Helpdesk Mender MCP — Zendesk, Freshdesk & Help Scout Write Tools for AI Agents

A free, local MCP server that creates tickets, adds replies and notes, and changes ticket status in Zendesk, Freshdesk, and Help Scout — one consistent tool vocabulary across all three, so you don't hand-roll three different helpdesk integrations.

If you're building an AI support workflow and keep rewriting the same ticket-creation/reply logic for Zendesk's Basic/OAuth auth, Freshdesk's API-key auth, and Help Scout's OAuth2 client-credentials flow, this is the MCP server for that exact problem.

The problem this solves

Zendesk, Freshdesk, and Help Scout all have solid write-capable ticketing APIs, but each uses a different auth scheme, different field names, and a different notion of what a "ticket" even is (Help Scout calls it a "conversation"). There is no free, open-source tool that normalizes all three behind one set of calls. This is that tool.

Related MCP server: Xalantis MCP Server

Tools

• create_ticket — create a new ticket/conversation.

• add_reply — add a public reply, visible to the customer.

• add_note — add a private, internal-only note (Freshdesk and Help Scout; Zendesk has no separate note endpoint — use add_reply with a non-public comment on that platform directly).

• update_status — change ticket/conversation status.

• list_tickets — list tickets/conversations.

Setup

1. Install Node.js (v18+): https://nodejs.org

2. Clone and install:

git clone https://github.com/headlessherm-creator/helpdesk-mender-mcp.git
cd helpdesk-mender-mcp
npm install

3. Get API credentials for the platform(s) you use:

• Freshdesk: Get your API key from Profile Settings. Important: Freshdesk's free plan has a 0 calls/minute API rate limit — API access requires a paid plan (Growth or above). See Freshdesk's API docs.

• Zendesk: Create an API token under Admin Center → Apps and integrations → APIs → Zendesk API, or use OAuth. See Zendesk's API docs.

• Help Scout: Create an OAuth2 app under Your Profile → My Apps, using the Client Credentials flow. Note: Help Scout's client-credentials tokens expire after 48 hours and have no refresh token — this server automatically re-requests a new token when the cached one expires, so you don't need to handle that yourself. See Help Scout's auth docs.

4. Set environment variables:

export FRESHDESK_DOMAIN=yourcompany
export FRESHDESK_API_KEY=your_api_key
export ZENDESK_SUBDOMAIN=yourcompany
export ZENDESK_EMAIL=you@yourcompany.com
export ZENDESK_API_TOKEN=your_api_token
export HELPSCOUT_APP_ID=your_app_id
export HELPSCOUT_APP_SECRET=your_app_secret

You only need to set the variables for the platform(s) you're using.

5. Point your MCP client at it:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "helpdesk-mender": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/helpdesk-mender-mcp/src/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "FRESHDESK_DOMAIN": "yourcompany",
        "FRESHDESK_API_KEY": "your_api_key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Setup docs for common clients:

• Claude Desktop: https://modelcontextprotocol.io/quickstart/user

• Cursor: https://docs.cursor.com/context/model-context-protocol

• Claude Code: https://docs.claude.com/en/docs/claude-code/mcp

Security note

This server makes real network calls to Zendesk's, Freshdesk's, and Help Scout's APIs using the credentials you provide — unlike a fully local tool, your data does leave your machine, going directly to the helpdesk vendor you're already using. No third party, telemetry, or logging is involved.

Keywords

Zendesk MCP server, Freshdesk MCP server, Help Scout MCP server, helpdesk MCP server, support ticket automation MCP, customer support AI agent, ticketing system MCP, Claude MCP support tools.

Related tools

Same local-first philosophy, different problems:

• polymath-megablaster-mcp — deterministic math, date, unit conversion, networking

• json-mender-mcp — fix malformed JSON, validate JSON Schema, test regex

• hiring-mender-mcp — BambooHR + Greenhouse ATS write tools, one vocabulary

License

MIT