Get started

Two doors, and only one of them puts a key in your hands.Connector (OAuth). Add https://mcp.preuve.ai/mcp as a connector in claude.ai, to Cursor, Claude Code or Codex with no header, or to any MCP client that signs you in over OAuth. This works on a free account: Preuve mints the key and installs it in the client for you, so there is nothing to copy or store. Starter scans cost nothing, a deep scan still spends paid quota. Skip straight to the claude.ai, Cursor, Claude Code or Codex tab in step 2, and revoke the connection anytime from API key settings.Manual key. The header-based setups below (the “Already have a key?” variants, mcp-remote) and direct HTTP calls need a key you hold yourself. Create one at Account → API Keys, self-serve on a paid personal plan or in a Consultant or Agency workspace with an active subscription or a one-time unlock. It is the only path that shows you a prv_... value, so copy it when it appears, it’s shown once.

export PREUVE_API_KEY=prv_...

Connect

One connection, then your agent can score ideas in the chat. The claude.ai, Cursor, Claude Code and Codex tabs are the no-key path, and so is Other clients for any client with MCP OAuth. The rest send your prv_... key as a header, so keep it out of the chat.

No key yet? In Cursor, claude.ai, Claude Code or Codex, use their tab instead, or add the server URL with no header in any other client with MCP OAuth: they sign you in, on a free account too. With a manually created key, paste this as-is. The agent will tell you where to put it.

I want to validate startup ideas with Preuve: viability score, competitors, source-linked evidence.

Add the Preuve MCP server.

1. I have a Preuve API key (prv_...) from https://preuve.ai/app?settings=apiKeys.
   Use it even where the client offers sign-in, so the scopes I chose
   carry over. Do NOT ask me to paste the key into chat. Put it in
   MCP config / env.

2. Add the remote server at https://mcp.preuve.ai/mcp (HTTP):
   - Claude Code:
     claude mcp add preuve --transport http https://mcp.preuve.ai/mcp \
       --header "Authorization: Bearer <key>"
   - Cursor: ~/.cursor/mcp.json:
     { "mcpServers": { "preuve": { "url": "https://mcp.preuve.ai/mcp",
       "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer <key>" } } } }
   - Claude Desktop config:
     {
       "mcpServers": {
         "preuve": {
           "url": "https://mcp.preuve.ai/mcp",
           "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer <key>" }
         }
       }
     }
   - Codex:
     export PREUVE_API_KEY=<key>
     codex mcp add preuve --url https://mcp.preuve.ai/mcp \
       --bearer-token-env-var PREUVE_API_KEY
   - Clients that only support stdio:
     npx -y mcp-remote https://mcp.preuve.ai/mcp \
       --header "Authorization: Bearer <key>"

3. Confirm these 5 tools appear: start_analysis, get_analysis,
   enrich_analysis, export_analysis, generate_ideas. A sixth, get_agency, is
   listed for client work on a Consultant or Agency workspace, which is also
   what workspace: "agency" on start_analysis, get_analysis and
   export_analysis acts on — 6 tools in total. They are advertised
   to every client, so seeing get_agency on a personal account is normal. Two
   different refusals, and they mean opposite things: 403 INSUFFICIENT_SCOPE
   means the KEY lacks the one scope that call needs — agency:write to start a
   client analysis, agency:read for get_agency and the other two agency
   calls, enforced per route so neither implies the other (every key
   created before 2026-09-09 holds
   neither, and scopes cannot be widened after creation — reconnect the
   connector, which works on any plan but only if that client rebuilds its
   scope request from our discovery document rather than replaying a cached
   one, so check the consent screen lists the Agency permissions before
   approving; or make a new key with Agency access ticked, which needs a paid
   personal plan or a subscribed or unlocked Consultant or Agency workspace), while 404
   AGENCY_NOT_FOUND means the key has the scope but the ACCOUNT belongs to no
   Consultant or Agency workspace. There are also two prompts, validate_idea and generate_ideas,
   that you can pick from the client.

4. First test with scanType "starter" only (it costs nothing):
   start_analysis on my idea, poll get_analysis, show me the viability score.

Read https://docs.preuve.ai/agent-skill.md first.

claude mcp add preuve --transport http https://mcp.preuve.ai/mcp

Then type /mcp in Claude Code, pick preuve and sign in with Preuve in the browser it opens. Approve, and Preuve creates a key for Claude Code, on any plan including free. No key to copy.Already have a key? Send it instead:

claude mcp add preuve --transport http https://mcp.preuve.ai/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $PREUVE_API_KEY"

Add this to ~/.cursor/mcp.json (or the project .cursor/mcp.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "preuve": {
      "url": "https://mcp.preuve.ai/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Cursor opens Preuve sign-in the first time it connects. Approve, and Preuve creates a key for Cursor, on any plan including free. No key to copy. Revoke it anytime from API key settings.Already have a key? Send it instead, and Cursor skips the sign-in:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "preuve": {
      "url": "https://mcp.preuve.ai/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer prv_..."
      }
    }
  }
}

codex mcp add preuve --url https://mcp.preuve.ai/mcp
codex mcp login preuve

The login opens Preuve sign-in in your browser. Approve, and Preuve creates a key for Codex, on any plan including free.Already have a key? Save it in PREUVE_API_KEY, then:

codex mcp add preuve \
  --url https://mcp.preuve.ai/mcp \
  --bearer-token-env-var PREUVE_API_KEY

In claude.ai (web or desktop): Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector. Paste:

https://mcp.preuve.ai/mcp

Sign in with Preuve and approve. Works on a free account. There is no key to copy: Preuve mints one for the connector and installs it, and the value is never shown. Revoke it anytime from API key settings.

If your client supports MCP OAuth, add https://mcp.preuve.ai/mcp with no header and sign in with Preuve, on a free account too. No key to copy.If your client cannot use a remote HTTP MCP server, bridge with mcp-remote:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "preuve": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://mcp.preuve.ai/mcp",
        "--header",
        "Authorization: Bearer prv_..."
      ]
    }
  }
}

Tool list and extra install options: MCP server.

Getting Started

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MCP tools

Agent Skill

HTTP API

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