Two ways to connect
The same 32 tools are available through two transports. Pick whichever fits your client and environment — both expose identical functionality.Hosted (remote)
Point your client at
https://mcp.alphacast.io/mcp. Nothing to install — no Node.js, no npm, no API key. You sign in once through your browser with OAuth and your Alphacast account. Best for most users and for clients that support remote MCP servers.Local (npm)
Your client spawns the
@alphacast/mcp package as a local subprocess via npx -y @alphacast/mcp over stdio. Requires Node.js 18+ and an ALPHACAST_API_KEY. Best for offline-ish setups, CI, or clients that don’t yet support remote servers or OAuth.
Both authenticate as your Alphacast account and respect the same repository permissions. See Authentication for the details of each, then follow the Quickstart or your client’s configuration guide.
What you can do
Discover data
Search the curated Alphacast catalog. Browse 30+ providers — FRED, BLS, World Bank, OECD, IMF, BIS, ECB, Eurostat, Banxico, and many more — without learning each provider’s native API.
Read datasets
Download dataset rows in CSV or JSON, fetch column schemas, and inspect repository metadata. The workspace’s default repository is resolved automatically when you don’t specify one.
Look up tickers
Search public market tickers, ETFs, indexes, and ISINs, then pull historical OHLCV prices over
5y, ytd, max, and other lookback periods.Build pipelines
Create pipelines, add or edit steps, run them, and preview the output of any step. Auto-validates and auto-runs after every mutation.
Browse providers
Walk hierarchical catalogs, search series by keyword, and preview or fetch full historical data.
Author charts
Look up chart-authoring recipes for any Grapher chart type, validate configurations before saving, and inspect existing chart metadata.
Get started
Quickstart
Connect a client and run your first prompt in under five minutes.
Configuration
Step-by-step setup for Claude Code and Codex.
Tools reference
All 32 tools, grouped by capability, with input schemas and example prompts.
Examples
End-to-end walkthroughs that combine multiple tools to solve real research workflows.
Safety boundaries
The server intentionally does not expose destructive operations. Repositories, datasets, and pipelines can only be deleted from the Alphacast web UI — never from an agent. Of the 32 tools, 28 are read-only; the 4 write tools (create_pipeline, add_pipeline_step, edit_pipeline_step, delete_pipeline_step) are scoped to pipeline authoring. Provider API keys are managed through the Alphacast settings web UI.