Setup overview

This page describes how to connect an MCP-compatible client to the Cryptohopper Market Data MCP. It is the entry point for the docs site and links to the per-client setup guides in the support knowledge base.

Endpoint

The Cryptohopper Market Data MCP is served at: https://mcp-data.cryptohopper.com/mcp

Transport is HTTP with Server-Sent Events (SSE). All requests must be authenticated — either via OAuth 2.0 or via a bearer-token API key. See OAuth vs. API key authentication for a comparison of both methods.

Prerequisites

To connect a client you need:

• A Cryptohopper account.
• One of the following authentication methods:

1. OAuth 2.0 — no key required; the client handles a browser-based authorisation flow on first connect.
2. A Cryptohopper MCP API key (bearer token) — see how to get a Cryptohopper MCP API key.

• An MCP-compatible client (see supported clients below).

The free Pioneer subscription tier is sufficient to connect and test the MCP. See subscription tiers for a full comparison.

Supported clients

The following clients have dedicated setup guides:

Client	Type	Setup guide
Claude Code	Terminal	Claude Code setup
Claude desktop	Desktop app	Claude desktop setup
Cursor	IDE	Cursor setup
VS Code	IDE (Copilot agent mode)	VS Code setup
Zed	IDE	Zed setup
Gemini CLI	Terminal	Gemini CLI setup
OpenAI Codex	Terminal	Codex setup

Any other MCP-compatible client (LM Studio, Continue, Cline, and similar) can be connected using the generic client setup guide.

Connection model

When a client connects to the MCP endpoint:

1. The client performs an initial handshake over HTTP.
2. The client authenticates using either OAuth 2.0 (browser-based authorisation on first connect, with automatic token refresh thereafter) or a bearer-token API key.
3. The client requests the list of available tools. The server returns tool names, descriptions, and argument schemas.
4. The client upgrades to an SSE stream for ongoing tool invocations.

All state is held client-side. The server does not persist session state between requests. See Architecture for details.

Authentication

The MCP supports two authentication mechanisms:

• OAuth 2.0. On first connect, the client opens a browser-based authorisation flow. Access tokens are short-lived and refreshed automatically. No long-lived secret is stored in the client config.
• Bearer token (API key). A long-lived key is passed in the Authorization header of every request:

{
  "Authorization": "Bearer <your_api_key>"
}

The client handles either flow automatically once configured. Authentication is scoped to a single Cryptohopper account. Weekly quota and rate limits are applied per account, not per key or per OAuth grant. See OAuth vs. API key authentication for guidance on which to choose, API key security best practices, and rate limits explained.

Configuration format

Most clients use a JSON configuration block that includes the server URL and — for the API key flow — the bearer token. The exact format varies per client.

Option A — API key (bearer token):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cryptohopper": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp-data.cryptohopper.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Option B — OAuth 2.0 (no key in config):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cryptohopper": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp-data.cryptohopper.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

With Option B, the client triggers the OAuth authorisation flow on first connect. Per-client guides document the exact file location and any client-specific fields.

Verifying the connection

After configuring a client, verify the connection by issuing a minimal query. Example:

What is the current BTC/USDT ticker on Binance?

A successful response includes a last price, bid/ask, 24-hour change, and 24-hour volume. See ticker tool reference for the full response schema.

If the response does not arrive, see error reference and troubleshooting.

Tools exposed

The MCP exposes the following tool categories:

Category	Tools	Reference
Ticker	Current ticker (get_ticker)	Ticker tool reference
Orderbook	Orderbook snapshot (get_orderbook)	Orderbook tool reference
Candles (OHLCV)	Candle history (get_candles)	Candle tool reference
Metadata	List exchanges (list_exchanges), list markets (list_markets), get market (get_market), list quote currencies (list_quote_currencies)	Supported exchanges
Account	Usage and quota query (get_usage)	Usage and limits

The exact tools available depend on the subscription tier. See subscription tiers.

Tier-specific behaviour

Certain behaviours differ per subscription tier. Examples:

• Exchange coverage. The Pioneer tier is limited to Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken. Higher tiers expose additional exchanges. See supported exchanges.
• Historical data. The Pioneer tier returns real-time data only. Explorer, Adventurer, and Hero support historical candle queries, with different lookback limits.
• Cost factor for historical data. On Explorer and Adventurer, historical candle queries are charged at 5× (short history) or 20× (long history) relative to a baseline call. On Hero, all queries are charged at 1×. See rate limits explained.

Attempts to query functionality outside the current tier return a tier-restriction error. See error reference.

Quickstart

The fastest path to a working connection:

1. Choose an authentication method — OAuth 2.0 (recommended for interactive clients) or a bearer-token API key (recommended for scripts and automation). For API keys, generate one in your Cryptohopper account settings.
2. Configure the client of your choice using its setup guide.
3. Issue a test query.

Total time is typically under five minutes.