Kubova guide: from sign-up to AI integration

You can try the calculator without an account, but signing up lets you save load plans, export PDFs, and use the API. It's free to start.

1. Open kubova.com and click Get started (top right).
2. Enter your email and a password, then submit.
3. Check your inbox for the confirmation email and click the link to verify.
4. You're in — you'll land on your dashboard.

From the dashboard or the top menu, open the Calculator. The wizard takes you through a few short steps:

1. Add your cargo: enter the box's length, width and height (in cm), its weight (kg), and how many you're shipping. Give it a name and color so it's easy to spot in 3D.
2. Set stacking and rotation rules: allow the box to be stacked on and rotated, unless your cargo can't be (for example, 'this side up' goods).
3. Pick a container: 20ft, 40ft, 40HC, or define your own custom dimensions.
4. Click Calculate — the plan is ready in seconds.

Tip: dimensions are the size of each carton, not the pallet.

The result screen shows an interactive 3D model of the loaded container plus the key numbers:

1. Drag to rotate, scroll to zoom, and inspect exactly where each unit sits.
2. Units loaded: how many of your cartons actually fit.
3. Volume utilization: how much of the container's space is used.
4. Weight: total loaded weight against the container's payload limit.
5. If some units don't fit, Kubova tells you how many are left over so you can decide on a second container or a different setup.

Shipping different box sizes together? Add each one as a separate cargo item before calculating. Kubova packs them as a single combined load — which usually fits more than planning each product on its own. This is where it beats simple single-product calculators.

Once you're happy with a plan:

1. Click Save to keep it in your dashboard under Saved packs.
2. Click Download PDF for a clean, printable load plan — 3D views, the unit count, utilization and weight — ready to share with your team or freight forwarder.
3. Reopen any saved pack later to review or re-export it.

Need the reverse question — 'how many complete sets of my product fit in one container?' Use the Capacity tool. Enter the cartons that make up one set and a container; Kubova returns how many full sets fit with real 3D packing, and tells you whether space or weight is the limiting factor.

Kubova ships an MCP server, so AI assistants like Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor can plan container loads for you in plain language. There are two ways to connect.

Option A — Connect by URL (no install)

The easiest way. Add Kubova as a remote connector with a single URL; your AI client opens a secure sign-in to your Kubova account — no API key, no terminal.

Connector URL:

https://kubova.com/mcp

• Claude (claude.ai / Desktop): Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector → paste the URL.
• ChatGPT: Settings → Apps & Connectors → enable Developer mode → Create → paste the URL.
• Cursor / VS Code: add the URL as a remote MCP server and sign in when prompted.

Option B — Local install (npm)

Prefer a local server (offline config, CI, automation tools)? Get an API key from your dashboard, then add this to your MCP client's config file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "kubova": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@kubova/mcp@latest"],
      "env": {
        "KUBOVA_API_KEY": "kbv_..."
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop: claude_desktop_config.json · Cursor: ~/.cursor/mcp.json · Claude Code: ~/.claude/settings.json

Then restart your client and just ask, for example: 'Pack 20 boxes of 50×40×30 cm into a 40HC container — what's the utilization?' The assistant calls Kubova, packs the load, and explains the result.

The MCP server is open source on GitHub: Kubova-com/kubova-mcp.

For your own apps and scripts, the same engine is available over a REST API — pack, capacity and PDF report endpoints, authenticated with an API key. See the API reference for request and response formats.