Model Context Protocol (MCP)

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard that lets AI assistants use external services. The e-invoice.be MCP server gives AI agents access to your invoices, credit notes, Peppol network data and usage statistics.

All MCP tools are read-only. An MCP client cannot create, change or delete data. To create or send documents, use the API reference. To create or send documents from a terminal, or from an AI agent that can run shell commands, use the peppol CLI.

Prerequisites

Before you set up MCP, you need:

An e-invoice.be account. Sign up at app.e-invoice.be.
The API key of your company. Open API Settings in the app and copy the key. See Authentication.

The server URL is https://api.e-invoice.be/mcp. It is the same for all clients. The transport is streamable HTTP, and you authenticate with your API key as a Bearer token.

Setup

Claude Code supports remote MCP servers with streamable HTTP.Use the command line (recommended):

claude mcp add --transport http e-invoice https://api.e-invoice.be/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

This command registers the server at user scope. To register it at project scope, add --scope project.As an alternative, add this JSON to ~/.claude.json (user scope) or .claude/settings.local.json (project scope):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "e-invoice": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://api.e-invoice.be/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Then restart Claude Code or run /mcp and make sure that the server is in the list.

Claude Code MCP docs

Official documentation for MCP in Claude Code

Claude Desktop does not connect directly to remote streamable HTTP MCP servers. Use mcp-remote as a bridge. It needs Node.js 18 or later.

Open the configuration file

Select Claude → Settings → Developer → Edit Config. The file location is:

OS	Configuration file
macOS	`~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`
Windows	`%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json`
Linux	`~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`

Add the server

Add the mcpServers key, or merge the entry into the key that is there:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "e-invoice": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-remote@latest",
        "https://api.e-invoice.be/mcp",
        "--header",
        "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop

The e-invoice tools then show in the tools menu of the composer.

Claude Desktop MCP docs

Official documentation for connecting MCP servers to Claude Desktop

ChatGPT supports remote MCP servers as custom connectors on the Plus, Pro, Business and Enterprise plans.

Custom connectors in developer mode are not available for all account types in the EEA, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. Make sure that your ChatGPT plan supports this feature before you continue.

Enable developer mode

Open chatgpt.com and go to Settings → Connectors → Advanced. Set Developer mode to on.

Create the connector

Select Create → Add custom connector and enter these values:

Name: e-invoice
Description: Read and look up Peppol invoices
MCP server URL: https://api.e-invoice.be/mcp
Authentication: Custom header, with header name Authorization and header value Bearer YOUR_API_KEY

Save

Save the connector and accept the trust prompt.

Enable the connector in a chat

In each chat, select + → Connectors and enable the connector.

ChatGPT connectors overview

Learn about connectors in ChatGPT

Developer mode docs

Enable custom MCP connectors

Add this JSON to ~/.cursor/mcp.json (global) or .cursor/mcp.json (one project):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "e-invoice": {
      "url": "https://api.e-invoice.be/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Save the file, then restart Cursor or open a new chat session. The tools show in the MCP tools list.

Cursor MCP docs

Official documentation for MCP in Cursor

For GitHub Copilot in VS Code, add this JSON to .vscode/mcp.json in the root of your project:

{
  "servers": {
    "e-invoice": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://api.e-invoice.be/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

As an alternative, add the server to your user or workspace settings.json below the mcp.servers key.

VS Code MCP docs

Official documentation for MCP in VS Code

Add this JSON to ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "e-invoice": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://api.e-invoice.be/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Save the file, then restart Windsurf.

If you have no API key, see Authentication.

Available tools

Documents

Tool	Description
`get_document`	Get one invoice or credit note by ID, with line items, tax details, payment data and attachments
`get_document_attachments`	List all attachments of a document (see Attachments and PDF)
`get_document_attachment`	Get one attachment with a signed download URL (valid for 1 hour)
`get_document_timeline`	Get the event history of a document in time sequence (creation, validation, transmission, delivery). See Document lifecycle and delivery tracking

Inbox

Tool	Description
`get_inbox`	List all received documents; filter by type, sender, date range and search text
`get_inbox_invoices`	List only received invoices
`get_inbox_credit_notes`	List only received credit notes

Outbox

Tool	Description
`get_outbox`	List all sent documents; filter by receiver, date range and search text

Drafts

Tool	Description
`get_drafts`	List draft documents; filter by state (`DRAFT`, `TRANSIT`, `FAILED`), type and date range

Peppol lookup

These tools are public and need no authentication.

Tool	Description
`get_lookup_peppol_id`	Check if a participant is registered on the Peppol network and get the document types that it supports
`get_lookup_participants`	Search for Peppol participants by name, with an optional country filter

Statistics

Tool	Description
`get_stats`	Get send and receive statistics by day, week or month. See Usage statistics and credits

Example prompts

When the client is connected, you can ask questions about your company in natural language:

“Show me all invoices received this month”
“Get the details and timeline of document doc-1a2b3c4d5e6f7a8b9c0d1e2f3a4b5c6d”
“Is the company with VAT number BE0848934496 registered on Peppol?”
“Search for Peppol participants named ‘OpenPeppol’ in Belgium”
“Show my send and receive statistics for the last 3 months, by month”
“List all failed documents in my drafts”
“What attachments are on invoice doc-1a2b3c4d5e6f7a8b9c0d1e2f3a4b5c6d?”

Troubleshooting

The tools do not show after setup

Restart the application. Most MCP clients load the server configuration only when they start.

Make sure that your API key is correct. This request must return your company data:

curl -s https://api.e-invoice.be/api/me/ \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $E_INVOICE_API_KEY"

Make sure that the server URL is https://api.e-invoice.be/mcp, with no slash at the end.

Claude Desktop does not show the tools

Look for errors in the log file:
- macOS: tail -n 50 ~/Library/Logs/Claude/mcp.log
- Windows: open %APPDATA%\Claude\logs\mcp.log
Make sure that Node.js 18 or later is installed and on your PATH: node --version.

Run mcp-remote manually to see authentication errors:

npx mcp-remote@latest https://api.e-invoice.be/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $E_INVOICE_API_KEY"

Make sure that the JSON is valid. If the file has a comma at the end of a list or a missing quotation mark, Claude Desktop does not load the server and shows no error.

ChatGPT does not offer the connector

Custom connectors need Developer mode. Enable it in Settings → Connectors → Advanced.
Developer mode is not available on all plans and in all regions. Limits can apply in the EEA, the United Kingdom and Switzerland.
Enable the connector in each new chat with the + → Connectors menu.

Authentication errors

Make sure that you copied the full API key.
An organisation API key for the Admin API does not work with MCP. Use the API key of a company.
If you reset your key, update the configuration file and restart the client.
For the HTTP status codes of the API, see Errors and troubleshooting.

Security

Your API key gives an MCP client access to all data of your tenant that the read-only tools can return. Protect it as you protect all API credentials.

Read-only access: MCP tools cannot create, change or delete data.
Tenant scope: the API key controls which tenant the tools can read. A tenant is one company.
Public lookup tools: get_lookup_peppol_id and get_lookup_participants operate without authentication.
Sandbox company first: use the API key of a sandbox company while you try MCP. See Test mode and sandbox companies.

Next Steps

Authentication

Get your API key and learn how the API authenticates requests

API reference

Create and send documents with the REST API

peppol CLI

Create, validate and send documents from a terminal or a script

Webhooks

Receive a notification for each document event

Getting started

Send documents

Receive and manage

Other input formats

Integrate

SDKs and tools

Resellers

Reference

Model Context Protocol (MCP)

Prerequisites

Setup

Claude Code MCP docs

Claude Desktop MCP docs

ChatGPT connectors overview

Developer mode docs

Cursor MCP docs

VS Code MCP docs

Available tools

Documents

Inbox

Outbox

Drafts

Peppol lookup

Statistics

Example prompts

Troubleshooting

Security

Next Steps

Authentication

API reference

peppol CLI

Webhooks

​Prerequisites

​Setup

Claude Code MCP docs

Claude Desktop MCP docs

ChatGPT connectors overview

Developer mode docs

Cursor MCP docs

VS Code MCP docs

​Available tools

​Documents

​Inbox

​Outbox

​Drafts

​Peppol lookup

​Statistics

​Example prompts

​Troubleshooting

​Security

​Next Steps

Authentication

API reference

peppol CLI

Webhooks

Prerequisites

Setup

Available tools

Documents

Inbox

Outbox

Drafts

Peppol lookup

Statistics

Example prompts

Troubleshooting

Security

Next Steps