# Connect the MCP server

Add Chikara Intelligence to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or VS Code and ask for people, companies and events in plain English.

Canonical: https://chikaraintel.com/docs/mcp

## The server

Server URL:

```text
https://mcp.chikaraintel.com/mcp
```

It's a remote server over Streamable HTTP. Nothing to install. It holds no data of its own and forwards your token to the API, so an assistant sees exactly what your plan covers.

Request path: your AI client → MCP server (mcp.chikaraintel.com) → Chikara Intelligence API (api.chikaraintel.com), carrying your own token.

## Add it to your client

Clients that support OAuth sign in through the browser, with no key to copy. The others need an API key from the [MCP Access page](https://app.chikaraintel.com/account/mcp). See [authentication](/docs/authentication).

**Claude**

1. In Claude, open Settings, then Connectors, and choose Add custom connector.
2. Name it Chikara Intelligence and paste https://mcp.chikaraintel.com/mcp. Leave the OAuth client ID and secret empty.
3. Choose Connect, sign in to Chikara Intelligence and approve access.
4. In a new chat, turn the connector on from the tools menu and ask a question.

**Claude Code**

1. Add the server.
2. Run /mcp inside Claude Code, select chikara and choose Authenticate.
3. Sign in in the browser window that opens and approve access.

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http chikara https://mcp.chikaraintel.com/mcp
```

**Cursor**

1. Create an API key on the MCP Access page.
2. Add this to ~/.cursor/mcp.json, or .cursor/mcp.json in a project, with your key in place of the placeholder.
3. Open Cursor Settings, then MCP, and check chikara shows twelve tools.

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "chikara": {
      "url": "https://mcp.chikaraintel.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer <your-token>"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

**VS Code**

1. Create an API key on the MCP Access page.
2. Add this to .vscode/mcp.json. VS Code asks for the key the first time the server starts and stores it securely, so the file is safe to commit.
3. Trust the server when prompted. The tools appear in Copilot Chat in agent mode.

```json
{
  "inputs": [
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "chikara-token",
      "description": "Chikara Intelligence API key",
      "password": true
    }
  ],
  "servers": {
    "chikara": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.chikaraintel.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer ${input:chikara-token}"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

**ChatGPT**

1. Create an API key on the MCP Access page and export it as CHIKARA_API_TOKEN.
2. Pass the server as a tool in an OpenAI Responses API call, with your key in the Authorization header.
3. Install the SDK with pip install openai, then run the script.

```python
import os
from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI()  # reads OPENAI_API_KEY

resp = client.responses.create(
    model="gpt-5",
    tools=[
        {
            "type": "mcp",
            "server_label": "chikara_intelligence",
            "server_url": "https://mcp.chikaraintel.com/mcp",
            "headers": {"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['CHIKARA_API_TOKEN']}"},
            "require_approval": "never",
        }
    ],
    input="Who joined Halberd Industrial Group as CFO this year?",
)

print(resp.output_text)
```

## Check it works

Ask something that needs two tools, such as:

Prompt:

```text
Find Halberd Industrial Group, then list its current executives.
```

The assistant should call [search_companies](/docs/mcp/tools/search_companies) and then [get_company_people](/docs/mcp/tools/get_company_people). If it says it has no tools, check the connector is switched on for the chat.

## Calling it without a client

The server speaks JSON-RPC 2.0 over HTTP POST. This lists the tools, which is a quick way to test a key.

cURL:

```bash
curl -sS -X POST "https://mcp.chikaraintel.com/mcp" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CHIKARA_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Accept: application/json, text/event-stream" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 1, "method": "tools/list"}'
```

## What's available

Twelve read-only tools in three groups: people, companies and events. The [tools index](/docs/mcp/tools) lists them with their parameters. The [filtering guide](/docs/mcp/guides/filtering-events) covers how to build event searches.

## Related

- https://chikaraintel.com/docs/mcp/tools.md
- https://chikaraintel.com/docs/mcp/guides/filtering-events.md
- https://chikaraintel.com/docs/authentication.md