MCP Setup Guide

This guide walks you through connecting any MCP-compatible client (Cursor, Claude Desktop, and others) to Elementary’s remote MCP server. The server is available at:

https://prod.api.elementary-data.com/mcp/

Authentication

OAuth 2.1 (recommended)
Access token

Elementary’s MCP server supports the Streamable HTTP transport with OAuth 2.1 and dynamic client registration.When you start the MCP server for the first time, your client opens a browser window so you can log in with your Elementary account. The MCP server uses your authenticated user’s permissions directly (user-scoped).Use the following config in the client setup steps below:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "Elementary": {
      "url": "https://prod.api.elementary-data.com/mcp/"
    }
  }
}

Re-authentication is only required when your session expires or you explicitly sign out.

Use this method for headless setups, CI environments, or any client that doesn’t support browser-based OAuth.

Prerequisites

Requirement	Why it’s needed
Node.js 18 LTS or newer	`mcp-remote` runs on Node. Verify with `node --version`.
npm / npx	`npx` fetches `mcp-remote` on demand. Bundled with Node.

If you don’t have Node.js installed, use nvm for easy installation:

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.0/install.sh | bash
# Restart your terminal, then:
nvm install --lts && nvm use --lts

Generate an access token

Go to User → Personal Tokens or Account → Account Tokens and click Generate token. Copy the token and store it securely — it is shown only once.

Personal tokens are user-scoped and inherit your workspace permissions.
Account tokens are account-scoped with “Can View” permissions.

Treat tokens like passwords: do not share or commit them, rotate regularly, and revoke immediately if compromised.

Install `mcp-remote` (optional)

Our configs use npx to fetch mcp-remote automatically — no global install required. If you prefer a global install:

npm install -g mcp-remote@latest

Use the following config in the client setup steps below:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "elementary-remote": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-remote@latest",
        "https://prod.api.elementary-data.com/mcp/",
        "--header",
        "Authorization:${AUTH_HEADER}"
      ],
      "env": {
        "AUTH_HEADER": "Bearer <AUTH_TOKEN>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace <AUTH_TOKEN> with the token you generated above.

Configure your client

Claude Connector
Claude MCP config
Cursor

Adding a custom connector is gated by your Claude organization’s admin policy, not by Elementary. If you see a “Missing permissions” banner when opening the add-connector dialog, your Claude workspace role isn’t allowed to add custom connectors. Ask a Claude organization admin to either enable custom connectors for members or add the Elementary connector org-wide.

Add Elementary as a custom connector

Click the link below to open Claude with the Elementary connector pre-filled:Add Elementary connector →

Click Add. The Elementary connector will appear in your connectors list.

Connect and authenticate

Click Connect. A browser window opens for you to log in with your Elementary account.

Elementary connector added — click Connect to authenticate

Open MCP settings

Go to Settings → Model Context Protocol → Add Custom Server, or edit ~/.cursor/mcp.json (global) / <project>/.cursor/mcp.json (workspace).

Add the server

Paste the JSON block from the authentication tab above and save. Cursor restarts its MCP agent automatically.

Authenticate

If using OAuth, a browser window opens on first launch. Log in with your Elementary account to complete authentication.

Getting Started

Elementary AI Agent

MCP Server

Data Tests

Data Lineage

Alerts and Incidents

Performance & Cost

Data Catalog & Governance

Data Health

Config & Administration

Integrations

Resources

Authentication

Prerequisites

Generate an access token

Install `mcp-remote` (optional)

Configure your client

​Authentication

​Prerequisites

​Generate an access token

​Install mcp-remote (optional)

​Configure your client

Authentication

Prerequisites

Generate an access token

Install `mcp-remote` (optional)

Configure your client