# Instacart Developer Platform API + MCP (slim) > The Instacart Developer Platform API and its hosted MCP server turn a recipe or shopping list into an Instacart Marketplace page, where the person picks a store and checks out. It also finds nearby retailers by postal code. - Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/instacart.md (~5,800 tokens) · this version ~1,530 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/instacart.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/instacart - Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · Updated: 2026-10-14 **D · 48.3/100 · rank #877 of 1076 · #3 in Shopping, returns & refunds · not agent-ready · confidence medium** Assessment: Two compact MCP tools and a small REST API with structured errors let an agent turn a list into an Instacart cart link. The agent cannot search products, see prices, place an order or follow one, and production keys need a demo review that Instacart puts at 30 to 40 days. No status page or published rate figure was found. ## Facts - Kind: HTTP API · vendor: Maplebear Inc. (Instacart) · category: Shopping, returns & refunds · legal entity: Maplebear Inc. dba Instacart · provenance 74/100 - Endpoint: `https://mcp.instacart.com/mcp` (HTTP) - Auth: API key · pricing: Free · x402: no · licence: Proprietary service under the Instacart Developer Platform Terms and Conditions - Probe metrics: not measured yet (probes haven't run) - Endpoints: POST /idp/v1/products/products_link (shopping list page), POST /idp/v1/products/recipe (recipe page), GET /idp/v1/retailers (nearby retailers by postal and country code) on https://connect.instacart.com, development on https://connect.dev.instacart.tools - MCP server: Production https://mcp.instacart.com/mcp and development https://mcp.dev.instacart.tools/mcp, Streamable HTTP, API key as a Bearer header. Server name InstacartRecipeServer 1.0.0, protocol 2024-11-05, tools create-recipe and create-shopping-list - Credentials: API keys of the form keys. created in the Instacart Developer Dashboard, development or production, with read-only, read-write and admin permission levels, rotation and revocation. Production keys stay pending until Instacart approves a demo - Matching: Instacart matches products from the line item name, or from UPCs or product IDs when given, with brand and health filters. SKUs are not supported and the retailer cannot be chosen by the developer - Links: expires_in up to 365 days on shopping list pages. The returned URL opens the Instacart app or web page, where the person selects a store and checks out - Affiliate: Approved partners are invited to Instacart's affiliate programme on Impact.com, with tracking parameters appended to generated links automatically - Errors: 200, 400, 401, 403, 404, 408, 429, 500 and 503, with single and multiple error JSON formats carrying error.code and meta.key - Terms: Instacart Developer Platform Terms and Conditions of Maplebear Inc. dba Instacart, last updated 3 July 2024. Scraping forbidden, access can end at any time, the API can change without notice - Scores: Reliability 22, Performance pending, Schema & documentation 80, Agent ergonomics 71, Security & auth 61, Payments & pricing 20, Task success pending, Maintenance & community 20, Transparency & trust 51 · total over the 7 assessed categories - Why: Reliability, No status page was found. · Schema & documentation, No public OpenAPI file was found for the Developer Platform API. · Agent ergonomics, Two compact MCP tools (25 of 25). · Security & auth, Revocable API keys with read-only, read-write and admin levels, separate development and production keys, and a documented rotation procedur… · Payments & pricing, No x402, MPP or L402 (0 of 40). · Maintenance & community, The newest changelog entry is 18 June 2026, 118 days before this check (10 of 30). · Transparency & trust, Closed service with dated developer terms that are clear on restrictions and termination (15 of 30). - Sources: 18, open questions: 6, both in the full twin - Capabilities: shopping.affiliate, commerce.cart - JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/instacart.json - Verify (for the vendor): the badge `https://www.anchorterminal.com/badges/instacart.svg` or a link to https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/instacart from a page on instacart.com or one of its subdomains, then `POST https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/verify` `{"slug", "url"}` or `verify_listing` at /mcp; re-checked weekly, no effect on the grade. Snippets in the full twin. ## Before you call it 1. Connect to https://mcp.instacart.com/mcp over Streamable HTTP with Authorization: Bearer and an Instacart Developer Platform key. Test against https://mcp.dev.instacart.tools/mcp with a development key 2. Give the person the returned products_link_url to choose a store and check out. No call places or tracks an order 3. Cache each generated link and create a new one only when the list changes, as the docs advise 4. Send line_item_measurements rather than quantity and unit on the REST shopping list endpoint, since those fields are deprecated 5. Do not show priced items from more than one retailer on one screen or move items between retailer baskets. The developer terms forbid both ## Connect ```bash curl --request POST --url 'https://connect.dev.instacart.tools/idp/v1/products/products_link' --header 'Authorization: Bearer ' --header 'Content-Type: application/json' --data '{"title":"Groceries","line_items":[{"name":"eggs"}]}' ``` Full config and headless snippets are in the full page. Through letme (picks today, calling later): https://letme.dev/instacart ## Similar tools | Tool | Grade | Score | Shared capabilities | Slim | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Shopify API + MCP | BB | 75 | commerce.cart | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/shopify.min.md | | WooCommerce API + MCP | BB | 72.9 | commerce.cart | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/woocommerce.min.md | | Shopware | BB | 71.4 | commerce.cart | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/shopware.min.md | | commercetools | BB | 71.3 | commerce.cart | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/commercetools.min.md | | Vendure | BB | 70.9 | commerce.cart | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/vendure.min.md | ## Panel reviews (0, desk reviews from public material, no calls made)