Connect the MCP to Claude & other clients

Generate your credentials

MCP credentials are generated from the BigIdeasDB dashboard and require a Pro membership. Generate a token and keep it somewhere safe, because you will paste it into your client's config. The server URL is the same everywhere; only your token is unique to you.

https://bigideasdb.com/api/mcp/bigideasdb-mcp

The universal config

Most clients accept a hosted MCP server over HTTP with a JSON config like this. Replace YOUR_TOKEN with the credential you generated in the dashboard. Wherever a client uses a JSON MCP config file, this is the shape you paste in.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "bigideasdb": {
      "url": "https://bigideasdb.com/api/mcp/bigideasdb-mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" }
    }
  }
}

Claude Code and Claude Desktop

In Claude Code you can add the hosted server from the command line, giving it a name, the URL, and an Authorization header. After adding it, reload so the tools register.

claude mcp add --transport http bigideasdb \
  https://bigideasdb.com/api/mcp/bigideasdb-mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"

Claude Desktop reads its servers from the app's configuration file. Add the bigideasdb entry to the mcpServers object and restart the app so it picks up the change.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "bigideasdb": {
      "url": "https://bigideasdb.com/api/mcp/bigideasdb-mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" }
    }
  }
}

Cursor, VS Code, and Windsurf

Editor-based clients expose MCP through a settings pane or a JSON file in the project or user directory. Cursor and Windsurf both accept the same server object; add it in the MCP settings and reload the editor.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "bigideasdb": {
      "url": "https://bigideasdb.com/api/mcp/bigideasdb-mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" }
    }
  }
}

VS Code with GitHub Copilot registers hosted MCP servers in its own MCP configuration. The server object uses the same URL and header; after adding it, reload the window so the bigideasdb tools become available to the chat.

{
  "servers": {
    "bigideasdb": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://bigideasdb.com/api/mcp/bigideasdb-mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" }
    }
  }
}

ChatGPT and other clients

ChatGPT connects to hosted MCP servers as a connector. Point it at the server URL and supply your token as a bearer credential in the Authorization header. The same pattern applies to any other client that speaks hosted MCP over HTTP, including Codex, JetBrains AI, and Replit.

• Server name - bigideasdb (any label you like).
• Server URL - https://bigideasdb.com/api/mcp/bigideasdb-mcp
• Authentication - Authorization header, value Bearer YOUR_TOKEN.

name: bigideasdb
url:  https://bigideasdb.com/api/mcp/bigideasdb-mcp
header: Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN

For the full list of confirmed clients and the account-wide rate limits, see Rate limits and supported clients.

Verify the connection

After adding the server, restart or reload your client and confirm the bigideasdb tools appear. Then try a prompt like "search Reddit for complaints about invoicing software." If tools do not appear, double-check the token and the server URL, or see Help.

Good first prompts that exercise different sources so you know the connection is healthy:

"Search Reddit for people frustrated with scheduling apps."
"Show me Capterra feature gaps for project management software."
"How many companies are live on Stripe in the invoicing category?"

If a prompt returns a sourced answer, the connection is working and the model is calling the tools. Because a single prompt can trigger several tool calls, keep an eye on volume during heavy sessions - the limits are shared across every client you connect.

Troubleshooting

• Tools missing - confirm you fully reloaded or restarted the client after editing the config.
• Auth errors - check the Authorization header reads Bearer followed by your token, with a single space.
• Wrong URL - the server URL must be exactly https://bigideasdb.com/api/mcp/bigideasdb-mcp with no trailing path.
• Still failing - regenerate the token in the dashboard and paste the new value in.

Managing your token across clients

One token works everywhere, so you do not need a separate credential per client. If you research from Claude Code during the day and switch to Cursor or ChatGPT later, paste the same bearer token into each and they all authenticate against the same account. That keeps setup simple, but it also means every connected client draws down one shared pool of requests.

When you regenerate a token in the dashboard, the previous value stops working immediately. After rotating it, update the Authorization header in each client you have configured, then reload so the new credential takes effect. Storing the token in an environment variable rather than a committed config file makes rotation painless and keeps it out of version control.

The account-wide limits that every client shares are covered in full on Rate limits and supported clients.