# How to run an influencer campaign from an AI agent (MCP)

> A step-by-step guide to running paid partnerships on X from Claude, Codex or any MCP client: connect Transformer's MCP server, get suggested creators for your brand, write the asks, send offers free, pay for the ones creators accept, then track verification, clicks and sales.

**To run an influencer campaign from an AI agent, connect the agent to Transformer's MCP server at `https://transformer.gg/mcp`, have it fetch suggested X creators for your brand (`suggestions`), write a short ask for each (`write_asks`), show you the list, and send the offers (`send_offers`, free). When creators accept, it pays for those offers (`pay_offers`) and tracks verification and results from there.** The agent does the coordination; creators still write and publish their own posts, and you approve anything that spends money.

## What you need

- A **brand workspace** on Transformer with your website added, so Transformer can build your brand profile and match creators to it. You pay for an offer only when a creator accepts it (Step 4).
- A **workspace API key** (starts with `tf_live_`), created on the workspace page. It acts for that one workspace only.
- An MCP client: Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex, Cursor or anything that speaks MCP over streamable HTTP.

## Step 1: connect the MCP server

In Claude Code:

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http transformer https://transformer.gg/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSFORMER_API_KEY"
```

In any client that reads an `mcp.json`:

```json
{ "mcpServers": { "transformer": { "url": "https://transformer.gg/mcp", "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer tf_live_…" } } } }
```

Ask the agent to call `whoami`. It should report a brand workspace.

## Step 2: get suggested creators

Ask the agent to call `suggestions`. Transformer ranks X creators who've joined against your brand profile, with no brief to write, and returns for each one why they fit, their followers and topics, and a suggested price band. You can filter by budget (maximum price) and size (micro under 25k followers, mid 25k–100k, large 100k+).

As a guide, Transformer's default prices for one X post are:

| Followers | Default price | Creator receives (80%) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| under 5k | $50 | $40 |
| 5k–25k | $125 | $100 |
| 25k–100k | $250 | $200 |
| 100k–500k | $625 | $500 |
| 500k+ | set per creator | 80% of what you set |

## Step 3: write the asks

Ask the agent to call `write_asks` with the creators you picked. It returns a short ask per creator (what to post about), written from your brand profile. Have the agent show you the creator, price, ask and link for each, and edit anything you like. An ask, not a script: creators write the post in their own words.

## Step 4: send, then pay for accepted offers

When the list looks right, tell the agent to call `send_offers` with your link and one item per creator (price and ask). **Sending is free.** Each offer is one X post with X's Paid partnership label, and it expires after 7 days if the creator doesn't answer.

When a creator accepts, you have **72 hours to pay**. Have the agent call `pay_offers` for the accepted offers: your Transformer balance pays first, and any remainder comes back as a Stripe checkout link (card or US bank account) for a person to open. If an accepted offer isn't paid in time, it's cancelled and the creator is told. The creator posts only after you've paid, within 7 days.

Ask the agent to keep a human in the loop here. `pay_offers` is the step that commits budget.

## Step 5: let the agent track it

Once creators accept, post on X and submit their post URLs, the agent can watch progress:

- `list_offers` with a status filter: `sent`, `accepted`, `submitted`, `verified`, `paid`, `declined`, `cancelled`, `expired`. Each offer also has a `stage` (sent, awaiting_payment, accepted, posted, verified, paid): accepted offers you still need to pay show `awaiting_payment`, and `pay_offers` with no ids pays all of them.
- `get_offer`: one offer with its tracked link, submissions and payment state.
- `offer_stats`: clicks, conversions, revenue and commission for an offer.
- `offer_funnel`: how a batch is doing, from sent to verified.

Verification is automatic: the post must be live, from the creator's account, with your link and X's Paid partnership label turned on. The held payment is released only then. See [How Transformer works](/blog/how-transformer-payment-protection-works).

## Step 6: report sales

To measure sales per creator, report them from your backend (not from the agent's chat) with the `tf_click` id that the tracked link appended to your URL:

```bash
curl https://transformer.gg/api/v1/conversions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRANSFORMER_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"clickId":"<tf_click>","amountUsd":49.00,"orderId":"A-1001"}'
```

The same `orderId` reported twice is ignored, so retries are safe. The agent can also call `report_conversion`.

## Step 7: re-book the winners

Ask the agent to compare `offer_stats` across creators, then send new offers to the ones whose audiences clicked and bought, and ask `suggestions` for new creators to try in place of the rest.

## Guardrails worth keeping

- **Approve before spend.** Have the agent show you the creators, prices and asks before it calls `send_offers`, and ask before it calls `pay_offers`.
- **One key per agent.** Keys are scoped to one workspace and can be revoked from the workspace page.
- **Pay for verified posts only.** That's how Transformer works by default.
- **No posting for creators.** Transformer can't post on X; creators publish from their own accounts.

## FAQ

### Can Claude run an influencer marketing campaign?
Yes. Connected to Transformer's MCP server, Claude can get suggested X creators for your brand, write the asks, send offers, pay for the ones creators accept once you approve, track verification and read clicks and sales. Creators still write and post their own content.

### Which MCP tools does Transformer have for brands?
The main ones are whoami, suggestions, write_asks, send_offers, pay_offers, search_creators, list_offers, get_offer, cancel_offer, offer_stats, offer_funnel and report_conversion.

### Does the agent pay creators directly?
No. pay_offers pays for accepted offers from your balance, with any remainder paid through a Stripe checkout link that a person opens; the payment is then held and released automatically when the creator's post passes verification. The agent never pays creators itself.

### Is there a REST API or CLI instead of MCP?
Yes. The same actions are available as a REST API under /api/v1 and a CLI installed with curl -fsSL https://transformer.gg/install | sh. Sending offers is POST /api/v1/offers/batch, and the CLI pays for accepted offers with `transformer pay`.