Freight Right Adds Billing, Customs and Documents to Its MCP and API

Until now, AI assistants connected to Freight Right could see how many milestones or containers a shipment had, but not their details. Billing, customs and documents were also available only in Shipment Manager.

Based on customer feedback, we've expanded the Freight Right MCP and API to make more shipment data available outside the web app. The update is live on the Freight Right MCP server and the public Shipment Visibility API. Your existing Shipment Manager permissions still apply.

More Complete Shipment Details

A few things customers told us were missing are now fixed:

Shipment records: View milestones, routes, containers and parties, not just their totals.

• Shipment status: See the current shipment status and delivery state.

• Quotes: View pricing for quotes created in Shipment Manager, not just those made through the API.

• Organizations: Each organization now has a unique ID. This makes it easier to tell apart entities with similar names and see which one owns a quote, booking or shipment.

• Container contents: View package counts, types, descriptions, weight and volume. Purchase order details also show which PO belongs to each container.

• Container availability: See the last free day and pickup availability date when recorded. This helps you plan ahead and avoid demurrage and detention fees.

Calling Freight Right MCP for Full Shipment Update

Five New Ways to Access Shipment Data

Five new capabilities are available through both the API and the MCP:

Billing and invoices. View shipment invoices with each charge, including its code, description, quantity, unit price, amount and tax. You can also see issued accounting invoices, totals, balances due, payment status and PDF links. Review open or paid invoices across shipments. All amounts are customer prices, shown by currency.

Customs records. View customs entries with their type, dates, ports, broker reference, declared value, duties, fees and agency status. Each entry also includes invoice details, HTS codes, part numbers, quantities, extended prices and countries of origin.

Shipment documents. List and download documents available in Shipment Manager, such as commercial invoices, packing lists, bills of lading and entry summaries. Download links expire after a short time.

Shipment changes. Check an events feed for shipment updates. These include new milestones, ETA changes, arrivals, deliveries, last free days, pickup availability, new documents and invoice activity.

Purchase order discrepancies. Ask your assistant to prepare a request when a container's actual quantity differs from its purchase order. The request includes the shipment, container, PO number, SKU, and expected and actual quantities. Freight Right's team reviews the request before making any changes to the shipment record.

Calling Freight Right MCP for Checking Outstanding Balances

In practice, that means you can ask your assistant questions like:

• "Which containers on this shipment carry PO 1234?"

• "What's the last free day for my container? Is it ready for pickup?"

• "Show me the charge lines on the invoice for this shipment."

• "Which invoices are still unpaid, and how much do I owe?"

• "What duty and fees were declared on the customs entry for this shipment?"

• "Pull the bill of lading and packing list for this shipment."

• "What changed on my shipments since yesterday?"

• "Show me the pricing on the quote my team created in Shipment Manager."

Calling Freight Right MCP for Arriving Containers

Your Existing Permissions Still Apply

The MCP and API follow the same access rules as Shipment Manager. If you cannot view something in Shipment Manager, you cannot access it through the MCP or API.

• Billing: You can only view invoices billed to organizations your account is allowed to access. Being listed on a shipment does not give you access to another party's charges.

• Pricing: Customers see only their own sell prices. Internal cost data is never shared.

• Documents: Hidden or private documents remain restricted.

• Billing access: If billing is disabled for your account, you'll receive a clear message instead of an empty result.

• Account roles: Customers can access only their organizations.

Automate Tasks With an API Token

You can also use the API without an AI assistant. For example, you can run nightly data syncs, check arrivals or export invoices on a schedule.

These tasks use a personal API token instead of an assistant connection. API access must first be enabled for your account. You can then create a token in Shipment Manager under Account → API Tokens.

The token works with both the Shipment Visibility API and the rates API. It uses the same bearer authentication and follows your account's access permissions.

To check for shipment updates, use the events feed and its cursor instead of requesting the full shipment list each time. The feed stores about 90 days of events.

Billing, customs and documents require separate read-only permissions. You approve these when connecting your assistant. Existing connections will ask for approval the first time you use one of these features.

Automate Tasks With an API Token

You can also use the API without an AI assistant. For example, you can run nightly data syncs, check arrivals or export invoices on a schedule.

These tasks use a personal API token instead of an assistant connection. API access must first be enabled for your account. You can then create a token in Shipment Manager under Account > API Tokens.

The token works with both the Shipment Visibility API and the rates API. It uses the same bearer authentication and follows your account's access permissions.

To check for shipment updates, use the events feed and its cursor instead of requesting the full shipment list each time. The feed stores about 90 days of events.

Current Limitations

• Container charges: Invoice charges are linked to shipments, not individual containers.

• Customs duties: Duties and fees are available by customs declaration, but not by individual HTS line.

• Webhooks: The API does not yet send automatic updates through webhooks. You must check the events feed for changes.

• Changes to records: Most features are read-only. PO discrepancy requests go to Freight Right's team for review before any changes are made. The MCP and API cannot pay invoices or accept document uploads.

• Document contents: The connector provides download links but does not read or analyze the documents for you.

Get Started

Freight Right MCP is available to all Freight Right account holders. You can add it through the Claude Connectors Directory, Cursor Marketplace or Grok Bot, then sign in with your Freight Right account. New users can create a free account at app.freightright.com.

API access requires approval. To request access, contact your Freight Right account representative or email [email protected]. Once enabled, you can create personal API tokens in Shipment Manager under Account → API Tokens.

Developers can find setup guides and permissions at developers.freightright.com. The Shipment Visibility API reference is available at api.freightright.com/api/public/v1/docs.

We're interested in your feedback. Try these features with your own shipments and let us know if any billing, customs, document or shipment details are missing.