IntroductionGetting started

Claude Desktop

Claude Desktop supports both OAuth and API key authentication for the Ada MCP server.

Requirements

Users with Read Only access cannot connect to the MCP server. If you need to upgrade your permissions, ask an Admin or Owner on your team to change your role.

OAuth uses browser-based login with your Ada credentials. No API key is required.

  1. Open Claude Desktop.

  2. Go to Settings → Developer → Edit Config.

  3. Add the following to your claude_desktop_config.json:

    1{
    2  "mcpServers": {
    3    "ada": {
    4      "command": "npx",
    5      "args": ["mcp-remote", "https://acme-corp.ada.support/api/mcp/oauth"]
    6    }
    7  }
    8}

  4. Replace acme-corp.ada.support with your Ada instance domain (see Authentication).

  5. Restart Claude Desktop.

  6. When prompted, authorize the connection with your Ada credentials.

Option 2: API key

API key authentication uses a token generated from your Ada dashboard. This is useful for automated setups or when browser-based login is not available.

  1. Generate an API key from Config > PLATFORM > API keys in your Ada dashboard.

  2. Open Claude Desktop and go to Settings → Developer → Edit Config.

  3. Add the following to your claude_desktop_config.json:

    1{
    2  "mcpServers": {
    3    "ada": {
    4      "command": "npx",
    5      "args": [
    6        "mcp-remote",
    7        "https://acme-corp.ada.support/api/mcp",
    8        "--header",
    9        "Authorization:${AUTH_HEADER}"
    10      ],
    11      "env": {
    12        "AUTH_HEADER": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
    13      }
    14    }
    15  }
    16}

  4. Replace acme-corp.ada.support with your Ada instance domain.

  5. Replace YOUR_API_KEY with your API key.

  6. Restart Claude Desktop.

Next steps