Connect an agent (MCP)
BigHugger runs a hosted MCP server, so a coding agent can search the index, ask research questions and build workbooks as ordinary tool calls. The server runs on our side; connecting an agent only tells it where the server is and gives it a key, and one command does both after you approve it in your browser.
The server speaks streamable HTTP at one address:
https://api.bighugger.com/mcp
Connect in one command
On the Connect agent page, pick your agent and press Copy for your agent. That copies a SKILL.md to paste into the agent: it tells the agent to run the command below, and how to use the tools once they are connected. You can also run the command yourself. It needs Node 20 or newer.
curl -fsSL https://bighugger.com/connect.mjs | node --input-type=module - --client cursor
--client takes claude-code, codex, cursor or opencode. Leave it off to connect every
supported agent found on the machine. The command prints a link to bighugger.com; open it where you
are signed in and approve. The agent receives a key of its own and the command writes it into that
agent's MCP configuration, so there is nothing to copy and no key passes through a chat or a
clipboard. Restart the agent and the tools appear.
Each connected agent has its own key, listed under Connected agents. Revoking one in Settings cuts off that agent and nothing else.
Set it up by hand
If you would rather manage the key yourself, create one in Settings and add the server as below.
Claude Code
claude mcp add --transport http bighugger https://api.bighugger.com/mcp \
--header "Authorization: Bearer $BIGHUGGER_KEY"
Cursor, Windsurf and other clients
Most clients read an .mcp.json file (Cursor also reads ~/.cursor/mcp.json). Written by hand, the file
looks like this:
{
"mcpServers": {
"bighugger": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://api.bighugger.com/mcp",
"headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer bh_live_..." }
}
}
}
A client that only speaks stdio can reach the server through a bridge such as
npx mcp-remote https://api.bighugger.com/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer bh_live_...".
Tools
| Tool | What it does | Typical cost |
|---|---|---|
search | Ranked rows from the index, each with its id, link and facts such as licence, size and parameter count. Use it first. | 1 token |
ask | The research agent. It plans and runs searches across the index and the open web, then writes one cited recommendation. It returns a thread_id. | about 520 tokens, around 40 s |
create_workbook | Packs an answer as something that runs: a notebook, a pinned environment and the model files. Pass the thread_id from ask, or pass a question and it runs ask first. | 83 tokens on top of the ask |
list_workbooks | Workbooks this account has built, newest first, with download links. | free |
balance | Tokens left, and where to top up. | free |
Every tool draws on the same balance as the HTTP API and keeps the same rules. A key without the
search scope cannot use search here either, and a call made on an empty balance returns
out_of_tokens with a top-up link, which the agent is told to pass on to you.
Errors
A missing or unknown key returns HTTP 401, and the WWW-Authenticate header says so. The server
only accepts POST. A GET returns 405, because there is no event stream to subscribe to and every
call is one request and one response.