Flodesk MCP Server & CLI

A free, open source Flodesk MCP server and CLI that lets Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and other AI agents manage your subscribers, segments and workflows, and draft campaigns.

Navid Moazzezby Navid Moazzez·Updated Oct 5, 2026·14 min read·
Your computer
  1. 1

    Add it with a single command in a terminal.

    Put your own API key in place of the example.

    claude mcp add flodesk \
    -e FLODESK_API_KEY=YOUR_API_KEY \
    -- npx -y @thenavidm/flodesk-mcp-cli@latest
  2. 2

    In Claude Code, type /mcp. Flodesk should show as connected.

    /mcp

Needs Node 22 or newer and a Flodesk API key, on a paid plan. Get it in a minute.

It's free and open source. If it saves you time, star it on GitHub, so more people find it.

Rate this tool

This free Flodesk MCP server and CLI gives your AI real access to your Flodesk account: subscribers, segments, custom fields, workflows, campaigns and webhooks. It reads and updates subscribers, manages segments and custom fields, starts subscribers on workflows, turns Canva or Studio designs into draft campaigns, and sets up webhooks.

It's one install with two ways in. Claude, Codex, Cursor or any other MCP app calls its 32 tools for you, and the same tools work as a CLI that agents like Claude Code, Codex and OpenCode run, or that you type yourself.

In this guide, I'll show you:

  • What the Flodesk MCP server & CLI is, and what you can ask it
  • How to install it and check that it works
  • When to use the MCP server, and when the CLI
  • Every tool, and how to keep your account safe

Every tool on this page comes from the server itself, and every cost was measured in Claude Code.

key_takeaways.mdTL;DR

Key takeaways

It gives Claude, Codex, Cursor and any other MCP app 32 tools for Flodesk: subscribers, segments, custom fields, workflows, draft campaigns and webhooks.
Flodesk's API keys come with its paid plans, and you make one under My Account, then Integrations, then API keys.
A campaign it makes is always a draft, and anything that changes your audience or can email someone waits for your approval.
The same tools run as a CLI, which costs your AI nothing until it runs.

What is the Flodesk MCP server & CLI?

The Flodesk MCP server & CLI is a free, open source program that lets AI agents work in your Flodesk account for you, in two ways. The MCP server is what an AI app like Claude, Codex or Cursor connects to, through MCP (Model Context Protocol), the open standard AI apps use to call outside tools.

You ask in plain language. Your AI picks the right tool, and the server makes the call to Flodesk's own API.

The CLI is the same program as commands. flodesk-cli list-subscribers runs the same code your AI runs when you ask who's on your list, whether an agent like Claude Code runs it or you do.

In an AI OS, the layer that connects your AI to your context, your data and your tools, a server like this is how your AI reaches Flodesk. My guide to building an AI operating system names Flodesk among the tools it reaches, and here's how I use AI myself.

What can you ask it?

Once it's set up, you ask the way you'd ask an assistant. These are real prompts it handles:

Try asking
How many active subscribers do I have, and who joined this week?
Add jane@example.com to my list and to my VIP segment.
Start this subscriber on my welcome workflow.
List my segments and my workflows.
Turn my latest Canva email design into a draft campaign.
Unsubscribe old@example.com from everything.

The fifth one shows why this is useful. Your design lands in Flodesk as a draft campaign, ready for you to check and send yourself.

It works well next to my Teachable MCP server and Calendly MCP server, so your AI can enroll your buyers in a course and find open times for a call in the same chat. Every server I've made is on my MCP servers page.

For the emails themselves, my free email subject line generator and email subject line tester help too.

How to install the Flodesk MCP server

Pick your app in the box at the top of this page. Each one is a single command or a pasted block, and they all run through npx, so there's nothing to install first.

Windsurf, Zed and Cline take the same server, though they don't have a tab in the box yet. Follow the box's Cursor tab, and put its block here instead:

AppWhere the block goes
WindsurfIn the Cascade panel, open the Actions menu (…) and choose Open MCP config file, then paste the block.
ClineClick the MCP Servers icon in the Cline panel, open the Configure tab, click Configure MCP Servers, and paste the block.
ZedGo to Settings, then AI, then MCP Servers, and choose Add Server, then Add Local Server. Enter the block's command, arguments and variables, and Zed saves them under context_servers.
Before you start0/3

Watch out: Flodesk shows a new API key only once. Copy it before you click Done, or you'll need to make a new one.

Set up your Flodesk account

It takes a minute.

Get your API key0/4

If you've built a partner app with Flodesk's OAuth, put its access token into FLODESK_ACCESS_TOKEN instead. Flodesk's access tokens last 24 hours, and the server uses the token as it is, so your app keeps it fresh.

To keep the key out of your app's config, save it alone in a file only you can read, and point FLODESK_TOKEN_FILE at that file's full path instead. For a file that holds an OAuth token, also set FLODESK_AUTH_TYPE to oauth.

Check that it works

Run the doctor with --network. It checks your settings, then reads one page of subscribers to prove the key works. It prints only the count, never a subscriber, and it never changes anything.

npx -y @thenavidm/flodesk-mcp-cli doctor --network

When every line has a check mark, restart your app and ask it how many active subscribers you have. A failed check usually means the key was mistyped or deleted.

In Claude Code, /mcp also shows whether the Flodesk server is connected. It's one of the Claude Code commands worth knowing.

Use the Flodesk CLI

The CLI is the same 32 tools as commands. AI agents that run commands, like Claude Code, Codex and OpenCode, use it on their own, and you can type the same commands in a terminal or a script.

Every tool name becomes a command with dashes, so list_subscribers runs as flodesk-cli list-subscribers.

npm install -g @thenavidm/flodesk-mcp-cli
flodesk-cli
flodesk-cli list-subscribers --status active --per-page 20
flodesk-cli get-subscriber --id-or-email jane@example.com
flodesk-cli add-subscriber-to-segments --id-or-email jane@example.com --segment-ids YOUR_SEGMENT_ID --confirm
flodesk-cli list-workflows

The bare flodesk-cli lists every command, flodesk-cli which <words> finds the command for a task, and flodesk-cli <command> --help shows what a command takes. Anything that changes your audience, a workflow, a draft or a webhook needs --confirm, the terminal's version of your approval.

flodesk-cli install <app> adds the server to Claude Code, Codex, Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code or Gemini CLI, in each app's own format.

These are the flags you'll use most:

FlagWhat it does
--jsonPrints JSON
--compactPrints the JSON on one line
--select a,b.cKeeps only those fields, and a dotted path goes deeper
--agentMachine mode: compact JSON, no prompts, and it never confirms anything
--confirmLets a write that asks first go ahead
--dry-runShows what a write would do, without doing it

A script can branch on the exit code:

Exit codeWhat it means
0It worked
1Something unexpected went wrong
2The command was typed wrong, or a write needed --confirm
3It wasn't found
4Flodesk rejected the credentials
5Flodesk failed or couldn't be reached
7You hit a rate limit, so wait and try again
10Nothing is set up yet

MCP server or CLI: which one?

Both are the same program with the same 32 tools. The difference is when your AI pays for them, in the tokens it reads.

Every message, in an app that loads every tool
MCP server
12,700 tokens
CLI
Nothing
Every message, in Claude Code
MCP server
950 tokens
CLI
Nothing
When Flodesk comes up
MCP server
Nothing more, or in Claude Code the tools it picks
CLI
1,300 tokens, once
20 messages with Flodesk in one, every tool loaded
MCP server
255,000 tokens
CLI
1,300 tokens
Works in Claude Desktop's chat
MCP server
Yes
CLI
No, there's no terminal there
Works in a script, a cron job or CI
MCP server
No
CLI
Yes

An app that loads every tool up front sends the full list with every message, whether you mention Flodesk or not. Claude Code doesn't by default: its tool search sends only the tool names and the server's instructions, and loads a tool's full definition when your AI reaches for it.

The CLI costs nothing until Flodesk comes up. Then your agent reads its skill file once and runs the commands it needs. With the skill added, Claude Code also lists its one-line description with every message, about 70 tokens.

When the whole conversation is about Flodesk, the gap closes. Then the MCP server is the better experience, because you ask in plain language and your AI never has to look up a command.

How to spend less

In Claude Code, leave tool search on, which it is unless you've set ENABLE_TOOL_SEARCH=false.

Turn the server off when you aren't working on your list. In Claude Code that's the /mcp panel, and every AI app has its own switch. FLODESK_READ_ONLY=1 cuts it to the 16 reading tools.

Or install the CLI and connect the server later, on the days it earns its place. Every tool stays in reach, and the standing cost drops to nothing.

Every number here was measured on October 5, 2026 in Claude Code 2.1.286 with Claude Opus 5.5. It's the same one-line prompt with and without the server connected, once with tool search off so every tool loads, and once with Claude Code's default. The skill was measured the same way, and other apps and models count tokens a little differently.

Drafts, opt-ins and workflows

A campaign this server makes is always a draft. publish_canva_email and publish_studio_email turn a design into a draft campaign in Flodesk, and you send or schedule it there yourself.

Some changes can email people. A new subscriber added with double opt-in gets a confirmation email, and starting someone on a workflow can send its emails right away. That's why both ask first.

A workflow takes someone a second time only after they've finished it once, and only if the workflow allows repeat subscribers. Abandoned cart workflows can't be started this way at all.

Unsubscribing someone keeps their record in Flodesk with the new status, and taking them out of a segment changes only the segment.

batch_create_or_update_subscribers adds or updates up to 50 subscribers in one request. For a mix of changes, preview_subscriber_batch checks up to 20 of them on your computer and gives the batch a fingerprint, and submit_subscriber_batch runs them in order only with that same fingerprint.

Watch out: Flodesk allows 100 requests a minute, and 20 a minute for batches, so a big import goes at up to 1,000 subscribers a minute. The server spaces its requests out, and it never retries one on its own.

Every Flodesk tool

The tables below list all 32 tools, grouped by what they're for. Of these, 16 only read, and 16 change something in your Flodesk account or on your computer.

Subscribers

list_subscribers
What it does
Lists your subscribers, filtered by status or segment.
Kind
Reads
create_or_update_subscriber
What it does
Adds a subscriber, or updates one by ID or email.
Kind
Asks first
batch_create_or_update_subscribers
What it does
Adds or updates up to 50 subscribers in one request.
Kind
Asks first
get_subscriber
What it does
Reads one subscriber, by ID or email.
Kind
Reads
unsubscribe
What it does
Unsubscribes someone from all your lists.
Kind
Asks first
save_subscriber_page
What it does
Saves one page of subscribers to a new private JSON file.
Kind
Asks first

Segments

list_segments
What it does
Lists your segments.
Kind
Reads
create_segment
What it does
Adds a segment.
Kind
Asks first
list_segment_colors
What it does
Lists the colors a segment can have.
Kind
Reads
get_segment
What it does
Reads one segment.
Kind
Reads
remove_subscriber_from_segments
What it does
Takes a subscriber out of segments, and keeps the subscriber.
Kind
Asks first
add_subscriber_to_segments
What it does
Puts a subscriber into segments.
Kind
Asks first

Custom fields

list_custom_fields
What it does
Lists your custom fields, a page at a time.
Kind
Reads
create_custom_field
What it does
Adds a custom field.
Kind
Asks first
list_all_custom_fields
What it does
Lists every custom field at once.
Kind
Reads

Workflows

list_workflows
What it does
Lists your workflows.
Kind
Reads
add_subscriber_to_workflow
What it does
Starts a subscriber on a workflow, which can send them emails.
Kind
Asks first
remove_subscriber_from_workflow
What it does
Takes a subscriber off a workflow.
Kind
Asks first

Draft campaigns

list_campaigns
What it does
Lists your campaigns, with search, status and sorting.
Kind
Reads
publish_canva_email
What it does
Turns a Canva email design into a draft campaign, and never sends it.
Kind
Asks first
get_canva_design_state
What it does
Reads the latest Canva design state, to pick the right campaign.
Kind
Reads
publish_studio_email
What it does
Turns an email from Flodesk Studio into a draft campaign, and never sends it.
Kind
Asks first

Webhooks

list_webhooks
What it does
Lists your webhooks.
Kind
Reads
create_webhook
What it does
Adds a webhook that sends events to your own URL.
Kind
Asks first
delete_webhook
What it does
Deletes a webhook.
Kind
Asks first
get_webhook
What it does
Reads one webhook.
Kind
Reads
update_webhook
What it does
Changes a webhook's name, URL or events.
Kind
Asks first

Batches

preview_subscriber_batch
What it does
Checks up to 20 subscriber changes on your computer and gives the batch a fingerprint.
Kind
Reads
submit_subscriber_batch
What it does
Runs a checked batch in order, only with the fingerprint from its preview.
Kind
Asks first

Your accounts and requests

list_accounts
What it does
Lists the accounts you've set up, without their keys.
Kind
Reads
get_operation_schema
What it does
Shows every field Flodesk accepts for one of its requests.
Kind
Reads
get_oauth_userinfo
What it does
Shows whose account an OAuth token belongs to.
Kind
Reads

Is the Flodesk MCP server safe?

Your list is your business, and some changes email people. So 16 tools ask first: every change to a subscriber, segment, custom field, workflow, campaign draft or webhook, and saving subscribers to a file. They're the ones marked "Asks first" in the tool tables above.

Reading your list never asks, because it changes nothing.

When your AI calls one of them, the call needs a yes first. Where you use it decides who gives it:

  • Claude Code (2.1.246 and later) asks you before every call, in every one of its permission modes.
  • An app that can show forms asks you in a form.
  • Any other app takes your AI's confirm: true as the yes, so tell your AI to check with you first.
  • An agent with no person to ask needs FLODESK_CONFIRM=model, so its confirm: true counts in every app.
  • In a terminal, you add --confirm to the command.

If the answer is no, nothing reaches Flodesk.

Make it read-only

Set FLODESK_READ_ONLY=1 and every tool that asks first disappears from the tool list, leaving 16 reading tools.

Keep a log of every write

Set FLODESK_AUDIT_LOG to a file path. The server writes one line per attempted write, allowed or blocked, with what it was about to do and who approved it.

Watch out: Subscriber names and custom fields are typed by other people, and one can try to give your AI orders. Treat them as data, and use FLODESK_READ_ONLY=1 for an agent working on its own.

Your data

Your requests go straight to Flodesk, with no server of ours in between and no tracking. Your key stays in your app's config, your shell or your token file.

A saved page of subscribers holds their emails and names, so keep the file private and delete it when you're done.

To cut access, delete the key under My Account, then Integrations, then API keys, and remove the server from your app's config.

Connect more than one Flodesk account

Set FLODESK_ACCOUNTS to a JSON list with a name and a key, an OAuth token or a token file for each account, and FLODESK_DEFAULT_ACCOUNT to the one that acts when a tool names none. Every tool takes an optional account.

An account never borrows another one's key. If the account you name has no key, the call stops instead of changing a different list.

Flodesk MCP server settings

Every setting is an environment variable, in your app's config or your shell.

FLODESK_API_KEY
Default
none
What it does
Holds your API key
FLODESK_ACCESS_TOKEN
Default
none
What it does
Holds an OAuth access token from your own partner app, instead of a key
FLODESK_TOKEN_FILE
Default
none
What it does
Points at a private file holding the key or token, instead
FLODESK_AUTH_TYPE
Default
api_key
What it does
oauth says the token file holds an OAuth token
FLODESK_ACCOUNTS
Default
none
What it does
Lists several accounts, as JSON
FLODESK_DEFAULT_ACCOUNT
Default
the first one
What it does
Picks the account that acts when a tool names none
FLODESK_REQUEST_TIMEOUT_MS
Default
30000
What it does
Gives up on a Flodesk request after this many milliseconds
FLODESK_MIN_REQUEST_INTERVAL_MS
Default
650
What it does
Waits this many milliseconds between requests
FLODESK_BATCH_MIN_REQUEST_INTERVAL_MS
Default
3100
What it does
Waits this many milliseconds between batch requests
FLODESK_READ_ONLY
Default
off
What it does
1 hides every tool that changes something
FLODESK_ALLOW_DESTRUCTIVE
Default
on
What it does
0 refuses the tools that ask first
FLODESK_AUDIT_LOG
Default
none
What it does
Names a file that gets one line per attempted write
FLODESK_SURFACE
Default
full
What it does
search lists three tools that find, describe and run the rest
FLODESK_TOOL_TIMEOUT_MS
Default
none
What it does
Gives up on any tool after this many milliseconds
FLODESK_CONFIRM
Default
human
What it does
model lets your AI's confirm: true approve on its own, for an agent with no person to ask
FLODESK_HTTP_PORT
Default
8787
What it does
Sets the port for --http
FLODESK_HTTP_HOST
Default
127.0.0.1
What it does
Sets the address for --http, and any other needs a token
FLODESK_HTTP_TOKEN
Default
none
What it does
Sets the bearer token every --http request needs
FLODESK_HTTP_ALLOWED_ORIGINS
Default
none
What it does
Lists other websites allowed to call --http, comma separated
FLODESK_DEBUG
Default
off
What it does
1 prints debug lines

Troubleshooting

Run the doctor first. It names the step that failed and the fix.

What you seeWhat to do
The key check failsThe key was mistyped or deleted. Make a new one under My Account, then Integrations, then API keys
There's no API keys pageAPI keys come with paid plans only, not trials or free accounts
A token file is read as an API keySet FLODESK_AUTH_TYPE=oauth for a file that holds an OAuth token
A workflow won't take a subscriberThey haven't finished it yet, the workflow doesn't allow repeat subscribers, or it's an abandoned cart workflow
A 429 errorFlodesk allows 100 requests a minute, and 20 for batches. Wait a minute, and check before you try again
A campaign didn't go outCampaigns made here are drafts. Send or schedule them in Flodesk
"…so it will not run without confirm: true"That's the safety check working. Approve it when your app asks

If the server doesn't show up in your app at all, run the command your app runs, in a terminal, and read the error.

FAQs about the Flodesk MCP server & CLI

Here are the questions people ask most about the Flodesk MCP server and CLI.

The Flodesk MCP server & CLI is a free, open source program that lets an AI app like Claude, Codex or Cursor work in your Flodesk account.

It has 32 tools for subscribers, segments, custom fields, workflows, campaigns and webhooks, and the same tools run as a CLI that agents like Claude Code and Codex use, or that you type yourself.

An MCP server is a standard way to give an AI app real access to a tool, so it can act instead of guessing.

MCP stands for Model Context Protocol, and Claude, Codex, Cursor and many other AI apps speak it.

Every server I've made is on my MCP servers page.

The Flodesk CLI is the same program as the Flodesk MCP server, run as commands.

AI agents like Claude Code, Codex and OpenCode run them for you, and you can type them in a terminal or a script.

One npm package installs both.

Use the Flodesk MCP server in an AI app with no terminal, like Claude Desktop's chat, and the CLI in a terminal, a script or a cron job.

In an AI app that can run commands, like Claude Code, Codex or Cursor, the CLI is the lighter choice, because it costs nothing until it runs.

Yes, the Flodesk MCP server is free and open source under the AGPL-3.0 license.

Flodesk's API comes with its paid plans, so the only other thing you pay for is your own AI app.

You need a paid Flodesk plan, because API keys aren't part of trials or free accounts.

You make the key under My Account, then Integrations, then API keys.

No, it makes draft campaigns only, from a Canva or Studio design.

You send or schedule them in Flodesk yourself.

Yes, it can.

A new subscriber added with double opt-in gets a confirmation email, and starting someone on a workflow can send its emails, so both ask first.

Yes, the Flodesk MCP server connects as many accounts as you set up in FLODESK_ACCOUNTS, each with its own key or token.

Every tool takes an optional account, and an account never borrows another one's key.

To disconnect the Flodesk MCP server, delete its key under My Account, then Integrations, then API keys, which cuts access right away.

Then remove the server from your AI app's config.

The Flodesk MCP server works with any app that speaks MCP.

That includes Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf, Zed, Cline, GitHub Copilot CLI, Gemini CLI, OpenCode, OpenClaw, Antigravity and Hermes.

I did.

I'm Navid Moazzez, and I made the Flodesk MCP server & CLI as one of my free tools on navid.me.

You can read more about me.

The code is on GitHub under the AGPL-3.0 license, and the package is on npm.

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Navid Moazzez

AI business strategist

Navid Moazzez helps creators and founders master AI and build their own AI Operating System (AI OS) to automate their business and life.

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