Connect Claude to FlashAlpha - MCP and OAuth Setup Guide

FlashAlpha exposes 40 tools (23 live + 17 historical-replay) over the Model Context Protocol so you can ask Claude about gamma exposure, dealer positioning, volatility surfaces, and greeks in plain English. There are two ways to connect, and the choice of endpoint is the single most common mistake. This guide walks both paths end-to-end.

Which Endpoint Do I Use?

FlashAlpha publishes two MCP endpoints with the same tool catalog but different authentication. Pick the row that matches the client you are configuring:

Option 1 - Claude.ai Web or Claude Desktop (OAuth)

This is the cleanest setup. You sign in once with your FlashAlpha account, click Allow, and Claude calls FlashAlpha tools on your behalf with no API key handling. Works on Free, Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise plans, in both claude.ai (browser) and the Claude Desktop app.

1. Open claude.ai and sign in.
2. Click your name in the bottom-left, then Settings.
3. In the sidebar, click Customize, then Connectors. (On Team and Enterprise plans, your workspace owner adds connectors under Organization settings → Connectors.)
4. Click the + button at the top of the connectors list, then Add custom connector.
5. Fill in the dialog:
   • Name: FlashAlpha
   • Remote MCP server URL: https://lab.flashalpha.com/mcp-oauth — the -oauth suffix is required.
   • Advanced settings: leave empty. FlashAlpha uses Dynamic Client Registration, so Claude registers itself automatically - you do not need to paste a client ID or secret.
6. Click Add. The connector appears in the list with a Connect button.
7. Click Connect. Claude opens FlashAlpha's sign-in page (in-page redirect or popup depending on your browser).
8. Sign in with the email and password from your FlashAlpha account, then click Allow on the consent page. If you are already signed in to flashalpha.com in the same browser, the sign-in step is skipped and you go straight to consent.
9. You return to Claude and the FlashAlpha connector flips to Connected.

Verify it works: open a new chat and ask "What is my FlashAlpha account?" Claude will call the get_account tool and reply with your email, plan tier, and remaining daily quota.

Option 2 - Claude Desktop (apiKey)

Claude Desktop talks to local MCP servers via its config file. FlashAlpha exposes a second endpoint, /mcp, where each tool takes an apiKey argument. The setup is two steps: add the URL to the config, then tell Claude your key once per chat.

1. Find your Claude Desktop config file:
   • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
   • Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
   Create the file if it does not exist.
2. Add the FlashAlpha server entry. If the file already has an mcpServers section, merge the flashalpha key in:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "flashalpha": {
         "url": "https://lab.flashalpha.com/mcp"
       }
     }
   }

3. Save the file and fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop. Reload is not enough - the config is read once at startup.
4. Open a new chat. In your first message, give Claude your API key in plain text:

   My FlashAlpha API key is fa_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. Use it on every FlashAlpha tool call.

   Claude remembers the key for the duration of the chat and passes it as the apiKey argument on every tool invocation.

Verify: ask "What is my FlashAlpha account?" in the same chat. Claude calls get_account with your key and reports the result.

Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code, Claude Code CLI

All four clients use the same /mcp URL and the same chat-paste pattern for the API key. The only difference is where you add the server URL:

• Claude Code (CLI): claude mcp add flashalpha --transport http https://lab.flashalpha.com/mcp
• Cursor: Settings → MCP Servers → Add Server. Name: flashalpha, URL: https://lab.flashalpha.com/mcp.
• Windsurf: Cascade → MCP → Add Server, then paste the same URL.
• VS Code (Copilot / Continue): add the same { "url": "https://lab.flashalpha.com/mcp" } block to your MCP settings file.

Troubleshooting

What You Get Once Connected

All 23 live tools work the moment the connector is green. The highlights:

• Exposure analytics: get_gex, get_dex, get_vex, get_levels, get_exposure_summary, get_narrative.
• Volatility & pricing: get_volatility, get_stock_summary, calculate_greeks, solve_iv.
• Market data: get_stock_quote, get_tickers, get_option_chain, get_account.
• Historical replay (Alpha tier): 17 additional tools that mirror the live ones with an at=<timestamp> argument back to April 2018.

Four ready-made workflow prompts surface as one-click recipes in the client UI:

• analyze_exposure(symbol) — full dealer-positioning walkthrough.
• vrp_regime_check(symbol) — VRP percentile and strategy scoring.
• historical_comparison(symbol, reference_date) — current vs. a past date, VIX-adjusted.
• zero_dte_brief(symbol) — pre-session 0DTE brief.

Try a first prompt: "Show me the gamma exposure for SPY and tell me where the gamma flip is." Or "What is the volatility term structure on TSLA today?"

Real Conversations

What this actually looks like in practice — three unedited Claude Desktop conversations against live FlashAlpha data. Claude is calling FlashAlpha tools on every reply; you are not pasting JSON or interpreting raw chains.

Frequently Asked Questions