# Connect ILC MCP to Fishbowl and Claude.ai

> Connect Claude to your live Fishbowl data with ILC MCP: add a custom connector, let Claude auto-detect OAuth, sign in with your own Fishbowl login, and grant read-only scopes. Claude asks before each query. Here's every step.

ILC MCP connects Claude to your live Fishbowl database so you can ask about your inventory, orders, or customers in plain English and get answers from the actual numbers. This walks through the connect on Claude.ai, step by step, so you can self-serve.

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).

## Before you start

You'll need three things:

- **Your MCP URL.** ILC hosts the server and sends you your endpoint. In the steps 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. It's never a shared key, and your Fishbowl permissions carry over.
- **A Claude.ai account.**

## Connect it

1. **Open Connectors.** From **Customize**, open **Settings**, then pick **Connectors**.
2. **Add a connector.** Open **Add ▾** and choose **Add custom connector**.
3. **Point it at ILC.** Give it a name and paste your **MCP server URL**.
4. **Let Claude detect the rest.** Claude auto-detects the OAuth flow and ILC's published identity (CIMD) — there's nothing to configure. You'll see it recognize the server.
5. **Sign in as you.** Log in with your own Fishbowl user on ILC's page and grant the read-only scopes — `sql:read` and `docs:read`. That's read your Fishbowl data with SQL, and read prior-session notes plus search Fishbowl's help. Nothing can write.
6. **Ask.** Open a new chat and ask in plain English — "how many customers do we have?"
7. **Approve the call.** Claude asks before each tool call: "Claude wants to use sql_query…". Choose **Allow once**. Claude then writes and runs the query — for that question, `SELECT COUNT(*) FROM customer` — and answers from live Fishbowl data.

The per-call approval is Claude's own behavior, not something ILC adds. It means you see and okay each query the first time around.

For Anthropic's own version of these steps, see their guide to [custom connectors using remote MCP](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/11175166).

## It carries over to Claude Code

You only have to connect once. When you sign in to [Claude Code](/blog/connect-fishbowl-mcp-claude-code) with the same Claude account, the connector you added here is available there automatically — no second setup. If it ever needs re-authorizing, you do that back here at `claude.ai/customize/connectors`.

## What's protected

- **Read-only.** The read tier grants `sql:read` and `docs:read` only. Claude 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.
- **You approve each call.** Claude asks before it runs a tool, and every query is logged.

## 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.

Prefer a different tool? We have guides for [ChatGPT](/blog/connect-fishbowl-mcp-chatgpt), [Gemini](/blog/connect-fishbowl-mcp-gemini), [Claude Code](/blog/connect-fishbowl-mcp-claude-code), 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*