Barcode lookup MCP server

Set it up in two minutes

1. Get an API key. Create a free account (100 lookups a month, no card) and copy the key from your dashboard.
2. Add the server to your assistant with one of the snippets below, replacing YOUR_KEY.
3. Ask about a product. For example: "What is 049000050103?" or "Here are 40 UPCs from my inventory export. Give me the title and brand for each."

Claude (web and desktop app)

Open Settings, then Connectors, and add a custom connector with this URL. Claude only asks for a URL, so the key goes in it:

https://barcodereport.com/api/mcp?api_key=YOUR_KEY

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http barcodereport https://barcodereport.com/api/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY"

Cursor

In ~/.cursor/mcp.json (or .cursor/mcp.json in a project):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "barcodereport": {
      "url": "https://barcodereport.com/api/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_KEY" }
    }
  }
}

VS Code (Copilot agent mode)

In .vscode/mcp.json:

{
  "servers": {
    "barcodereport": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://barcodereport.com/api/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_KEY" }
    }
  }
}

ChatGPT

With developer mode turned on in ChatGPT's connector settings, create a connector with the URL below and no authentication:

https://barcodereport.com/api/mcp?api_key=YOUR_KEY

Clients that only run local servers

Bridge to the remote server with mcp-remote, for example in Claude Desktop's claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "barcodereport": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote", "https://barcodereport.com/api/mcp",
               "--header", "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY"]
    }
  }
}

Tools

Tool results leave out empty fields to save the assistant's context, and say how many lookups you have left. A code we don't have is reported as not found rather than as an error, and it still counts as a lookup. Rate limits are the same as the API's.

Prefer plain HTTP?

The same lookups are available from the REST API, with an OpenAPI spec and a Postman collection. For spreadsheets there is a Google Sheets function.

MCP server FAQ