> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.polytape.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Quickstart

> Connect an agent to PolyTape in under five minutes — the claude.ai connector, any MCP client, or a raw API key.

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

<Columns cols={3}>
  <Card title="claude.ai" icon="comment" href="#path-1-the-claude-ai-connector">
    A custom connector. Sign in, no key to paste.
  </Card>

  <Card title="MCP client" icon="plug" href="#path-2-claude-code-or-any-mcp-client">
    Claude Code, Cursor, opencode, Windsurf.
  </Card>

  <Card title="REST" icon="terminal" href="#path-3-raw-rest-with-a-key">
    A `td_live_` key and curl.
  </Card>
</Columns>

***

## 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.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open connector settings">
    In claude.ai, go to **Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Point it at the MCP server">
    Use the server URL:

    ```
    https://api.polytape.io/mcp
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="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](/authentication) always works.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Ask it something">
    Paste a trader wallet or name into the chat with a natural ask — see
    [the starter prompt](#the-starter-prompt) below.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Warning>
  **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.
</Warning>

***

## Path 2 — Claude Code, or any MCP client

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Claude Code">
    One line:

    ```bash theme={null}
    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.
    ```
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="opencode">
    In `opencode.json`:

    ```json theme={null}
    {
      "$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.
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Cursor">
    In `.cursor/mcp.json`:

    ```json theme={null}
    {
      "mcpServers": {
        "polytape": {
          "url": "https://api.polytape.io/mcp",
          "headers": {
            "Authorization": "Bearer td_live_..."
          }
        }
      }
    }
    ```
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Anything else">
    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.
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

Mint the key first — [Authentication](/authentication) has the two-click path.

***

## Path 3 — raw REST with a key

<Steps>
  <Step title="Mint a key">
    In the PolyTape dashboard: **AI Agents & API → Patch Bay → mint**. The
    plaintext `td_live_` key is shown exactly once.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Check your budget">
    ```bash theme={null}
    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.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Read a trader">
    ```bash theme={null}
    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.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  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.
</Note>

***

## 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:

```text theme={null}
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](/mcp/tools#crack-this-trader)
from your client's prompt picker instead. Fetching a prompt spends no budget.

***

## Where to go next

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Plans & limits" icon="gauge" href="/plans-and-limits">
    What your plan gets you, and what walls look like when you hit one.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Reading the numbers" icon="scale-balanced" href="/concepts/pnl">
    Which P/L to quote — read this before you write a verdict.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Token thrift" icon="coins" href="/concepts/token-thrift">
    Payloads vary a thousandfold. Two rules save most of it.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Recipes" icon="book" href="/guides/recipes">
    Five worked flows with measured call and token costs.
  </Card>
</Columns>