MCP Server

Run the Bitcompare API as tools inside Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Claude.ai, and any other Model Context Protocol-compatible agent. 18 read-only tools covering rates, coins, prices, market stats, stablecoin stability, and symbol resolution — all gated by the same API key and plan limits as REST.

Two ways to connect

Both connect to the same backend. Pick whichever your client supports.

Setup

Claude Desktop

Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS (or the equivalent on Windows/Linux):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "bitcompare": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@bitcompare/mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "BITCOMPARE_API_KEY": "ck_live_..."
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop, then ask: "What's the best yield on BTC right now?" Claude picks up the get_rates tool and answers from live data.

Claude Code

Add to .claude/settings.local.json in your project:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "bitcompare": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@bitcompare/mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "BITCOMPARE_API_KEY": "ck_live_..."
      }
    }
  }
}

Hosted (Streamable HTTP)

Point any HTTP-MCP client at the hosted endpoint:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "bitcompare": {
      "url": "https://api.bitcompare.net/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer ck_live_..."
      }
    }
  }
}

You can also call it directly:

curl -X POST https://api.bitcompare.net/mcp \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ck_live_..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/list","params":{}}'

Tool catalog

Each tool maps 1:1 to a REST endpoint and respects the same plan limits.

Rates

• get_rates — Current rates across providers, filterable by symbol, category, provider. → GET /api/v1/rates
• get_rate_by_symbol — All provider rates for a single coin. → GET /api/v1/rates/{symbol}
• get_rate_history — Historical rate timeseries (Pro: 5 years; lower plans clamped). → GET /api/v1/rates/{symbol}/history
• list_providers — All rate providers, optionally filtered by category. → GET /api/v1/providers

Coins

• get_coin — Full metadata: description, links, categories, market data, developer stats. → GET /api/v1/coins/{coinId}
• list_coins — Paginated coin list with optional name/symbol search. → GET /api/v1/coins
• top_coins — Top N coins by market cap. → GET /api/v1/coins/top
• similar_coins — Coins similar to a given coin. → GET /api/v1/coins/{coinId}/similar
• coin_history — Historical OHLC and market data. → GET /api/v1/coins/{coinId}/history
• coin_markets — Per-exchange market data for a coin. → GET /api/v1/coins/{coinId}/markets

Prices

• get_price — Median price across multiple providers. → GET /api/v1/prices/{symbol}

Market

• market_summary — Total market cap, dominance, 24h volume. → GET /api/v1/global
• fear_greed_index — Crypto Fear & Greed Index. → GET /api/v1/global/fear-and-greed
• top_movers — Biggest 24h gainers and losers. → GET /api/v1/global/movers

Stablecoins

• stablecoin_index — Stability leaderboard ranked by peg deviation. → GET /api/v1/stablecoins
• stablecoin_peg_stability — Historical peg deviation for a stablecoin. → GET /api/v1/stablecoins/{symbol}/history

Symbols

• resolve_symbol — Map exchange-specific tickers (e.g. BTC, XBT, wBTC) to canonical coin IDs. → GET /api/v1/symbols/resolve
• resolve_symbols_batch — Resolve many exchange tickers in a single call. → POST /api/v1/symbols/resolve/batch

Authentication

The MCP server uses the same ck_live_* keys as the REST API. The Pro plan ($499/mo) or Enterprise is required to authenticate against the MCP endpoint — lower tiers (Free, Starter, Growth) don't include MCP access.

• stdio transport — set BITCOMPARE_API_KEY in the env block of your client config
• HTTP transport — send Authorization: Bearer ck_live_...

See Authentication for full details on key lifecycle, rotation, and revocation.

Rate limits

MCP requests count against your plan's per-key request budget. The plan determines burst capacity and monthly volume:

Exceeding the burst budget returns 429 Too Many Requests over HTTP, or a rate_limit error frame over stdio. See Rate Limiting.

Errors

The MCP transport uses standard JSON-RPC error frames; the underlying REST errors map to error.data.code:

• 401 unauthorized — missing or invalid ck_live_* key
• 402 plan_required — key is valid but the plan tier doesn't include MCP (free/starter)
• 404 not_found — symbol, coin, or provider does not exist
• 429 rate_limited — plan burst or monthly budget exhausted
• 500 server_error — upstream issue; safe to retry with exponential backoff

See Errors for the full error catalog.

Discovery

The agent-readable manifest at the apex is updated automatically as tools change:

• bitcompare.net/llms.txt — apex manifest
• api.bitcompare.net/llms.txt — full tool descriptions
• api.bitcompare.net/mcp/tools.json — JSON-Schema-typed catalog

The npm package is published at @bitcompare/mcp-server and listed on Smithery.

What's next?

• Try a Quickstart request to confirm your key works against REST
• Explore the Rates and Coins endpoints — the most common MCP tool targets
• Build a custom client against the same endpoint using the @modelcontextprotocol/sdk