Authentication

The MCP server supports multiple authentication methods depending on how you connect.

Local mode (stdio)

All requests to the Prospeo API are authenticated with your API key, passed as the X-KEY HTTP header. The MCP server handles this automatically — you only need to provide the key as an environment variable.

Setup

1. Get your API key — Log in to app.prospeo.io → API Management  and generate or copy your key.
2. Set PROSPEO_API_KEY — Pass the key as an environment variable when registering the MCP server (see Quick Start).
3. Key is validated at startup — The server fails immediately with a clear message if PROSPEO_API_KEY is missing or empty.

Hosted mode (mcp.prospeo.io)

The hosted server at https://mcp.prospeo.io works with any MCP-compatible client and supports three authentication methods:

OAuth 2.0 (automatic)

Clients that support OAuth (like Claude.ai and Claude Desktop) handle this flow automatically:

1. Client redirects you to Prospeo’s authorization page
2. You approve access to your account
3. You’re connected — the client handles the rest

OAuth 2.0 (manual client credentials)

For MCP clients that don’t have built-in OAuth support, you can create OAuth credentials manually:

1. Go to app.prospeo.io → Integration → MCP 
2. Click Manage OAuth Clients → Create OAuth Client
3. Copy the Client ID and Client Secret (shown once)
4. Configure your MCP client with these credentials to authenticate against https://mcp.prospeo.io

This is useful for custom integrations, self-built MCP clients, or tools that require manual OAuth configuration.

API Key header

For the simplest direct access, pass your API key in the X-KEY header:

X-KEY: your_api_key_here

This works with any HTTP-based MCP client that supports custom headers.