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.

mermaid

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/`)

Document	Description
docs/README.md	Documentation hub — start here
docs/ide/README.md	IDE setup — local `npx` + remote Code Engine
docs/reference/ARCHITECTURE.md	System design, stdio/SSE/WxO topologies, auth flow
docs/reference/TOOLS.md	All 14 MCP tools — parameters, returns, examples
docs/guides/SCENARIOS.md	Requester modes, role agents, 17 scenarios, E2E
docs/reference/FILES.md	Complete file inventory
docs/deployments/README.md	Deployment docs index

Package READMEs (`packages/`)

Document	Description
packages/zendesk-mcp-server/README.md	TypeScript/npm server — install, env vars, SSE mode, build from source
packages/zendesk-mcp-server-py/README.md	Python FastMCP server — setup, SSE mode, WxO import pointer

Deployment READMEs (`deployments/`)

Document	Description
deployments/vscode-extension/README.md	VS Code / Cursor / Open VSX extension — commands, settings, publish
deployments/code-engine/README.md	IBM Code Engine — Dockerfiles, SSE endpoints, remote MCP client config
deployments/code-engine/DEPLOYMENT-GUIDE.md	Code Engine — live deploy, test/admin UI, local vs deployed `mcp.json`
deployments/watsonx-orchestrate/README.md	WxO toolkit deploy, 4 role agents, scenario runner, CLI test commands

Quick navigation by topic

Topic	Start here
IDE setup (local `npx`)	docs/ide/README-local.md
IDE setup (Code Engine)	docs/ide/README-remote.md
Architecture & transports	docs/reference/ARCHITECTURE.md
Tool parameters & examples	docs/reference/TOOLS.md
WxO agents & test scenarios	docs/guides/SCENARIOS.md
Every file explained	docs/reference/FILES.md
npm / TypeScript server	packages/zendesk-mcp-server/README.md
Python / FastMCP server	packages/zendesk-mcp-server-py/README.md
IDE extension setup	deployments/vscode-extension/README.md
Code Engine deploy	deployments/code-engine/README.md
WxO deploy & E2E	deployments/watsonx-orchestrate/README.md

Repository layout

Code

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)

server.ts

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/:

IDE	File
Cursor	examples/mcp/cursor-local.json → `~/.cursor/mcp.json`
VS Code	examples/mcp/vscode-local.json → `User/mcp.json`
Bob	examples/mcp/bob-local.json
Antigravity	examples/mcp/antigravity-local.json
Claude Desktop	examples/mcp/claude-desktop-local.json

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)

Terminal

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

bash

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)

mermaid

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

Terminal

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

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.

Zendesk MCP README

Zendesk MCP

Overview

Documentation reference

Root

Core documentation (`docs/`)

Package READMEs (`packages/`)

Deployment READMEs (`deployments/`)

Quick navigation by topic

Repository layout

Quick start (TypeScript / npm)

Quick start (Python)

MCP tools (14)

Deployments

watsonx Orchestrate — role agents

Requester attribution (key design)

Development

Credentials

Reference implementation

Contributing

License

Links

More from the author

Topics & keywords

Zendesk MCP

Overview

Documentation reference

Root

Core documentation (docs/)

Package READMEs (packages/)

Deployment READMEs (deployments/)

Quick navigation by topic

Repository layout

Quick start (TypeScript / npm)

Quick start (Python)

MCP tools (14)

Deployments

watsonx Orchestrate — role agents

Requester attribution (key design)

Development

Credentials

Reference implementation

Contributing

License

Links

More from the author

Topics & keywords

Core documentation (`docs/`)

Package READMEs (`packages/`)

Deployment READMEs (`deployments/`)