# Turn your MSC Industrial Supply account into an API

> Read your Order History with tracking, your pricing and stock status for any MSC item number, and your invoices in Accounts Payable with one API call each. A workflow can post each day's shipped orders to your ERP and check your repeat-buy items every Monday.

Page: https://fous.com/automate/msc-industrial-supply
Updated: 2026-11-12

Works with your own MSC Industrial Supply account. Fous is an independent product.

## What you can build on MSC

### Get order history

Reads Order History on mscdirect.com for your account, searched by date range or PO number, with each order's status and tracking.

- Takes: Date range, PO number (optional), tab: All Orders or Shipped Orders
- Returns: Order number, web order number, PO number, order date, status, items, packing slip number, tracking number, ship-to number

### Check your price and availability

Reads the product detail page for an MSC item number while signed in: your price, quantity break pricing, stock status and delivery time frame.

- Takes: MSC item number, quantity
- Returns: MSC item number, description, your price, quantity breaks, stock status, nearest pickup location, delivery time frame

### Search invoices in Accounts Payable

Reads the invoices listed under Accounts Payable in My Account Settings, which an administrator on the account can search and pay online.

- Takes: Invoice date range
- Returns: Invoice number, invoice date, order number, PO number, amount, due date

### Place an order from part numbers

Adds items to the cart with the Quick Order Pad by MSC or customer part number, goes through Secure Checkout with your PO number and places the order.

- Takes: Part numbers with quantities, PO number, ship-to address, routing notes (optional)
- Returns: Web order number, PO number, items, prices, shipping method, estimated arrival, order total

## Automate MSC 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.

### Shipped orders with tracking, posted to your ERP

Starts: Every weekday at 17:00

1. Get order history on the Shipped Orders tab for today.
2. Keep the orders that were not on the last run.
3. Post order number, PO number, packing slip number and tracking number to your ERP webhook.

### Weekly price and stock check of your repeat-buy items

Starts: Every Monday at 7:00

1. For each MSC item number on your list, check your price and availability.
2. Keep the items whose price or stock status changed since the last run.
3. Email you the changes, with old and new price.

### New MSC invoices posted to your accounting system

Starts: Every weekday at 8:00

1. Search invoices in Accounts Payable dated since yesterday.
2. Stop when there are none.
3. Post invoice number, PO number, amount and due date to your accounting system's 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 order history” 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.mscdirect.com/get_order_history",
    "input": {
      "from": "2026-11-09",
      "to": "2026-11-11",
      "tab": "Shipped Orders"
    }
  }'
```

Example response:

```
{
  "status": "completed",
  "data": {
    "orders": [
      {
        "order_number": "4821X07",
        "web_order_number": "W61904377",
        "po_number": "ACME-PO-10482",
        "order_date": "2026-11-09",
        "status": "Invoiced",
        "items": "12 x 01234567 1/2 in HSS jobber drill bit; 4 x 07654321 Nitrile gloves, size L, box of 100",
        "packing_slip_number": "PS-559102",
        "tracking_number": "1Z999AA10123456784",
        "ship_to_number": "002"
      }
    ],
    "count": 1
  }
}
```

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.

## MSC’s own options

MSC connects customers' procurement systems through its eProcurement team: punchout catalogs, hosted catalogs, and electronic purchase orders, invoices and advance shipment notices by EDI, XML or SFTP. Setup takes about 1 to 12 weeks and starts with a contact form. MSC's pages describe no public API, and Download Cart exports cart and order data from the site.

| Option | What it covers | What it takes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Punchout and hosted catalogs | MSC's catalog inside Coupa, SAP Ariba, Workday, JAGGAER, Oracle and other procurement systems; hosted catalogs update when MSC sends changes. | Set up with MSC's eProcurement team in three phases: Discovery, Technology & Mapping, Go-Live. No fees listed. |
| EDI, XML and SFTP | Electronic purchase orders, electronic invoices and advance shipment notices. | Arranged with MSC's eProcurement team, about 1 to 12 weeks depending on your team's availability. |
| Download Cart | Your cart or order data from mscdirect.com, from over 30 fields, in 5 file formats, for import into your ERP. | An mscdirect.com account. Fields and format are set in Manage Preferences. |
| mscdirect.com by hand | Order History with tracking, invoice and packing slip reprints, your pricing, lists, returns and Accounts Payable. | A registered user on your MSC account. Admin sections need an administrator. |

Read on November 12, 2026: [MSC eProcurement solutions](https://www.mscdirect.com/solutions/eprocurement), [mscdirect.com Customer Guidebook (PDF)](https://www.mscdirect.com/global/media/pdf/guide/mscdirect.com_guidebook.pdf), [Download Cart](https://www.mscdirect.com/features-download-cart).

## Signing in to MSC

mscdirect.com signs you in with a username and password, and keeps you signed in until you sign out; it asks you to authenticate again only at secure access points. With Fous you sign in once through MSC's own sign-in with your own account: the login is sealed with AES-256, code and AI agents never see it, and an expired session is signed back in.

## Worth knowing

- **Your administrator decides what you see**: Order History visibility is set per user, for the whole account or only your own orders. Accounts Payable, Order Approval, Cost Allocation and PO Control appear only to administrators.
- **Use the account that sees your pricing**: Your own pricing, quantity breaks and stock at your nearest pickup location show on product pages when you are signed in. MSC asks returning buyers to locate their existing account so they see their own pricing, lists and order history.
- **Returns start from invoiced items**: An online return starts from Order History, and the item status must be invoiced. Items over 30 days old, cut to length, hazardous, truck, drop ship or part of a set cannot be returned online.
- **Routing notes reach your invoice**: Routing notes entered per cart line print on the packing slip and show on your invoice, so a job number entered there lets you match the invoice to the job.

## More in Distribution: industrial and MRO

- [Motion](https://fous.com/automate/motion.md)
- [MISUMI](https://fous.com/automate/misumi.md)
- [Rexel France](https://fous.com/automate/rexel-france.md)
- [Sonepar Onlineshop](https://fous.com/automate/sonepar-onlineshop.md)
- [RS](https://fous.com/automate/rs.md)
- [京东企业购](https://fous.com/automate/jd-enterprise.md)
- [Fastenal](https://fous.com/automate/fastenal.md)
- [Würth Online-Shop](https://fous.com/automate/wurth-online-shop.md)
- [Airgas](https://fous.com/automate/airgas.md)
- [McMaster-Carr](https://fous.com/automate/mcmaster-carr.md)
- [Fisher Scientific](https://fous.com/automate/fisher-scientific.md)
- [VWR (Avantor)](https://fous.com/automate/vwr-avantor.md)
- [thermofisher.com](https://fous.com/automate/thermofisher-com.md)
- [SiePortal](https://fous.com/automate/sieportal.md)
- [mySchneider](https://fous.com/automate/myschneider.md)
- [モノタロウ](https://fous.com/automate/monotaro.md)
- [震坤行](https://fous.com/automate/zkh-com.md)
- [ODP Business Solutions](https://fous.com/automate/odp-business-solutions.md)
- [Staples Business Advantage](https://fous.com/automate/staples-business-advantage.md)
- [アスクル](https://fous.com/automate/askul.md)
- [Sigma-Aldrich](https://fous.com/automate/sigma-aldrich.md)
- [Uline](https://fous.com/automate/uline.md)
- [Lyreco Webshop](https://fous.com/automate/lyreco-webshop.md)

Other industries: [Workday VNDLY](/automate/workday-vndly), [Medline.com](/automate/medline-com), [Nationwide Agent Center](/automate/nationwide-agent-center), [eCourts e-Filing](/automate/ecourts-e-filing), [Extensiv 3PL Warehouse Manager](/automate/extensiv-3pl-warehouse-manager), [NetX360+](/automate/netx360).

## Frequently asked questions

### Does MSC Industrial Supply have an API?

Not a public one that its pages describe. MSC connects procurement systems through its eProcurement team: punchout and hosted catalogs, plus electronic purchase orders, invoices and advance shipment notices by EDI, XML or SFTP. Download Cart exports cart and order data from mscdirect.com for your ERP.

### Where do I find tracking numbers for my MSC orders?

In Order History, which you open from the My Account page after signing in. There you can track shipments and reprint invoices and packing slips, and you can search orders by order number, PO number, packing slip number or date.

### How do I get a copy of an MSC invoice?

Reprint it from Order History, which offers invoice and packing slip reprints. An administrator can also search invoices and pay them online under Accounts Payable in My Account Settings. With Fous, you can build a workflow that reads new invoices there each weekday and posts them to your accounting system's webhook.

### Can I check my price for a list of MSC items at once?

Yes, with a workflow you build that loops over your item numbers. On the site, your price, quantity breaks and stock status show on each product detail page when you are signed in. A workflow can check every item on your list and email you only the ones whose price or stock changed.

### Is Fous affiliated with MSC Industrial Direct?

No. Fous is an independent product. You use it with your own mscdirect.com account, 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 MSC Industrial Supply (MSC Industrial Direct). 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.