Getting Started

MCP setup

Connect FinanceDataAPI to Claude or another MCP client.

What it is

This page is the five-step version of the MCP setup flow: point your client at the FinanceDataAPI server, add your API key header, restart the client, and trigger one tool call.

Keep the full installation notes in the dedicated MCP docs; this page is intentionally the shortest working checklist.

When to use it

Connecting Claude Desktop, Cursor, Continue, or another MCP-aware client.
Confirming that your FinanceDataAPI key is accepted by the MCP middleware.
Giving teammates a copy-paste example that proves the tool surface is live.

REST example

python

import os
import requests

response = requests.get(
  'https://api.financedata.com/v1/signals/SMA/AAPL',
  params={
      'start_date': '2025-01-01',
      'end_date': '2025-04-30',
      'period': 20,
  },
  headers={'X-API-Key': os.environ['FDA_KEY']},
  timeout=30,
)
response.raise_for_status()
print(response.json())

MCP example

Tool call body

{
"name": "get_sma",
"arguments": {
  "symbol": "AAPL",
  "start_date": "2025-01-01",
  "end_date": "2025-04-30",
  "period": 20
}
}

Configure the remote server first, then use a simple signal tool call like this one as a smoke test. The client setup checklist and header examples live in /mcp.

Agent prompt that triggers it

After connecting FinanceDataAPI as an MCP server, fetch AAPL SMA over the last four months so I can confirm the connection works.