Authentication & setup

Endpoint

https://www.getarcresearch.com/mcp

Transport: Streamable HTTP. Unauthenticated requests return 401 with a WWW-Authenticate challenge that points Claude at /.well-known/oauth-protected-resource.

Create a token

1. Sign in and open MCP access.
2. Generate a named token (for example Cursor laptop or Perplexity).
3. Copy the raw token immediately — Arc Research stores only a digest and will not show it again.

Free accounts receive 403 with require_upgrade. Upgrade to Arc Research Starter to use MCP.

Cursor

Add a remote server entry to your MCP config (mcp.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "arc-research": {
      "url": "https://www.getarcresearch.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_TOKEN_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude

Claude.ai, Claude Desktop, and Cowork add Arc Research as a custom connector. Those clients speak MCP OAuth: they discover our authorization server, open a browser sign-in, and store the grant as a connection.

1. Open claude.ai Customize → Connectors (Team/Enterprise owners: Organization settings → Connectors).
2. Click Add custom connector. If Claude asks for a type, choose Web.
3. Set the fields:
   • Name: Arc Research
   • Remote MCP server URL: https://www.getarcresearch.com/mcp
   • Authentication: OAuth (Always required, or whatever Claude auto-detects). Do not paste a token here.
4. Add the connector, then click Connect. Sign in to Arc Research and approve the prompt.
5. The grant appears under MCP access → Connections. Disconnect there to revoke Claude immediately.

Claude hosts a Client ID Metadata Document, which this authorization server accepts (client_id_metadata_document_supported). Dynamic Client Registration is also available as a fallback.

If your Claude organization only has the request-headers beta and no OAuth prompt, choose Authentication None and add an Authorization header whose value is Bearer YOUR_TOKEN_HERE (include the Bearer prefix). Prefer OAuth when it is offered — that is the per-user connection.

Claude Code

claude mcp add arc-research --transport http \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN_HERE" \
  https://www.getarcresearch.com/mcp

Perplexity

Perplexity Pro, Max, and Enterprise plans support custom remote MCP connectors (Bring Your Own Connector). Use the web Connectors UI — not the macOS Desktop MCP settings, which are a different surface.

1. Open perplexity.ai/account/connectors (or Account settings → Connectors).
2. Click + Custom connector and choose Remote.
3. Set the fields:
   • Name: Arc Research
   • MCP Server URL: https://www.getarcresearch.com/mcp (HTTPS, no trailing slash)
   • Transport: Streamable HTTP (not SSE)
   • Authentication: API Key — paste your Arc Research MCP token. Perplexity sends Authorization: Bearer … on each request.
4. Acknowledge the risk prompt, then Add. Enable the connector on the card if it is not already on.
5. In a Computer or chat thread, turn on the Arc Research connector under Sources, then ask for a commodity lookup or COT snapshot to confirm tools are live.

On an organization/Enterprise plan, an admin may need to allow members to add custom connectors before the option appears. Prefer API Key auth here — Arc Research MCP is bearer-token based and does not use OAuth for client setup.

Security notes

• Treat tokens like passwords. Do not commit them to git or paste them into shared chats.
• Revoke unused tokens from the MCP access page; revocation is immediate.
• Prefer read-only tools for research workflows. Mutating tools (for example add_journal_entry) are clearly named and user-scoped.