Verify.** Run `/mcp` again, or `claude mcp list` from your shell. The status should read **Connected**.

4. **Ask.** In a session, ask in plain English — "how many customers are in Fishbowl?" — and Claude Code writes the SQL through the connector and answers live.

If sign-in completes but the server still shows **Needs authentication**, a stale process is usually holding the OAuth callback port — close other sessions and run `/mcp` again.

## What's protected

- **Read-only.** The read tier grants `sql:read` and `docs:read` only. Claude Code can look, not change.
- **Your login, your permissions.** You authenticate as yourself through a one-time OAuth sign-in. What you can see in Fishbowl is what the AI can see.
- **Every query logged.** Each call is recorded, so there's always a record of what was asked.

## Read-only vs. read-write

ILC MCP comes in a **read-only** tier and a **read-write** tier. The steps above use read-only. Read-write grants scopes that can change Fishbowl data, so treat it with the same care as any account that can edit your system — and bear in mind an agent like Claude Code can chain many calls on its own.

Prefer a different tool? We have guides for [ChatGPT](/blog/connect-fishbowl-mcp-chatgpt), [Claude.ai](/blog/connect-fishbowl-mcp-claude), [Gemini](/blog/connect-fishbowl-mcp-gemini), and [OpenCode](/blog/connect-fishbowl-mcp-opencode).

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*From Israel Lopez Consulting (ILC). Custom Fishbowl Inventory integrations and software, and Fishbowl experts since 2015. Written by Israel Lopez, published October 28, 2026. Questions about this topic, or want to reach the people who wrote it? Visit https://israellopezconsulting.com/contact*