Quickstart

Three ways in. They read the same data and spend the same budget — pick the one that matches where your agent lives.

claude.ai

A custom connector. Sign in, no key to paste.

MCP client

Claude Code, Cursor, opencode, Windsurf.

REST

A td_live_ key and curl.

Path 1 — the claude.ai connector

The shortest route for a chat-first workflow. You sign in with your PolyTape account instead of pasting key material.

Open connector settings

In claude.ai, go to Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector.

Point it at the MCP server

Use the server URL:

https://api.polytape.io/mcp

Authorize

Claude will walk you through OAuth. Sign in with your PolyTape account and consent. No key is ever pasted, and no key material lives in the connector.Where OAuth is not yet live for your client, the API-key path in Authentication always works.

Ask it something

Paste a trader wallet or name into the chat with a natural ask — see the starter prompt below.

Re-add the connector after an API update. MCP clients cache tools/list, so new tools and sharpened tool descriptions do not reach a client that connected before the change. If a tool you expect is missing, remove the connector and add it again. Reconnecting is free — protocol handshakes spend no budget.

Path 2 — Claude Code, or any MCP client

Claude Code
opencode
Cursor
Anything else

One line:

claude mcp add --transport http polytape https://api.polytape.io/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer td_live_..."

Then, in a session:

Use the crack_this_trader prompt on GoingInsolvent.

In opencode.json:

{
  "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json",
  "mcp": {
    "polytape": {
      "type": "remote",
      "url": "https://api.polytape.io/mcp",
      "oauth": false,
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer td_live_..."
      }
    }
  }
}

Remote MCP servers default to OAuth in opencode, so "oauth": false is what keeps it on the header path.

In .cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "polytape": {
      "url": "https://api.polytape.io/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer td_live_..."
      }
    }
  }
}

The bare endpoint, streamable HTTP, stateless:

https://api.polytape.io/mcp

Authenticate with Authorization: Bearer td_live_..., or connect over OAuth where your client supports it.

Mint the key first — Authentication has the two-click path.

Path 3 — raw REST with a key

Mint a key

In the PolyTape dashboard: AI Agents & API → Patch Bay → mint. The plaintext td_live_ key is shown exactly once.

Check your budget

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer td_live_..." \
  https://api.polytape.io/api/agent/v1/me

You get your plan, rate limits, and usage so far. Start here so you know what you have before you spend it.

Read a trader

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer td_live_..." \
  https://api.polytape.io/api/agent/v1/traders/GoingInsolvent

That is the career card — the start of every trader analysis.

The key goes in the Authorization header and nowhere else. A key is never accepted in a query string: a key in a URL is a key in an access log.

The starter prompt

Once connected, this is what a person would actually type. It gives the agent a soft steer and then lets it roam the tools:

Pull up the Polymarket trader 'GoingInsolvent' with your PolyTape tools and
tell me how they make their money: what they trade, when they get in, how they
size, and whether the record reads like skill or luck. Start with their trader
card and their biggest markets, then dig into whatever looks interesting. One
thing to know: PnL here is realized at cost, so a big open position can hide in
the numbers. Give me your read, then tell me what you'd dig into next. I'll
have questions.

Swap the name for any wallet, profile URL, or display name. For the scripted analyst version — the full workflow with a terse numbers-only verdict — invoke the crack_this_trader prompt from your client’s prompt picker instead. Fetching a prompt spends no budget.

Where to go next

Plans & limits

What your plan gets you, and what walls look like when you hit one.

Reading the numbers

Which P/L to quote — read this before you write a verdict.

Token thrift

Payloads vary a thousandfold. Two rules save most of it.

Recipes

Five worked flows with measured call and token costs.

Get started

Core concepts

Guides

claude.ai

MCP client

REST

Path 1 — the claude.ai connector

Path 2 — Claude Code, or any MCP client

Path 3 — raw REST with a key

The starter prompt

Where to go next

Plans & limits

Reading the numbers

Token thrift

Recipes

claude.ai

MCP client

REST

​Path 1 — the claude.ai connector

​Path 2 — Claude Code, or any MCP client

​Path 3 — raw REST with a key

​The starter prompt

​Where to go next

Plans & limits

Reading the numbers

Token thrift

Recipes

Path 1 — the claude.ai connector

Path 2 — Claude Code, or any MCP client

Path 3 — raw REST with a key

The starter prompt

Where to go next