Let Claude run a small office shop and order its stock
Anthropic and Andon Labs had a Claude agent called Claudius run a self-serve shop in the office, choosing stock, setting prices and handling requests. It lost money, partly by selling tungsten cubes below cost after staff asked for them.
Source: the vendor. The people who wrote this source make the agent, tool or system in the story. It is not an independent account.
Do this with your agent
How you could do the same thing today. “Official MCP” is the vendor's own server. “Manual” means you use the provider's own site or app.
- Real World MCPFind it through our connector
Add our server and ask your agent to run search_tools. It lists Lob with prices and links. It does not place orders.
- Send a letter or postcard from your AI agentStep by step
What works today, through which server, at what price.
Every MCP server and API we list for this kind of job, with install lines, auth and price.
Add Real World MCP to your agent
22 live tools- Open the Add custom connector dialog , prefilled. Or go to Customize → Connectors → + Add → Add custom connector.
- Name it Real World MCP, paste this URL, pick No sign in, then Add.
https://www.realworldmcp.com/api/mcp
- On ChatGPT on the web, open Plugins, click +, then Add custom MCP server.
- Name it, paste this URL under Connection, and pick No authentication.
- Accept the warning, click Create as a plugin, then install it.
https://www.realworldmcp.com/api/mcp
Run once in your terminal, then type /mcp in Claude Code to see the tools.
claude mcp add --transport http realworldmcp https://www.realworldmcp.com/api/mcp
Run this once, or add the two lines below to ~/.codex/config.toml.
codex mcp add realworldmcp --url https://www.realworldmcp.com/api/mcp
Gemini app: on gemini.google.com, Settings → Connected Apps, then under Custom apps paste this URL and click Next.
https://www.realworldmcp.com/api/mcp
Gemini CLI:
gemini mcp add --transport http --scope user realworldmcp https://www.realworldmcp.com/api/mcp
Add to Cursor opens Cursor with the server filled in. Or add this to ~/.cursor/mcp.json.
{
"mcpServers": {
"realworldmcp": {
"url": "https://www.realworldmcp.com/api/mcp"
}
}
}Run this once (macOS or Linux shell), or add the server to .vscode/mcp.json. Then use it from Copilot Chat in agent mode.
code --add-mcp '{"name":"realworldmcp","type":"http","url":"https://www.realworldmcp.com/api/mcp"}'In Cascade's MCP menu, choose Open MCP config file and add this server. Then press refresh.
{
"mcpServers": {
"realworldmcp": {
"serverUrl": "https://www.realworldmcp.com/api/mcp"
}
}
}Any client that speaks Streamable HTTP MCP. No auth. Most take this JSON, or just the URL.
{
"mcpServers": {
"realworldmcp": {
"url": "https://www.realworldmcp.com/api/mcp"
}
}
}search_tools, get_tool and call_tool and 22 live tools. All clients and full steps
ChatGPT, Claude, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini and Windsurf are trademarks of their respective owners. Real World MCP is not affiliated with them, and compatibility does not imply endorsement or partnership.
Related use cases
- Have an AI agent run a real retail store
Andon Labs opened Andon Market on Union Street in San Francisco, run by an agent named Luna that picks products and buys stock with its own cards. One logged order was 24 mugs from Printful at $7.13 each.
- Turn an AI-run shop profitable with a newer Claude
In phase two, upgrades and new AI colleagues made Claudius much better at sourcing items and pricing for a margin, though it could still be talked into bad deals by determined testers.
- Let Google check out for you when a price drops
Alongside store calling, Google added agentic checkout to Search shopping so its AI can complete a purchase with the user's saved payment details.
- Buy from Etsy sellers inside ChatGPT
OpenAI's Instant Checkout let US ChatGPT users buy from Etsy sellers without leaving the chat, with Shopify merchants announced as next.
The story is in our words. The source was opened on Nov 2, 2026 and a key phrase was found in it. See all use cases.