Connecting AI Clients

Prerequisites

A running BuildPad DaaS instance
A user with a static API token (see Authentication)

Generate a Static Token

Log in as an admin
Navigate to Users → Edit your user (or create a dedicated MCP user)
Click Generate Token
Copy the token — it will not be shown again

Create a dedicated MCP user with only the permissions the AI agent needs. Avoid using your personal admin token.

Claude Desktop

Add to your Claude Desktop configuration file:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json


{
  "mcpServers": {
    "buildpad-daas": {
      "url": "https://XXX.daas.buildpad.ai/api/mcp",
      "transport": "http",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_STATIC_TOKEN"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop. The BuildPad DaaS tools will appear in the tool selector.

Claude (Web)

Claude on the web supports remote MCP servers via custom connectors, available on paid plans (Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise).

Go to claude.ai → click your profile → Settings → Connectors
Click Add custom connector
Enter your MCP server URL: https://XXX.daas.buildpad.ai/api/mcp
Select Bearer Token as the auth type and paste your static token

The DaaS tools will be available in new conversations.

Cursor

Add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json (applies to all projects) or .cursor/mcp.json in your project root:


{
  "mcpServers": {
    "buildpad-daas": {
      "url": "https://XXX.daas.buildpad.ai/api/mcp",
      "transport": "http",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_STATIC_TOKEN"
      }
    }
  }
}

VS Code (GitHub Copilot)

GitHub Copilot agent mode supports MCP servers. Add to .vscode/mcp.json in your workspace:


{
  "servers": {
    "buildpad-daas": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://XXX.daas.buildpad.ai/api/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_STATIC_TOKEN"
      }
    }
  }
}

Ensure "chat.mcp.enabled": true is set in your VS Code user or workspace settings. The .vscode/mcp.json file can be committed to share the server config with your team — omit the token and have each developer set Authorization in their user settings instead.

Cline

In VS Code, open the Cline extension panel → click the MCP Servers icon → Edit MCP Settings. Add:


{
  "mcpServers": {
    "buildpad-daas": {
      "url": "https://XXX.daas.buildpad.ai/api/mcp",
      "transport": "http",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_STATIC_TOKEN"
      }
    }
  }
}

Other MCP-Compatible Clients

Any client that supports the Model Context Protocol over HTTP can connect to BuildPad DaaS. The general pattern is:

Field	Value
Transport	HTTP (Streamable HTTP)
URL	`https://your-instance.com/api/mcp`
Auth header	`Authorization: Bearer YOUR_STATIC_TOKEN`

Check your client’s documentation for where to place this configuration.

Direct HTTP (JSON-RPC)

The MCP endpoint accepts JSON-RPC 2.0 requests directly — useful for scripting, testing, or integrating with custom tooling:


curl -X POST https://your-domain.com/api/mcp \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <static_token>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "id": 1,
    "method": "tools/call",
    "params": {
      "name": "items",
      "arguments": {
        "action": "read",
        "collection": "articles",
        "query": { "filter": { "status": { "_eq": "published" } }, "limit": 10 }
      }
    }
  }'

Response:


{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "result": {
    "content": [{ "type": "text", "text": "{\"raw\": [...], \"url\": \"...\"}" }]
  }
}

Health Check


GET /api/mcp


{
  "name": "daas-mcp",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "enabled": true,
  "allowDeletes": false,
  "systemPromptEnabled": true
}

Local Development

For local development, the MCP endpoint is at http://localhost:3000/api/mcp. Use your local admin’s static token.