For AI agents & assistants

Structured product tools
for AI agents

Your agent needs product data — not HTML to parse. Covala gives agents structured tools through MCP and REST, with token-optimized responses designed for context windows.

MCP server

Add product search, lookup, and knowledge tools to any MCP-compatible agent. One config line — Claude, GPT, or custom agents.

Token-optimized responses

Request format=ai for ~300-token summaries instead of ~2,000-token full JSON. Fit more products in your context window.

Structured knowledge

9 knowledge types per product category — maintenance schedules, error codes, buying guides. Structured data, not web scraping results.

MCP Integration

One config block, four product tools

Point your MCP-compatible agent at the Covala server. Your agent gets access to product search, lookup, knowledge queries, and comparison — no custom integration code.

Available Tools
search_products
Search by name, brand, category, specs
lookup_product
By ID, barcode (GTIN), or model number
get_knowledge
Error codes, maintenance, buying guides
compare_prices
Cross-retailer price comparison
claude_desktop_config.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "covala": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["@covala/mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "COVALA_API_KEY": "sk_cvl_live_..."
      }
    }
  }
}
AI-Optimized Format

~300 tokens per product, not ~2,000

Add format=ai to any product request. Your agent gets a condensed summary with key specs, pricing, and knowledge — optimized for context windows.

request
GET /v2/products/{id}?format=ai

Authorization: Bearer sk_cvl_...
response (~300 tokens)
{
  "summary": "Samsung DW80B7070US
    Dishwasher — 42 dBA,
    AutoRelease Door, WiFi",
  "price_range": "$649–$899",
  "retailers": [
    "Best Buy", "Home Depot",
    "Lowe's"
  ],
  "key_specs": {
    "noise_level": "42 dBA",
    "capacity": "16 place settings"
  },
  "knowledge": {
    "avg_lifespan": "10 years",
    "annual_energy_cost": "$35"
  }
}

What your agent doesn't have to do

Building product data infrastructure for an AI agent means scraping, parsing, deduplicating, and maintaining it yourself. With Covala, that's one API key.

Parse HTML from retailer websites

Fragile selectors that break on every redesign. Anti-bot measures that block your scraper. Stale data from cached pages.

Guess product specifications from unstructured text

Extracting noise levels, dimensions, and capacities from paragraphs of marketing copy. Getting it wrong means your agent gives wrong answers.

Build and maintain a product knowledge graph

Relationships between products, brands, categories, variants, and accessories. Months of engineering before your agent can answer a single question.

Handle rate limiting across multiple retailer APIs

Different rate limits, authentication methods, and response formats for every retailer. One breaks, your whole pipeline stops.

Normalize inconsistent data formats between sources

One retailer says "42 dBA," another says "42 decibels," a third puts it in a PDF. Your agent needs one consistent schema.

Beyond the basics

Knowledge, not just data

Structured JSON gets your agent started. These features make it genuinely useful.

Entity resolution

The same product matched across 20 retailers automatically. Your agent queries one product identity instead of deduplicating results from multiple sources.

Variant detection

Color, size, and configuration variants collapsed into one entity. Your agent knows the stainless steel and black versions are the same dishwasher.

Brand intelligence

1,400+ brand profiles with quality tiers, warranty info, and cross-category coverage. Your agent can recommend brands, not just products.

Knowledge layer

9 structured data types per product category — maintenance schedules, error codes, buying guides, lifespan data, cost of ownership, and more.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Covala MCP server?

The Covala MCP server exposes product search, lookup, comparison, and knowledge tools through the Model Context Protocol. Any MCP-compatible agent — Claude, GPT, or custom agents — can call these tools natively. Add it with a single config block pointing at https://mcp.covala.com/sse with your API key. No custom integration code, no SDK to install.

How do I optimize API responses for AI token usage?

Add format=ai to any product request. Instead of the full ~2,000-token JSON response with every specification and offer, you get a condensed ~300-token summary with the product name, price range, key specs, retailer availability, and knowledge highlights. This lets your agent fit 6-7x more products into a single context window.

Can AI agents access product knowledge like maintenance schedules?

Yes. The knowledge endpoint returns 9 structured data types per product category: maintenance schedules, error codes, buying guides, lifespan data, cost of ownership, installation requirements, common failure modes, energy efficiency data, and warranty information. All structured as typed JSON, not paragraphs to parse.

What is cross-retailer entity resolution for AI agents?

Entity resolution matches the same product across different retailers into a single identity. A Samsung dishwasher listed under three different names at Best Buy, Home Depot, and Lowe’s resolves to one product with offers from each store. Your agent queries one product ID instead of deduplicating results from multiple sources.

How do I add product data tools to my AI agent?

Two options. For MCP-compatible agents, add the Covala server to your MCP config — one JSON block with the server URL and your API key. For everything else, use the REST API directly: GET /v2/products for search, GET /v2/products/{id} for lookup, and GET /v2/product-types/{slug}/knowledge for structured knowledge data. Both return clean, typed JSON.

Give your agent
structured product tools

MCP server, REST API, and AI-optimized responses — everything your agent needs to answer real product questions with real data.

MCP + REST API + format=ai