Add the Mailchimp MCP server to VS Code

Config last verified Jun 1, 2026

The exact config to run Mailchimp in VS Code — paste it in, restart, and the tools load.

Prerequisites

VS Code installed.
MANDRILL_API_KEY — Mailchimp Transactional (Mandrill) API key, passed as a bearer token in the Authorization header. Restricted keys must have the 'AI Agents' permission group enabled.

Setup

1. Open `.vscode/mcp.json`

2. Add this configuration

Add to .vscode/mcp.json

.vscode/mcp.json

json

{
  "servers": {
    "mailchimp": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mandrillapp.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

3. Restart VS Code and confirm the Mailchimp tools load.

Gotchas

VS Code is the exception to every other client: its top-level key is "servers", not "mcpServers", and each entry needs an explicit "type" (for example "http" or "stdio"). Secrets are not inlined; instead you declare an "inputs" array and reference each value as ${input:id}, so VS Code prompts for it once and never writes it to disk. Remote servers connect natively with OAuth.

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