Zendesk MCP
Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for Zendesk Support — connect AI agents in Cursor, VS Code, Claude Desktop, watsonx Orchestrate, and IBM Code Engine to 14 ticket tools (create, search, assign, close, comments, metrics). Install: npx @markusvankempen/zendesk-mcp-server · pip install zendesk-mcp-server-py
zendesk · mcp · cursor · github-copilot · claude · ai-agents · customer-support · helpdesk · watsonx-orchestrate · typescript · python
Generic Zendesk integration for AI agents via the Model Context Protocol (MCP). Ships TypeScript and Python server implementations plus deployment examples for IDEs, IBM Code Engine, and watsonx Orchestrate.
Author: Markus van Kempen
Email: markus.van.kempen@gmail.com · mvk@ca.ibm.com
Website: markusvankempen.github.io
No bug too small, no syntax too weird.
Overview
Zendesk MCP exposes 14 support-ticket operations as MCP tools so AI agents in Cursor, VS Code, Claude Desktop, watsonx Orchestrate, and IBM Code Engine can manage tickets through natural language.
The core design solves requester attribution: tickets are created with the real customer as requester (not the API service account), so Zendesk email replies route correctly.
graph TB
subgraph clients [MCP Clients]
Cursor[Cursor / VS Code]
WxO[watsonx Orchestrate]
CE[Code Engine / Remote]
end
subgraph servers [Servers]
TS["TypeScript npm"]
PY["Python FastMCP"]
end
ZD[Zendesk REST API v2]
Cursor -->|stdio| TS
WxO -->|stdio| PY
CE -->|SSE| TS
CE -->|SSE| PY
TS --> ZD
PY --> ZD
📖 Documentation hub → docs/ · MCP config examples → examples/mcp/ · Public vs private repo → docs/PUBLIC_REPO.md · Contributing → CONTRIBUTING.md · Security → docs/SECURITY.md
Documentation reference
Complete index of every markdown file in this repository.
Root
| Document | Description |
|---|
| README.md | Project overview, quick starts, deployments summary (this file) |
| task.md | Original project requirements and reference notes |
Core documentation (docs/)
Package READMEs (packages/)
Deployment READMEs (deployments/)
Quick navigation by topic
Repository layout
zendesk-mcp/
├── docs/ # Documentation hub
│ ├── README.md # Start here
│ ├── ide/ # IDE setup guides (local + remote)
│ ├── reference/ # ARCHITECTURE, TOOLS, FILES
│ ├── guides/ # SCENARIOS
│ └── deployments/ # Deployment index
├── packages/
│ ├── zendesk-mcp-server/ # TypeScript MCP server (npm)
│ └── zendesk-mcp-server-py/ # Python MCP server (FastMCP)
├── deployments/
│ ├── vscode-extension/ # VS Code / Cursor / Open VSX extension
│ ├── code-engine/ # IBM Code Engine (SSE) + mcp-client JSON
│ └── watsonx-orchestrate/ # WxO toolkit + 4 role agents
└── .github/workflows/ # CI + npm/marketplace publish
Quick start (TypeScript / npm)
export ZENDESK_SUBDOMAIN=your-subdomain
export ZENDESK_EMAIL=agent@example.com
export ZENDESK_API_TOKEN=your_token
npx @markusvankempen/zendesk-mcp-server
One-click install: Cursor · VS Code — then set your ZENDESK_* credentials in MCP settings.
Copy-paste setup: Bob · Antigravity (no install deeplink yet — use examples/mcp/):
Add to your IDE config — copy from examples/mcp/:
Or use the VS Code extension — it stores your API token in OS keychain and writes MCP config automatically. See deployments/vscode-extension/README.md.
Before pushing to GitHub, run npm run check:secrets — see docs/SECURITY.md.
Quick start (Python)
pip install zendesk-mcp-server-py
export ZENDESK_SUBDOMAIN=your-subdomain
export ZENDESK_EMAIL=agent@example.com
export ZENDESK_API_TOKEN=your_token
zendesk-mcp-server-py
MCP tools (14)
| Tool | Description |
|---|
create_ticket | Create ticket with correct requester attribution |
get_ticket | Get ticket by ID |
update_ticket | Update status, priority, tags, or comment |
search_tickets | Zendesk search query syntax |
list_recent_tickets | Recently updated tickets |
list_all_tickets | Admin-wide ticket listing |
list_tickets_for_requester | Tickets for a requester email |
get_ticket_comments | Read ticket conversation |
add_ticket_comment | Add public reply or internal note |
get_user_by_email | Look up Zendesk user |
close_ticket | Mark ticket solved |
reopen_ticket | Reopen solved/closed ticket |
get_ticket_metrics | SLA / timing metrics |
assign_ticket | Assign to group or agent |
→ Full tool reference with parameters & examples
Deployments
| Scenario | Directory | Transport | Docs |
|---|
| VS Code / Cursor / Open VSX | deployments/vscode-extension/ | stdio via npx | README |
| IBM Code Engine | deployments/code-engine/ | SSE | README |
| watsonx Orchestrate | deployments/watsonx-orchestrate/ | stdio subprocess | README · Scenarios |
watsonx Orchestrate — role agents
| Agent | Role |
|---|
zendesk_end_user_agent | Self-service — create/list/comment on own tickets |
zendesk_support_agent | Analyst — triage, investigate, metrics, assign |
zendesk_admin_agent | Admin — queue overview, SLA, assignment |
zendesk_mcp_agent | Generalist — all tools, prototyping |
cd deployments/watsonx-orchestrate
./deploy_and_test.sh # full deploy + E2E
RUN_LIVE=1 ./run_agent_scenarios.sh # 17 role scenarios
Requester attribution (key design)
sequenceDiagram
autonumber
actor User
participant WxO as WxO Agent
participant MCP as MCP Server
participant ZD as Zendesk
User->>WxO: "Create a ticket — account locked"
Note over WxO: wxo_email_id available
WxO->>MCP: create_ticket(requester_email=wxo_email_id)
MCP->>ZD: Find/create user + create ticket
ZD-->>MCP: ticket_id=42, requester=real customer
MCP-->>WxO: JSON result
WxO-->>User: "Ticket #42 created"
Connection credentials (ZENDESK_*) authenticate the API. User identity (wxo_email_id) is mapped by the agent into tool arguments — the MCP server never sees WxO session context directly.
→ Full scenarios documentation
Development
npm install
npm run build # TypeScript server + VS Code extension
npm run build:server # TypeScript server only
npm run build:extension
Credentials
Never commit .env files or API tokens.
| Deployment | Secret storage |
|---|
| IDE extension | VS Code SecretStorage (OS keychain) |
| Code Engine | ibmcloud ce secrets / env vars |
| WxO | orchestrate connections set-credentials |
| Local dev | packages/zendesk-mcp-server-py/.env |
| Variable | Purpose |
|---|
ZENDESK_SUBDOMAIN | Tenant prefix (mycompany → mycompany.zendesk.com) |
ZENDESK_EMAIL | Service account email for API auth |
ZENDESK_API_TOKEN | Zendesk API token |
Reference implementation
Extracted and generalized from WxO-ToolBox/vsc/test_tools/zendesk_mcp_server. See docs/reference/FILES.md for lineage mapping.
→ All documentation · task.md (original requirements)
Contributing
See CONTRIBUTING.md and CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md.
License
Apache License 2.0
Links
More from the author
Part of the open-source toolkit at markusvankempen.github.io — alongside WxO Agent MCP, Maximo MCP Server, Code Engine MCP Server, and WxO Builder MCP Server.
Topics & keywords
zendesk · zendesk-api · zendesk-mcp · zendesk-support · zendesk-tickets · mcp · mcp-server · model-context-protocol · cursor · claude · claude-desktop · github-copilot · vscode · vscode-extension · open-vsx · ai-agent · ai-agents · tool-calling · function-calling · llm-tools · customer-support · customer-service · helpdesk · help-desk · service-desk · support-tickets · ticketing · crm · watsonx · watsonx-orchestrate · ibm-cloud · ibm-code-engine · typescript · python · fastmcp · stdio · sse · npx · npm-package · automation
Author: Markus van Kempen
Email: markus.van.kempen@gmail.com · mvk@ca.ibm.com
Website: markusvankempen.github.io
No bug too small, no syntax too weird.
Public distribution repo — server source is not included. Install via
npx -y @markusvankempen/zendesk-mcp-server or pip install zendesk-mcp-server-py.
See docs/PUBLIC_REPO.md for the private dev workflow.
