Set up Veto with your coding agent (MCP)

You don't have to run the curls yourself. The @veto-protocol/mcp-merchant MCP server gives your coding agent — Claude Code, Cursor, Continue, anything that speaks MCP — a set of tools that drive the hosted control plane at https://merchants.veto-ai.com. You describe your store in plain English; the agent creates the merchant, adds your catalog, sets your receiving address, and publishes — calling the exact same endpoints from the end-to-end setup guide.

1. Get a key

In Dashboard → Developers at https://merchants.veto-ai.com, mint an API key. Start with a veto_test_ key so your agent provisions a sandbox merchant first; swap to a veto_live_ key when you're ready to take real money. The mode is the key — a test key makes a test merchant, a live key a live one.

2. Add the server to your agent's MCP config

Drop a .mcp.json in your project (Claude Code / Cursor both read it). The server is launched with npx, and your key is passed via the VETO_API_KEY env var:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "veto-merchant": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@veto-protocol/mcp-merchant"],
      "env": {
        "VETO_API_KEY": "veto_test_8f2c…",
        "VETO_API_BASE": "https://merchants.veto-ai.com"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart your agent (or reload its MCP servers). It should now list the veto_* merchant tools.

3. The tools

Each tool wraps one hosted endpoint and returns its reason-coded JSON verbatim, so the agent can read findings and self-correct:

4. A sample prompt

Give your agent something like this. It has everything the tools need; the agent fills the gaps by reading each tool's reason-coded response:

Set up my Veto merchant on the hosted platform using the veto-merchant MCP tools.

1. Run veto_status to confirm my key works and tell me if I'm in test or live mode.
2. Create a merchant: slug "acme", name "Acme Corp", domain "shop.acme.example".
3. Add one product: sku "rpt-001", name "Market Report", price "5.00" USD, available.
4. Set receiving to my Base Sepolia USDC address
   0x1111111111111111111111111111111111111111 (I'm in test mode).
5. Run veto_validate; if there are findings, fix them and explain what changed.
6. Publish with veto_publish and show me the active_policy_version.
7. Run veto_connect_info and give me the manifest URL plus the CNAME I'd add to
   serve it under shop.acme.example.

Keep all prices as exact decimal strings. Stop and ask me before doing anything
that would move real money.

The agent walks the same seven steps as the hosted setup guide, but you never touch a terminal. When it finishes, you have a published, agent-discoverable storefront.

5. Go live

When the sandbox merchant checks out cleanly, tell the agent to redo it against production: update .mcp.json to your veto_live_ key, then ask it to create a fresh live merchant and set receiving to your real Base mainnet address (chain: "base"). A live key is the only thing that reaches the real x402-rs facilitator. Then drive one small real purchase yourself and confirm the txHash — see Go live with x402.