How to integrate Shippo MCP with Vercel AI SDK v6

This guide walks you through connecting Shippo to Vercel AI SDK v6 using the Composio tool router. By the end, you'll have a working Shippo agent that can create shipping label for new order, track shipment status by tracking number, get shipping rates for a package through natural language commands. This guide will help you understand how to give your Vercel AI SDK agent real control over a Shippo account through Composio's Shippo MCP server. Before we dive in, let's take a quick look at the key ideas and tools involved.

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Shippo is a shipping API for e-commerce merchants to create labels, track packages, and manage shipments. It streamlines shipping operations with multi-carrier support and easy integration.

95 Tools

Introduction

This guide walks you through connecting Shippo to Vercel AI SDK v6 using the Composio tool router. By the end, you'll have a working Shippo agent that can create shipping label for new order, track shipment status by tracking number, get shipping rates for a package through natural language commands.

This guide will help you understand how to give your Vercel AI SDK agent real control over a Shippo account through Composio's Shippo MCP server.

Before we dive in, let's take a quick look at the key ideas and tools involved.

Also integrate Shippo with

OpenAI Agents SDKClaude Agent SDKClaude CodeClaude CoworkCodexOpenClawHermesCLIGoogle ADKLangChainMastra AILlamaIndexCrewAI

TL;DR

Here's what you'll learn:
  • How to set up and configure a Vercel AI SDK agent with Shippo integration
  • Using Composio's Tool Router to dynamically load and access Shippo tools
  • Creating an MCP client connection using HTTP transport
  • Building an interactive CLI chat interface with conversation history management
  • Handling tool calls and results within the Vercel AI SDK framework

What is Vercel AI SDK?

The Vercel AI SDK is a TypeScript library for building AI-powered applications. It provides tools for creating agents that can use external services and maintain conversation state.

Key features include:

  • streamText: Core function for streaming responses with real-time tool support
  • MCP Client: Built-in support for Model Context Protocol via @ai-sdk/mcp
  • Step Counting: Control multi-step tool execution with stopWhen: stepCountIs()
  • OpenAI Provider: Native integration with OpenAI models

What is the Shippo MCP server, and what's possible with it?

The Shippo MCP server is an implementation of the Model Context Protocol that connects your AI agent and assistants like Claude, Cursor, etc directly to your Shippo account. It provides structured and secure access so your agent can perform Shippo operations on your behalf.

What is the Composio tool router, and how does it fit here?

What is Composio SDK?

Composio's Composio SDK helps agents find the right tools for a task at runtime. You can plug in multiple toolkits (like Gmail, HubSpot, and GitHub), and the agent will identify the relevant app and action to complete multi-step workflows. This can reduce token usage and improve the reliability of tool calls. Read more here: Getting started with Composio SDK

The tool router generates a secure MCP URL that your agents can access to perform actions.

How the Composio SDK works

The Composio SDK follows a three-phase workflow:

  1. Discovery: Searches for tools matching your task and returns relevant toolkits with their details.
  2. Authentication: Checks for active connections. If missing, creates an auth config and returns a connection URL via Auth Link.
  3. Execution: Executes the action using the authenticated connection.

Step-by-step Guide

Step by step09 STEPS
1

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:
  • Node.js and npm installed
  • A Composio account with API key
  • An OpenAI API key
2

Getting API Keys for OpenAI and Composio

OpenAI API Key
  • Go to the OpenAI dashboard and create an API key. You'll need credits to use the models, or you can connect to another model provider.
  • Keep the API key safe.
Composio API Key
  • Log in to the Composio dashboard.
  • Navigate to your API settings and generate a new API key.
  • Store this key securely as you'll need it for authentication.
3

Install required dependencies

bash
npm install @ai-sdk/openai @ai-sdk/mcp @composio/core ai dotenv

First, install the necessary packages for your project.

What you're installing:

  • @ai-sdk/openai: Vercel AI SDK's OpenAI provider
  • @ai-sdk/mcp: MCP client for Vercel AI SDK
  • @composio/core: Composio SDK for tool integration
  • ai: Core Vercel AI SDK
  • dotenv: Environment variable management
4

Set up environment variables

bash
OPENAI_API_KEY=your_openai_api_key_here
COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_composio_api_key_here
COMPOSIO_USER_ID=your_user_id_here

Create a .env file in your project root.

What's needed:

  • OPENAI_API_KEY: Your OpenAI API key for GPT model access
  • COMPOSIO_API_KEY: Your Composio API key for tool access
  • COMPOSIO_USER_ID: A unique identifier for the user session
5

Import required modules and validate environment

typescript
import "dotenv/config";
import { openai } from "@ai-sdk/openai";
import { Composio } from "@composio/core";
import * as readline from "readline";
import { streamText, type ModelMessage, stepCountIs } from "ai";
import { createMCPClient } from "@ai-sdk/mcp";

const composioAPIKey = process.env.COMPOSIO_API_KEY;
const composioUserID = process.env.COMPOSIO_USER_ID;

if (!process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY) throw new Error("OPENAI_API_KEY is not set");
if (!composioAPIKey) throw new Error("COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set");
if (!composioUserID) throw new Error("COMPOSIO_USER_ID is not set");

const composio = new Composio({
  apiKey: composioAPIKey,
});
What's happening:
  • We're importing all necessary libraries including Vercel AI SDK's OpenAI provider and Composio
  • The dotenv/config import automatically loads environment variables
  • The MCP client import enables connection to Composio's tool server
6

Create Tool Router session and initialize MCP client

typescript
async function main() {
  // Create a tool router session for the user
  const session = await composio.create(composioUserID!, {
    toolkits: ["shippo"],
  });

  const mcpUrl = session.mcp.url;
What's happening:
  • We're creating a Tool Router session that gives your agent access to Shippo tools
  • The create method takes the user ID and specifies which toolkits should be available
  • The returned mcp object contains the URL and authentication headers needed to connect to the MCP server
  • This session provides access to all Shippo-related tools through the MCP protocol
7

Connect to MCP server and retrieve tools

typescript
const mcpClient = await createMCPClient({
  transport: {
    type: "http",
    url: mcpUrl,
    headers: session.mcp.headers, // Authentication headers for the Composio MCP server
  },
});

const tools = await mcpClient.tools();
What's happening:
  • We're creating an MCP client that connects to our Composio Tool Router session via HTTP
  • The mcp.url provides the endpoint, and mcp.headers contains authentication credentials
  • The type: "http" is important - Composio requires HTTP transport
  • tools() retrieves all available Shippo tools that the agent can use
8

Initialize conversation and CLI interface

typescript
let messages: ModelMessage[] = [];

console.log("Chat started! Type 'exit' or 'quit' to end the conversation.\n");
console.log(
  "Ask any questions related to shippo, like summarize my last 5 emails, send an email, etc... :)))\n",
);

const rl = readline.createInterface({
  input: process.stdin,
  output: process.stdout,
  prompt: "> ",
});

rl.prompt();
What's happening:
  • We initialize an empty messages array to maintain conversation history
  • A readline interface is created to accept user input from the command line
  • Instructions are displayed to guide the user on how to interact with the agent
9

Handle user input and stream responses with real-time tool feedback

typescript
rl.on("line", async (userInput: string) => {
  const trimmedInput = userInput.trim();

  if (["exit", "quit", "bye"].includes(trimmedInput.toLowerCase())) {
    console.log("\nGoodbye!");
    rl.close();
    process.exit(0);
  }

  if (!trimmedInput) {
    rl.prompt();
    return;
  }

  messages.push({ role: "user", content: trimmedInput });
  console.log("\nAgent is thinking...\n");

  try {
    const stream = streamText({
      model: openai("gpt-5"),
      messages,
      tools,
      toolChoice: "auto",
      stopWhen: stepCountIs(10),
      onStepFinish: (step) => {
        for (const toolCall of step.toolCalls) {
          console.log(`[Using tool: ${toolCall.toolName}]`);
          }
          if (step.toolCalls.length > 0) {
            console.log(""); // Add space after tool calls
          }
        },
      });

      for await (const chunk of stream.textStream) {
        process.stdout.write(chunk);
      }

      console.log("\n\n---\n");

      // Get final result for message history
      const response = await stream.response;
      if (response?.messages?.length) {
        messages.push(...response.messages);
      }
    } catch (error) {
      console.error("\nAn error occurred while talking to the agent:");
      console.error(error);
      console.log(
        "\nYou can try again or restart the app if it keeps happening.\n",
      );
    } finally {
      rl.prompt();
    }
  });

  rl.on("close", async () => {
    await mcpClient.close();
    console.log("\n👋 Session ended.");
    process.exit(0);
  });
}

main().catch((err) => {
  console.error("Fatal error:", err);
  process.exit(1);
});
What's happening:
  • We use streamText instead of generateText to stream responses in real-time
  • toolChoice: "auto" allows the model to decide when to use Shippo tools
  • stopWhen: stepCountIs(10) allows up to 10 steps for complex multi-tool operations
  • onStepFinish callback displays which tools are being used in real-time
  • We iterate through the text stream to create a typewriter effect as the agent responds
  • The complete response is added to conversation history to maintain context
  • Errors are caught and displayed with helpful retry suggestions

Complete Code

Here's the complete code to get you started with Shippo and Vercel AI SDK:

typescript
import "dotenv/config";
import { openai } from "@ai-sdk/openai";
import { Composio } from "@composio/core";
import * as readline from "readline";
import { streamText, type ModelMessage, stepCountIs } from "ai";
import { createMCPClient } from "@ai-sdk/mcp";

const composioAPIKey = process.env.COMPOSIO_API_KEY;
const composioUserID = process.env.COMPOSIO_USER_ID;

if (!process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY) throw new Error("OPENAI_API_KEY is not set");
if (!composioAPIKey) throw new Error("COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set");
if (!composioUserID) throw new Error("COMPOSIO_USER_ID is not set");

const composio = new Composio({
  apiKey: composioAPIKey,
});

async function main() {
  // Create a tool router session for the user
  const session = await composio.create(composioUserID!, {
    toolkits: ["shippo"],
  });

  const mcpUrl = session.mcp.url;

  const mcpClient = await createMCPClient({
    transport: {
      type: "http",
      url: mcpUrl,
      headers: session.mcp.headers, // Authentication headers for the Composio MCP server
    },
  });

  const tools = await mcpClient.tools();

  let messages: ModelMessage[] = [];

  console.log("Chat started! Type 'exit' or 'quit' to end the conversation.\n");
  console.log(
    "Ask any questions related to shippo, like summarize my last 5 emails, send an email, etc... :)))\n",
  );

  const rl = readline.createInterface({
    input: process.stdin,
    output: process.stdout,
    prompt: "> ",
  });

  rl.prompt();

  rl.on("line", async (userInput: string) => {
    const trimmedInput = userInput.trim();

    if (["exit", "quit", "bye"].includes(trimmedInput.toLowerCase())) {
      console.log("\nGoodbye!");
      rl.close();
      process.exit(0);
    }

    if (!trimmedInput) {
      rl.prompt();
      return;
    }

    messages.push({ role: "user", content: trimmedInput });
    console.log("\nAgent is thinking...\n");

    try {
      const stream = streamText({
        model: openai("gpt-5"),
        messages,
        tools,
        toolChoice: "auto",
        stopWhen: stepCountIs(10),
        onStepFinish: (step) => {
          for (const toolCall of step.toolCalls) {
            console.log(`[Using tool: ${toolCall.toolName}]`);
          }
          if (step.toolCalls.length > 0) {
            console.log(""); // Add space after tool calls
          }
        },
      });

      for await (const chunk of stream.textStream) {
        process.stdout.write(chunk);
      }

      console.log("\n\n---\n");

      // Get final result for message history
      const response = await stream.response;
      if (response?.messages?.length) {
        messages.push(...response.messages);
      }
    } catch (error) {
      console.error("\nAn error occurred while talking to the agent:");
      console.error(error);
      console.log(
        "\nYou can try again or restart the app if it keeps happening.\n",
      );
    } finally {
      rl.prompt();
    }
  });

  rl.on("close", async () => {
    await mcpClient.close();
    console.log("\n👋 Session ended.");
    process.exit(0);
  });
}

main().catch((err) => {
  console.error("Fatal error:", err);
  process.exit(1);
});

Conclusion

You've successfully built a Shippo agent using the Vercel AI SDK with streaming capabilities! This implementation provides a powerful foundation for building AI applications with natural language interfaces and real-time feedback.

Key features of this implementation:

  • Real-time streaming responses for a better user experience with typewriter effect
  • Live tool execution feedback showing which tools are being used as the agent works
  • Dynamic tool loading through Composio's Tool Router with secure authentication
  • Multi-step tool execution with configurable step limits (up to 10 steps)
  • Comprehensive error handling for robust agent execution
  • Conversation history maintenance for context-aware responses

You can extend this further by adding custom error handling, implementing specific business logic, or integrating additional Composio toolkits to create multi-app workflows.
TOOLS

Supported Tools

Every Shippo action and event your agent gets out of the box.

Create Shippo Address

Tool to create a new address in Shippo.

Create Batch

Tool to create a batch of shipments for bulk label purchasing.

Create Carrier Account

Tool to create a new carrier account in Shippo.

Create Customs Item

Create a new customs item for international shipments.

Create Live Rate

Tool to generate live shipping rates from multiple carriers for a given shipment.

Create Manifest

Tool to create a new shipping manifest with Shippo.

Create Merchant Address

Tool to create a new address for a merchant using Shippo's Platform API.

Create Merchant Batch

Tool to create a batch for a merchant using the Shippo Platform API.

Create Merchant Carrier Account

Tool to create a carrier account for a merchant using the Shippo Platform API.

Create Merchant Customs Declaration

Tool to create a new customs declaration for a merchant using Shippo's Platform API.

Create Merchant Customs Item

Tool to create a new customs item for a merchant using Shippo's Platform API.

Create Merchant Order

Tool to create an order for a merchant using the Shippo Platform API.

Create Merchant Parcel

Tool to create a new parcel for a merchant using Shippo's Platform API.

Create Merchant Refund

Tool to create a refund for a merchant using the Shippo Platform API.

Create Merchant Shipment

Tool to create a new shipment for a merchant using Shippo's Platform API.

Create Merchant Transaction

Tool to create a shipping label transaction for a merchant using the Shippo Platform API.

Create Order

Tool to create a new order in Shippo.

Create Parcel

Tool to create a new parcel in Shippo with dimensions and weight specifications.

Create Refund

Tool to create a refund for a Shippo transaction.

Create Service Group

Tool to create a new Shippo service group with specified pricing model and carrier service levels.

Create Shipment

Tool to create a new shipment with Shippo.

Register Tracking Webhook

Tool to register a tracking webhook for a shipment.

Create Transaction

Tool to create a shipping label transaction with Shippo.

Create User Parcel Template

Tool to create a new user parcel template in Shippo with preset dimensions and weight specifications.

Create Shippo Webhook

Tool to create a new webhook subscription in Shippo.

Delete Default Parcel Template

Tool to clear the current default parcel template.

Delete User Parcel Template

Tool to delete a user-created parcel template.

Delete Webhook

Tool to delete a specific webhook from Shippo.

Get Address

Tool to retrieve a previously created address from Shippo.

Get Carrier Account

Tool to retrieve a carrier account by its ID.

Get Carrier Parcel Template

Tool to retrieve a specific carrier parcel template by its token.

Get Carrier Registration Status

Tool to retrieve carrier registration status from Shippo.

Get Customs Declaration

Tool to retrieve a customs declaration by its ID.

Get customs item

Tool to retrieve a customs item from Shippo.

Get Default Parcel Template

Tool to retrieve the current default parcel template for live rates at checkout.

Get Merchant

Tool to retrieve a merchant from the Shippo Platform API.

Get Merchant Address

Tool to retrieve a merchant address from Shippo Platform API.

Get Merchant Batch

Tool to retrieve a batch for a merchant from the Shippo Platform API.

Get Merchant Carrier Account

Tool to retrieve a carrier account for a merchant using the Shippo Platform API.

Get Merchant Carrier Registration Status

Tool to retrieve carrier registration status for a specific merchant using Shippo's Platform API.

Get Merchant Customs Declaration

Tool to retrieve a specific customs declaration for a merchant using Shippo's Platform API.

Get Merchant Customs Item

Tool to retrieve a customs item for a merchant using the Shippo Platform API.

Get Merchant Manifest

Tool to retrieve a manifest for a merchant from the Shippo Platform API.

Get Merchant Order

Tool to retrieve an order for a merchant from the Shippo Platform API.

Get Merchant Parcel

Tool to retrieve a parcel for a merchant from the Shippo Platform API.

Get Merchant Rate

Tool to retrieve a specific shipping rate for a merchant using the Shippo Platform API.

Get Merchant Refund

Tool to retrieve a merchant refund from Shippo Platform API.

Get Merchant Shipment

Tool to retrieve a shipment for a merchant from the Shippo Platform API.

Get Merchant Tracking Status

Tool to retrieve tracking status for a merchant from Shippo Platform API.

Get Merchant Transaction

Tool to retrieve a shipping label transaction for a merchant from the Shippo Platform API.

Get Order

Tool to retrieve an order from Shippo.

Get Parcel

Tool to retrieve a parcel by its ID.

Get Rate

Tool to retrieve a specific shipping rate by its ID.

Get Refund

Tool to retrieve a refund by its ID from Shippo.

Get Shipment

Tool to retrieve a shipment by its ID.

Get Shippo Account

Tool to retrieve a Shippo Account from the Shippo Platform API.

Get Tracking Status

Tool to retrieve tracking status for a shipment from Shippo.

Get Transaction

Tool to retrieve a shipping label transaction by its ID.

Get User Parcel Template

Tool to retrieve a specific user-created parcel template by its object ID.

Get Webhook

Tool to retrieve a specific webhook subscription from Shippo.

List Addresses

Tool to list all addresses in the Shippo account with pagination support.

List Carrier Accounts

Tool to list all carrier accounts configured in the Shippo account with pagination support.

List Carrier Parcel Templates

Tool to list all carrier parcel templates available for creating shipments.

List Customs Declarations

Tool to list all customs declarations in the Shippo account with pagination support.

List Customs Items

Tool to list all customs items with pagination support.

List Manifests

Tool to list all shipping manifests from Shippo.

List Merchant Addresses

Tool to list all addresses for a specific merchant using the Shippo Platform API.

List Merchant Carrier Accounts

Tool to list all carrier accounts for a specific merchant using the Shippo Platform API.

List Merchant Customs Declarations

Tool to list all customs declarations for a specific merchant using the Shippo Platform API.

List Merchant Customs Items

Tool to list all customs items for a specific merchant using the Shippo Platform API.

List Merchant Manifests

Tool to list all manifests for a specific merchant using Shippo's Platform API.

List Merchant Parcels

Tool to list all parcels for a specific merchant using the Shippo Platform API.

List Merchants

Tool to list all merchants using the Shippo Platform API with pagination support.

List Merchant Shipment Rates by Currency

Tool to retrieve available shipping rates for a merchant's shipment filtered by currency code using the Shippo Platform API.

List Merchant Shipments

Tool to list all shipments for a specific merchant using Shippo's Platform API.

List Merchant Transactions

Tool to list all shipping label transactions for a merchant using the Shippo Platform API.

List Orders

Tool to list all orders in the Shippo account with pagination support.

List Refunds

Tool to retrieve a list of all refunds from Shippo.

List Service Groups

Tool to retrieve all service groups configured in Shippo.

List Shipment Rates

Tool to retrieve available shipping rates for a specific shipment.

List Shipment Rates by Currency

Tool to retrieve available shipping rates for a specific shipment filtered by currency code.

List Shipments

Tool to list all shipments in the Shippo account with pagination support.

List Shippo Accounts

Tool to list all Managed Shippo Accounts.

List User Parcel Templates

Tool to list all user-created parcel templates.

Purchase Merchant Batch

Tool to purchase a batch for a merchant via the Shippo Platform API.

Remove Shipments From Batch

Tool to remove shipments from a batch for a merchant using the Shippo Platform API.

Update Carrier Account

Tool to update an existing carrier account in Shippo.

Update Default Parcel Template

Tool to update the default parcel template for live rates at checkout in Shippo.

Update Merchant

Tool to update an existing merchant in Shippo Platform API.

Update Merchant Carrier Account

Tool to update a carrier account for a merchant in Shippo Platform API.

Update Service Group

Tool to update an existing Shippo service group.

Update User Parcel Template

Tool to update an existing user parcel template with new weight and carrier template settings.

Update Webhook

Tool to update an existing webhook in Shippo.

Validate Address

Tool to validate an address using the Shippo API.

Validate Merchant Address

Tool to validate a merchant address using the Shippo Platform API.

FRAMEWORKS

How to build Shippo MCP Agent with another framework

OpenAI Agents SDK logo

OpenAI Agents SDK

Use Shippo MCP with OpenAI Agents SDK

Claude Agent SDK logo

Claude Agent SDK

Use Shippo MCP with Claude Agent SDK

Claude Code logo

Claude Code

Use Shippo MCP with Claude Code

Claude Cowork logo

Claude Cowork

Use Shippo MCP with Claude Cowork

Codex logo

Codex

Use Shippo MCP with Codex

OpenClaw logo

OpenClaw

Use Shippo MCP with OpenClaw

Hermes logo

Hermes

Use Shippo MCP with Hermes

CLI logo

CLI

Use Shippo MCP with CLI

Google ADK logo

Google ADK

Use Shippo MCP with Google ADK

LangChain logo

LangChain

Use Shippo MCP with LangChain

Mastra AI logo

Mastra AI

Use Shippo MCP with Mastra AI

LlamaIndex logo

LlamaIndex

Use Shippo MCP with LlamaIndex

CrewAI logo

CrewAI

Use Shippo MCP with CrewAI

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

With a standalone Shippo MCP server, the agents and LLMs can only access a fixed set of Shippo tools tied to that server. However, with the Composio Tool Router, agents can dynamically load tools from Shippo and many other apps based on the task at hand, all through a single MCP endpoint.

Yes, you can. Vercel AI SDK v6 fully supports MCP integration. You get structured tool calling, message history handling, and model orchestration while Tool Router takes care of discovering and serving the right Shippo tools.

Yes, absolutely. You can configure which Shippo scopes and actions are allowed when connecting your account to Composio. You can also bring your own OAuth credentials or API configuration so you keep full control over what the agent can do.

All sensitive data such as tokens, keys, and configuration is fully encrypted at rest and in transit. Composio is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and follows strict security practices so your Shippo data and credentials are handled as safely as possible.

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Co-founder, Slashy

A lot of students tell us that the moment their connected tools start talking to each other inside Opennote feels almost magical. The agent just knows them, and it's immensely helped keep new users on the platform.

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Co-founder, Opennote

We chose Composio over Pipedream because it delivered depth where it mattered — niche tools and tricky edge cases other platforms simply ignored. That gave us confidence to scale without compromising.

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CEO, Zams

As a solo builder, shipping fast is life or death. The only way I can outcompete incumbents is by outmanoeuvring them. Getting bogged down managing agent auth would have been a death sentence.

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Founder, Extra Thursday

Before Composio, adding tool integrations was slow and resource-intensive. Each one could take weeks of engineering time, and maintaining them meant constantly keeping up with API changes.

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With hands-on help from their founder, we integrated Gmail and Google Drive in just 30 minutes. This level of personal support and commitment is exactly what startups should strive for.

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