Using MCP Servers with Claude & Cline

Connect Universal API MCP servers to your AI assistant.

Claude Desktop

Edit your Claude Desktop config file:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "universalapi": {
      "url": "https://mcp.api.universalapi.co/mcp/mcp-f1d167e0-d834-4a8e-a4e0-c40b3a498b16",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop after editing. The server's tools will appear in Claude's tool list.

Multiple Servers

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "universalapi": {
      "url": "https://mcp.api.universalapi.co/mcp/mcp-f1d167e0-d834-4a8e-a4e0-c40b3a498b16",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" }
    },
    "serpapi": {
      "url": "https://mcp.api.universalapi.co/mcp/s/snowtimber/serpapi",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" }
    },
    "google-suite": {
      "url": "https://mcp.api.universalapi.co/mcp/s/snowtimber/google-suite-universalapi",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" }
    }
  }
}

Cline (VS Code Extension)

Add servers in Cline's MCP settings (accessible via the Cline sidebar):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "universalapi": {
      "url": "https://mcp.api.universalapi.co/mcp/mcp-f1d167e0-d834-4a8e-a4e0-c40b3a498b16",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"
      }
    }
  }
}

URL Formats

You can use either UUID or slug-based URLs:

# UUID format
https://mcp.api.universalapi.co/mcp/mcp-f1d167e0-d834-4a8e-a4e0-c40b3a498b16

# Slug format
https://mcp.api.universalapi.co/mcp/s/snowtimber/serpapi

Both work identically. Slug URLs are easier to read and share.

Finding Server IDs

From the Web UI

1. Go to universalapi.co/mcp-servers
2. Click on a server
3. The endpoint URL is shown on the detail page with a copy button

From the API

# List all public servers
curl -s https://api.universalapi.co/mcp-admin/list | jq '.data.servers[] | {serverName, serverId, slug}'

# Search for servers
curl -s "https://api.universalapi.co/search?q=web+search&type=mcp" | jq

Using from Python (Strands SDK)

Connect to MCP servers programmatically in your agent code:

from strands.tools.mcp import MCPClient
from strands.tools.mcp.mcp_client import StreamableHTTPTransport

transport = StreamableHTTPTransport(
    url="https://mcp.api.universalapi.co/mcp/mcp-xxx",
    headers={"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"}
)
client = MCPClient(transport=transport)

# Use with a Strands Agent
from strands import Agent
from strands.models.bedrock import BedrockModel

model = BedrockModel(model_id="us.anthropic.claude-sonnet-4-20250514-v1:0", region_name="us-east-1")
agent = Agent(model=model, tools=[client])

Troubleshooting

Server not appearing in Claude/Cline

• Restart Claude Desktop or reload Cline after config changes
• Validate JSON — no trailing commas, correct quotes
• Check the URL — must include the full server ID or slug path

"Unauthorized" errors

• Verify your Bearer token is valid
• Check that the token starts with uapi_ut_
• Ensure there's a space between "Bearer" and the token

"Key not found" errors

Some servers require third-party API keys. Store them at universalapi.co/keys:

• SerpAPI servers need a serpapi key
• Google Suite needs Google OAuth connection
• AWS servers need aws credentials