# Turn McMaster-Carr into an API

> Get price tiers and product status for your part numbers, your Order History and the invoice for any order from McMaster-Carr with one API call each. Or have a workflow check your part list every week and send you only the prices that changed.

Page: https://fous.com/automate/mcmaster-carr
Updated: 2026-11-12

Works with your own McMaster-Carr account. Fous is an independent product.

## What you can build on McMaster-Carr

### Get prices for part numbers

Opens each part number's product page and reads its price by quantity and unit, its status and its description.

- Takes: Part numbers
- Returns: Part number, description, product status, price, minimum quantity, unit, suggested replacement

### Get Order History

Reads Order History in your account: each order's date, status and tracking information once it ships.

- Takes: Ordered since (optional)
- Returns: Order number, order date, status, tracking number, carrier, total

### Get an order's invoice

Opens one order in Order History and reads its invoice, with the lines, amounts and whether a material certificate is available.

- Takes: Order number
- Returns: Invoice number, invoice date, part numbers, quantities, prices, shipping, total, certificate available

### Place an order

Adds part numbers with quantities to the order, enters your PO number and checks out with the payment saved on your account.

- Takes: Part numbers with quantities, PO number, ship-to address
- Returns: Order number, lines, estimated delivery, total

## Automate McMaster-Carr with a workflow

A [workflow](/product/workflows) runs your methods as one process, with nobody at the screen. A schedule or a call from your own system starts it, the steps run in order, and the result arrives in your inbox or in the systems you already use.

### Price changes on your part list

Starts: Every Monday at 7:00

1. Get prices for every part number on your list.
2. Keep the parts whose price tiers changed since the last run.
3. Email you each one with its old and new price and unit.

### Discontinued parts, with the suggested replacement

Starts: On the 1st of every month at 8:00

1. Get the product status of every part number on your list.
2. Keep the parts that became inactive since the last run.
3. Post each one, with its suggested replacement and the differences, to your ERP or Slack webhook.

### Shipped orders and invoices, sent to your accounting system

Starts: Every weekday at 18:00

1. Get Order History for the last seven days.
2. Keep the orders that shipped since the last run, and stop when there are none.
3. Get each order's invoice and post its lines and total to your webhook.

You can run a workflow by hand on every plan, Free included. Schedules and webhook triggers come with the paid plans, from $29 a month.

## Once built, one call from your code

Once you have built a [method](/product/methods), it is one POST to /v1/runs from your backend, or a tool an AI agent calls over MCP. This is what “Get prices for part numbers” would look like.

Example request:

```
curl https://api.fous.com/v1/runs \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOUS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "method": "www.mcmaster.com/get_part_prices",
    "input": {
      "part_numbers": [
        "4012A118",
        "7731K204"
      ]
    }
  }'
```

Example response:

```
{
  "status": "completed",
  "data": {
    "parts": [
      {
        "part_number": "4012A118",
        "description": "Hex head screw, 18-8 stainless steel, 1/4\"-20 thread, 3/4\" long",
        "product_status": "Active",
        "prices": [
          {
            "amount": 11.42,
            "minimum_quantity": 1,
            "unit": "Pack of 50"
          }
        ],
        "suggested_replacement": null
      }
    ],
    "currency": "USD"
  }
}
```

An example with invented data, not a ready-made endpoint. The method exists in your organization once you build it, and its name, inputs and fields follow your request.

## McMaster-Carr’s own options

McMaster-Carr offers a Product Information API to approved customers: it reads product details, prices, images, CAD files and datasheets, and it has no way to place or track orders. Orders can be exchanged by cXML or EDI and placed through punchout from a purchasing system, both set up with its eProcurement team.

| Option | What it covers | What it takes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Product Information API | Product specifications, status, price tiers, images, CAD files and datasheets by part number, with updates when specifications change. | Approval by McMaster-Carr and a client certificate with its password attached to every request. No order endpoints. |
| cXML and EDI documents | You send purchase orders and receive order confirmations, advance shipping notices and invoices. | Set up with the eProcurement team. EDI uses ANSI X12; EDIFACT is not supported. |
| Punchout | The full catalog with real-time pricing and availability inside your purchasing system, from over 100 platforms such as SAP Ariba, Coupa and Jaggaer. | Set up with the eProcurement team for your purchasing platform. |
| McMaster-Carr by hand | Product pages, ordering, and Order History with order status, tracking, invoices, packing lists and material certificates. | A McMaster-Carr login. |

Read on November 12, 2026: [McMaster-Carr Product Information API](https://www.mcmaster.com/help/api/), [Automated document transmission](https://www.mcmaster.com/help/document-transmission), [Punchout and eProcurement](https://www.mcmaster.com/punchout/).

## Signing in to McMaster-Carr

McMaster-Carr signs you in with the email address and password of your login, and the same login opens Order History and its documents. With Fous you sign in once through McMaster-Carr's own sign-in with your own account: the login is sealed with AES-256, never returned by the API, and an expired session is signed back in.

## Worth knowing

- **The API reads products, not orders**: McMaster-Carr's API has endpoints for product information, prices, CAD files and subscriptions. It has none for placing or tracking orders, so order status, invoices and certificates stay in Order History.
- **Certificates appear when the order ships**: Material certificates come free with over 48,000 metal products. They are emailed and can be downloaded from Order History as soon as the order ships, and the one with the traceable lot number usually starts after the first page.
- **API tokens last 24 hours**: Each approved customer gets a client certificate that must be attached to every request. A token from Log In expires after 24 hours or at Log Out, and product subscriptions have a total and a daily limit.
- **Card payments get no early-payment discount**: Open accounts, where McMaster-Carr approves them, are net 30 with 2% off when paid within 10 days of shipment by EFT or check. The discount does not apply to payments by credit card.

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## Frequently asked questions

### Does McMaster-Carr have an API?

Yes, for product data, and only for customers McMaster-Carr approves. The Product Information API returns specifications, status, price tiers, images, CAD files and datasheets by part number, with a client certificate on every request. It cannot place or track orders; for orders McMaster-Carr offers cXML, EDI and punchout.

### Where do I find McMaster-Carr invoices and material certificates?

In Order History, once you are signed in. Click the order to print its invoice or download its material certificate, which is available as soon as the order ships. A Fous method can read the same order and return its invoice as JSON.

### Can McMaster-Carr send invoices electronically?

Yes, by cXML or EDI, set up with McMaster-Carr's eProcurement team. You send purchase orders and receive order confirmations, advance shipping notices and invoices. EDI uses ANSI X12, and EDIFACT is not supported.

### How do I find out when a McMaster-Carr part is discontinued?

Its product status changes to inactive, and McMaster-Carr may suggest a replacement with the differences listed. A Fous workflow can check the status of every part on your list each month and post only the newly inactive ones to your system.

### Is Fous affiliated with McMaster-Carr Supply Company?

No. Fous is an independent product. You use it with your own McMaster-Carr login, and a method reads and does only what that account can.

Fous is an independent product: it is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the operator of McMaster-Carr (McMaster-Carr Supply Company). The name is used only to say which system this page is about. Something here wrong or out of date? Write to legal@fous.com.