Mobile SDK Setup with Customer.io MCP Server

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With over 6.3 billion smartphone users worldwide and people spending nearly 3 hours a day in mobile apps, more people are using their phones than ever before. Whether your team is building user onboarding flows that convert trials, re-engagement campaigns that bring back dormant users, or guiding active users to their next breakthrough moment, mobile is where the magic happens.

But that magic requires a rock-solid mobile messaging infrastructure—one that accurately tracks user behavior, ensures push notifications and SMS messages actually reach devices, and delivers in-app messages at exactly the right moment.

What shouldn't be hard (but often is) is getting that infrastructure set up in the first place. SDK (Software Development Kit) integration and setup has consistently been a pain point for mobile developers.

So, we decided to fix that. We built an AI-powered SDK Setup Tool that makes Customer.io SDK integration as smooth as the mobile experiences you're building.

SDK integration shouldn't derail your sprint

If you've ever installed a mobile SDK, you know how it goes. You find the docs, hope they're up to date, generate a key, drop some code, maybe miss a flag, maybe use the wrong region, and then… crickets.

No events. No pushes. And you're left wondering if your setup is broken, or if something's just taking a while.

We've been on the receiving end of that pain, too. Supporting SDK integration across iOS, Android, React Native, Expo, and Flutter, we kept seeing the same issues: wrong regions, mixed-up keys, silent failures, and long-winded debugging sessions. Push or in-app messages not triggering even though the setup looks correct. Endless Slack threads that don't find a resolution. And that's before you even get to the app store review!

So, we flipped the model: instead of asking you to adapt and just deal with the pains of SDK setup, we've adapted to you.

AI that works with your tools: SDK Setup Tool

Our new SDK Setup Tool is an agent-accessible tool built on top of our Model Context Protocol (MCP) server. This means you can now easily ask your favorite tools, like Cursor or Claude, to set up your SDK.

Instead of painstakingly reading through mountains of generic documentation, your AI tool of choice becomes a Customer.io integration expert with direct access to your workspace configuration.

Here's what you can do with the SDK Setup Tool:

Add Customer.io to your app
Show integration status for an existing source
Generate ready-to-paste code tailored to your platform
Verify that push and in-app messaging are working
Troubleshoot issues when data isn't flowing

Want to add Customer.io to your React Native app? Simply ask. You'll instantly receive an important config (region, write keys) aware snippet, install code, and platform-specific tips.

Are events not showing up? Ask again! The assistant will check your workspace, validate your setup, and return your integration status with the next steps.

Your workspace is now AI-accessible with our MCP server

The SDK Setup Tool is just one of several tools our MCP server provides. Once your SDK is live and events are flowing, our MCP server unlocks more than just integration help. Use the MCP server to access your entire Customer.io workspace through natural language—debugging user issues, exploring customer data, and building audience segments. It's AI that works for you, on your terms.

For teams where developers handle both the technical integration and the marketing automation setup, this contextual intelligence accelerates the entire workflow from SDK setup to campaign execution.

AI throughout the platform (for your marketing teammates)

While you're getting your integration running smoothly, Customer.io's AI features and MCP server help your marketing teammates make the most of the data you're sending. They can use natural language to generate segments, inspect customer profiles for more accurate targeting, and discover audience patterns they might miss.

Tony Fabrikant, founder of CoupleWork, recently used our MCP server to create segments programmatically—users with a payment history, trial users at risk of dropping off, and engagement patterns that would have taken hours to configure manually.

“
It's more fun to do it with MCP than through the UI. Even if it gets me 80% of the way there and I fix the rest, it's a better developer experience.

What impressed him most was the contextual awareness.

“
The AI suggested segments I was missing, interim states I should track for different campaign types. It was like having a marketing automation expert who could see exactly what I'd already built and knew what I needed next.

Beyond the MCP server, our broader AI offering includes content analysis tools that enhance email messaging while preserving brand voice, and in-app message suggestions that provide smart starting points for campaigns.

Everything connects through the same customer data your SDK is tracking, creating a seamless experience from technical integration to campaign execution and beyond.