Your first store

This page assumes the Magento extension is installed. Here you'll connect that store to Horizon, verify the connection, and run your first MCP tool call.

1. Add the store in the Horizon dashboard

In horizon.byte8.io/dashboard/stores, click Add store.

Two required fields:

• Name — a label that's only ever shown to you. Pick something that distinguishes prod from staging from a sibling brand: "Acme UK prod", "Acme DE staging", "Northwind multistore". You can rename later.
• Base URL — the storefront URL. No trailing slash. Example: https://shop.acme.example. Must be reachable from the Horizon gateway — public DNS, valid TLS.

On save, the dashboard generates the store record and returns the API key one time only. There is no "show key" option later — only key rotation replaces a forgotten or leaked key.

2. Paste the API key into Magento admin

Back in Magento admin: Stores → Configuration → Byte8 → Horizon.

• API key — paste it.
• Gateway URL — https://horizon.byte8.io.
• Enabled — set to Yes.
• Save config.

Flush the configuration cache:

bin/magento cache:flush config

3. Run the index

The first rebuild fills the AI-friendly flat product table:

bin/magento horizon:reindex

After that, save observers keep the index fresh automatically — no cron or Index Management configuration needed. See the index freshness page.

4. Test the connection

In the Horizon dashboard, open the store and click Test connection. The gateway makes a GET /horizon/api/v1/health call to your Magento using the API key. You should see:

• ✅ A green check
• The Magento version and extension version reported by the store

If you see red, the dashboard shows the HTTP status it got back. Most common causes:

• 401 — API key mismatch (recheck both sides). 503 — module disabled or key not yet saved on the Magento side.
• 404 — the /horizon/api/v1/* route isn't mounted (did you run setup:upgrade?).
• DNS / TLS error — the base URL isn't reachable from the public internet. The gateway can't reach a private staging environment unless it's behind a public TLS endpoint.

5. Make your first MCP call

Use any MCP client. With the Anthropic SDK's MCP connector (beta):

from anthropic import Anthropic

client = Anthropic()

response = client.beta.messages.create(
    model="claude-sonnet-5",
    max_tokens=1024,
    betas=["mcp-client-2025-11-20"],
    mcp_servers=[
        {
            "type": "url",
            "url": "https://horizon.byte8.io/mcp",
            "name": "horizon",
            "authorization_token": "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE",
        }
    ],
    tools=[{"type": "mcp_toolset", "mcp_server_name": "horizon"}],
    messages=[
        {"role": "user", "content": "Search the Acme catalog for hiking jackets in stock."}
    ],
)

The agent will call search_products against your store. You'll see the call land in Dashboard → Usage within seconds.

What's next

• Connecting Claude Desktop — for human-driven exploration of your store via Claude's chat UI.
• MCP tools reference — every tool, every argument.
• Usage analytics — see which tools agents call most, plan for your tier.