Documentation
Customers
customers.create
REST
ShippingPOST /api/v1/customers/createMCP tool
Livecustomers.createExposed on: REST API · Shop MCP server · Claude connector · Dash (in-app copilot) · Zapier. Part of the Customers domain.
Operating contract
Creates one customer. A phone number or an email address is required — the database refuses a contact with a name alone, because a customer nobody can reach is not a customer.
CALL customers.find_by_contact FIRST. If that contact is already on file this refuses rather than minting a duplicate, and the refusal names the existing id.
name is split on the first space into first and last name, the same way the shop's own quick-add does.
CONSENT: consent_source records WHY this shop may message them and consent_captured_at records SINCE WHEN — the two things a CASL audit asks for. Leave them out and the record honestly says the basis is unknown; do not invent one on the integration's behalf, and only send a captured date when you actually know it.
Returns the created customer. Its id is the customer_id every other capability takes.
Who may call it
- Permission
customers.accessThe caller must hold Customers at the ACT level. A read-only dashboard grant on the same section is refused.- Plan
- Every planNo plan gate. Available on every Service VIN plan.
- Retries
naturalNaturally idempotent — running it twice leaves the same world as running it once. A retrying integration needs no key.- Rate class
writeCounted against the write budget, which is tighter than a read.
Input
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| namerequired | stringmax 200 chars, min 1 chars | The customer's full name. |
| phone | stringmax 40 chars | A phone number in any format. Required unless an email is given. |
| stringmax 200 chars | An email address. Required unless a phone number is given. | |
| consent_source | string | How this shop came to be allowed to message them. Omit when unknown. One of:express_written, express_verbal, online_booking, web_form, implied_existing_business, implied_inquiry, imported, unknown |
| consent_captured_at | stringdate-time | When that basis was captured, ISO 8601 with an offset. Only with consent_source. |
| consent_note | stringmax 500 chars | A short note about the basis, for the shop's own audit trail. |
Output
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| id | string | — |
| name | string | — |
| string | null | — | |
| phone | string | null | — |
| city | string | null | — |
| region | string | null | — |
| postal_code | string | null | — |
| tags | string[] | — |
| is_vip | boolean | — |
| created_at | string | — |
Examples
Built from this capability's own schema — required fields and the ones carrying a default, and nothing invented. Paste one and it validates.
export SERVICEVIN_API_KEY=svk_live_…
curl -X POST https://www.servicevin.com/api/v1/customers/create \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $SERVICEVIN_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"name":"Sam Henderson"}'const res = await fetch("https://www.servicevin.com/api/v1/customers/create", {
method: "POST",
headers: {
Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.SERVICEVIN_API_KEY}`,
"Content-Type": "application/json",
},
body: JSON.stringify({
"name": "Sam Henderson"
}),
});
// Success and failure are both envelopes. Switch on error.code, never
// on error.message — the codes are stable, the messages are for people.
const payload = await res.json();
if (!res.ok) throw new Error(payload.error.code);
const data = payload.data;import os, requests
res = requests.post(
"https://www.servicevin.com/api/v1/customers/create",
headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['SERVICEVIN_API_KEY']}"},
json={
"name": "Sam Henderson"
},
timeout=30,
)
payload = res.json()
if not res.ok:
raise RuntimeError(payload["error"]["code"])
data = payload["data"]{
"jsonrpc": "2.0",
"id": 1,
"method": "tools/call",
"params": {
"name": "customers.create",
"arguments": {
"name": "Sam Henderson"
}
}
}Refusals
The four gates run in this order on every surface, and the order is not arbitrary — see Authentication.
| Status | Code | When |
|---|---|---|
| 404 | not_found | The id is unknown, or the feature is not enabled for this account. Deliberately the same answer for both. |
| 403 | forbidden | This login does not hold customers.access. |
| 403 | insufficient_scope | The credential is read-only and this capability writes. |
| 422 | validation_error | An argument was wrong. The message names the field. |
| 429 | rate_limited | Too many write calls. Back off and retry. |
| 500 | internal_error | Something failed on our side. Nothing was changed. |