MCP Server

Consultainer has a built-in MCP server. Connect an AI agent to it and the agent can read and change your Consultainer data directly: check what's unbilled, log hours, comment on a task, or generate an invoice, without opening a browser tab.

Who can do this: anyone in the organization. The agent acts as you, so it sees what you see and can only do what your role allows (some tools are owner and admin only, see Available tools).

What you need

• The server URL: your instance's address plus /api/mcp, for example https://consultainer.example.com/api/mcp. The transport is Streamable HTTP.
• An API key, sent on every request as the header Authorization: Bearer <your API key>. It's the same kind of key the REST API uses.

Create an API key

1. Open your profile

   Click your avatar in the top-right corner and choose Profile.

2. Name the key

   In the API keys & AI agents card, type a name under New key name (for example, Claude Code on my laptop) and click Create key.

3. Copy it now

   The key (it starts with ch_live_) is shown once. Click the copy button next to it. If you lose it, revoke it and create a new one.

4. Copy your client's setup

   Below the key, Connect an AI agent shows the exact setup for Claude Code, Cursor, Claude Desktop and Other, already filled in with your instance's URL and the new key. Pick your client and click Copy.

To revoke a key, click the trash icon next to it in the same card. It stops working immediately.

Connect a client

In the examples below, replace <your-instance> with your instance's address and <your API key> with the key. The Connect an AI agent box in the app fills both in for you.

Claude Code

1. Add the server

   Run this in a terminal:

   claude mcp add --transport http consultainer https://<your-instance>/api/mcp \
     --header "Authorization: Bearer <your API key>"

   Copy

2. Check it

   Start Claude Code and run /mcp. consultainer should be listed as connected. Then ask, for example, "what's unbilled this month?".

Cursor

1. Edit the config

   Open ~/.cursor/mcp.json (all projects) or .cursor/mcp.json in a project, and add:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "consultainer": {
         "url": "https://<your-instance>/api/mcp",
         "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer <your API key>" }
       }
     }
   }

   Copy

   If the file already has an mcpServers object, add the consultainer entry inside it.

2. Enable it

   Open Cursor's settings, find the MCP section, and make sure consultainer is switched on. It should show a green dot and its list of tools.

Claude Desktop

Claude Desktop's config file only starts local servers, so it reaches Consultainer through the mcp-remote bridge. You need Node.js installed.

1. Open the config file

   In Claude Desktop, open Settings → Developer and click Edit Config. This opens claude_desktop_config.json.

2. Add the server

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "consultainer": {
         "command": "npx",
         "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote", "https://<your-instance>/api/mcp",
                  "--header", "Authorization:${CONSULTAINER_AUTH}"],
         "env": { "CONSULTAINER_AUTH": "Bearer <your API key>" }
       }
     }
   }

   Copy

   The key goes in env so the space in Bearer … survives. If the file already has an mcpServers object, add the consultainer entry inside it.

3. Restart Claude Desktop

   Quit it fully and reopen it. consultainer appears under the tools (connectors) menu in a new chat.

VS Code

Add to .vscode/mcp.json in your workspace (or your user MCP configuration):

{
  "servers": {
    "consultainer": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://<your-instance>/api/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer <your API key>" }
    }
  }
}

Any other client

Any MCP client that can connect to a remote server over Streamable HTTP and send a custom header works:

Clients that can only sign in with OAuth, and can't send a custom header, can't connect. If your client only runs local (stdio) servers, use mcp-remote as in the Claude Desktop example.

Check it worked

Ask the agent "list my Consultainer clients". It should call list_clients and answer with your clients. On Profile, the key now shows last used with today's date.

Troubleshooting

• 401 / "Unauthorized" / the client says it needs to authenticate: the header is missing or wrong, or the key was revoked. Check the header is exactly Authorization: Bearer ch_live_… and create a new key if needed. A key also stops working if its owner is removed from the organization.
• Redirected to a login page, or HTML instead of JSON: something in front of Consultainer is asking for a login. If the instance sits behind an authenticating reverse proxy (Cloudflare Access, oauth2-proxy and so on), let /api/mcp (and /api/v1/* for the REST API) through without it. The API key is the authentication.
• "Only owners and admins can …": that tool needs an owner or admin key.
• "Project not found." for a project you know exists: it's a confidential project you're not on, or the key belongs to a different organization.
• Claude Desktop shows the server as failed: check Node.js is installed (npx --version in a terminal) and that the JSON is valid.

Available tools

Owner/admin-only tools say so. Everything else works for any role, limited to what that person can see.

Clients and projects

Tasks

Time

Milestones and expenses

Estimates

Invoices

Audit

Example

> What am I working on for Fintra Labs?
Auth flow security review, API migration (2 open tasks)

> Log 3.5 hours on the API migration
Logged 3.50h to Fintra Labs — API migration

Changes made through MCP are in the audit log with an API badge, under your name.