AI Assistants (MCP) | KennelBooker Developer Platform

What it does

The KennelBooker MCP server is a small program that runs on your own computer and connects your AI assistant to this API. Once it is installed you can ask questions like these and get answers from your live data:

Day sheets

“Who is arriving tomorrow, and which rooms are they in?”

Care detail

“Does Poppy need medication, and what are her allergies?”

Quick answers

“How many boarding bookings are unpaid this month?”

It can look, but not touch. The server is read-only, because this API is read-only. An assistant using it cannot create, change or cancel a booking, so there is no risk of it altering your diary.

Install in Claude Desktop

This is the easiest route and needs nothing installed beforehand. It takes about a minute.

Generate an API key. In KennelBooker, go to Settings › API and select Generate Key. Copy the key somewhere safe — it is only shown once.
Download the extension. Get the .mcpb file from the latest release.
Install it. In Claude Desktop open Settings › Extensions, then drag the downloaded file onto that page and select Install.
Paste your key. You will be asked for it during install. It is stored securely on your computer and is sent only to KennelBooker.

Ask your assistant “check the KennelBooker API status” to confirm the connection before you rely on it.

Install for developers

For any MCP client that takes a JSON configuration — Claude Code, editor integrations, your own agent. Requires Node.js 18 or later.

MCP client configuration

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "kennelbooker": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@kennelbooker/mcp"],
      "env": {
        "KB_API_KEY": "kb_live_your_api_key"
      }
    }
  }
}

For Claude Code, one command does the same thing:

Claude Code

claude mcp add kennelbooker \
  --env KB_API_KEY=kb_live_your_api_key \
  -- npx -y @kennelbooker/mcp

Settings

Every setting is an environment variable. Only the first is required.

Variable	Default	Purpose
`KB_API_KEY`	—	Your business API key. Sent as `X-Api-Key`.
`KB_API_BASE_URL`	`https://api.kennelbooker.com/api/v1`	Point at a different environment. Must use HTTPS.
`KB_TIMEOUT_MS`	`30000`	Per-request timeout in milliseconds.
`KB_RAW_RESPONSES`	off	Set to `1` to return this API's JSON untouched.
`KB_DEBUG`	off	Set to `1` to log each request, with its id, to stderr.

What it can access

Eleven tools, each mapping to endpoints documented elsewhere in this portal. All are read-only.

Tool	Endpoint	Returns
`list_bookings`	`GET /bookings`	Bookings by date, type, status, customer or free text. Paged.
`get_booking`	`GET /bookings/{id}`	One booking, by id or by reference.
`list_arrivals`	`GET /bookings/checkin`	A day's arrivals.
`list_departures`	`GET /bookings/checkout`	A day's departures.
`list_customers`	`GET /customers`	Customers by name, email, mobile or date. Paged.
`get_customer`	`GET /customers/{id}`	One customer, with contact details and consent.
`list_customer_pets`	`GET /customers/{id}/pets`	That customer's pets.
`list_customer_bookings`	`GET /customers/{id}/bookings`	That customer's booking history. Paged.
`list_pets`	`GET /pets`	Pets by name, owner, species or breed. Paged.
`get_pet`	`GET /pets/{id}`	One pet's full care record.
`check_api_status`	`GET /health`	Whether the API is up and the key is accepted.

Keys and privacy

Your key stays with you

The server runs on your own computer and reads the key from your local configuration. It is sent to api.kennelbooker.com and nowhere else.

Your assistant sees what it asks for

Answers include real customer names, addresses, phone numbers and veterinary detail, and those go to your assistant's provider to be processed.

Consider your data protection obligations. Connecting this server sends customer personal data to whichever AI provider you use. Check that provider's terms and your own privacy notice before using it on live data, and treat the API key like a password — anyone holding it can read your whole customer list. If a key is exposed, generate a new one in Settings › API.

Troubleshooting

Ask your assistant to check the KennelBooker API status. That runs one diagnostic tool which tells three similar-looking problems apart: the API being unreachable, the address being wrong, and the key being rejected.

Symptom	Usual cause
The assistant has no KennelBooker tools	The extension is not installed or the client was not restarted after editing its configuration.
`401 authentication_failed`	The key is wrong, was regenerated, or was pasted with a stray space. Generate a fresh one.
`404 not_found`	The record belongs to another business, or the identifier is wrong. Search by name or reference instead.
Requests time out	A page size that is too large. Ask for fewer records, or raise `KB_TIMEOUT_MS`.

Every error carries a request id. Quote it to support and we can trace the exact call in our logs.