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Getting Started
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Connecting AI Tools

Set up the Crunchbase MCP server in your AI tool of choice.

Connect the Crunchbase MCP server to your AI tool, sign in, and verify the connection with a test prompt.

Before you start, confirm that your Crunchbase account has MCP access. See Getting Started with MCP to check your access.

The server details are the same for every client:

  • Name: Crunchbase
  • Remote MCP server URL: https://mcp.crunchbase.com

ChatGPT

Crunchbase is available in ChatGPT's plugin directory.

  1. Open the Crunchbase listing. View Crunchbase in the ChatGPT plugin directory. You can also open the Plugins tab and search for Crunchbase.

  2. Install the plugin. Select Crunchbase, then click Install.

  3. Connect your account. When prompted, sign in with your Crunchbase account and choose Allow to approve access.

  4. Run a test prompt. Start a new chat in Chat or Work, make sure the Crunchbase plugin is available, and ask:

    What is Anthropic's total funding to date, and who led their most recent round?

    The response includes figures from Crunchbase, and ChatGPT indicates that it used Crunchbase tools.

ChatGPT Business, Enterprise, and Edu: your workspace admin controls which plugins are available to your role. If Crunchbase does not appear in search or cannot be installed, contact your workspace admin.

Claude (web and desktop)

Crunchbase is available in Claude's connector directory, including on the free Claude plan.

  1. Open the Crunchbase listing. View Crunchbase in the Claude connector directory. You can also open Claude's connector directory and search for Crunchbase.

  2. Add the connector. Select Crunchbase and follow the prompt to add or connect it.

  3. Connect your account. Sign in with your Crunchbase account and choose Allow to approve access.

  4. Run a test prompt. Start a new chat and ask:

    What is Anthropic's total funding to date, and who led their most recent round?

    The response includes figures from Crunchbase, and Claude indicates that it used Crunchbase tools.

The connector is tied to your Claude account. After you add it, it is available in Claude on the web, desktop, and mobile apps.

Claude Team and Enterprise: workspace admins may need to enable connectors before members can add them. If Crunchbase does not appear in search or cannot be connected, contact your Claude workspace admin.

Claude Code

If you sign in to Claude Code with your Claude.ai subscription, the Crunchbase connector you added in Claude.ai is automatically available in Claude Code. You do not need to add the MCP server again.

  1. Connect Crunchbase in Claude.ai. Open the Crunchbase listing in the Claude connector directory, add the connector, and complete the Crunchbase sign-in flow.

  2. Use the same Claude.ai account in Claude Code. Start Claude Code while signed in with the Claude.ai subscription where you connected Crunchbase.

  3. Confirm the connector. In Claude Code, run:

    /mcp

    Crunchbase appears in the list with an indicator showing that it comes from Claude.ai.

  4. Run a test prompt. Ask:

    What is Anthropic's total funding to date, and who led their most recent round?

If Crunchbase does not appear, run /status and confirm that Claude Code's active authentication method is your Claude.ai subscription. Claude.ai connectors are not loaded when Claude Code is using ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN, an apiKeyHelper, Amazon Bedrock, Google Vertex AI, or another third-party provider.

Manual fallback

If you cannot use Claude.ai authentication, add the Crunchbase MCP server directly:

claude mcp add --transport http --scope user crunchbase https://mcp.crunchbase.com

Start a Claude Code session, run /mcp, select crunchbase, and complete the browser sign-in flow.

A manually configured server takes precedence over a Claude.ai connector that points to the same endpoint. If /mcp shows the Claude.ai connector as hidden, remove the duplicate manual server if you prefer to use the directory-installed connector.

Perplexity

Crunchbase is available in Perplexity's Connectors directory.

  1. Open the Crunchbase listing. View Crunchbase in the Perplexity Connectors directory. You can also open the Connectors settings page and search for Crunchbase.

  2. Add the connector. Select the Crunchbase connector tile, then click Add or Enable.

  3. Connect your account. Sign in with your Crunchbase account and choose Allow to approve access. When you return to Perplexity, confirm that Crunchbase shows as connected.

  4. Run a test prompt. Start a new thread and either type @Crunchbase in your query or click the + icon, open Connectors and sources, and select Crunchbase. Then ask:

    What is Anthropic's total funding to date, and who led their most recent round?

    The response includes figures from Crunchbase and cites the connector.

Perplexity Enterprise: your organization admin may need to enable the Crunchbase connector before members can connect it. If Crunchbase does not appear in search, contact your Perplexity organization admin.

Semaverse

Crunchbase is available in Semaverse's connector store as a Market Intelligence agent.

  1. Open the agent store. In Semaverse, select Agents from the left sidebar.

  2. Find Crunchbase. Use the Search field and search for Crunchbase.

  3. Connect Crunchbase. Under Market Intelligence, open the Crunchbase card or its menu and choose the option to connect it.

  4. Connect your account. Sign in with your Crunchbase account and choose Allow to approve access.

  5. Confirm the connection. Return to Agents and confirm that the Crunchbase card shows Connected.

  6. Run a test prompt. Start a new task or workflow that uses Crunchbase and ask:

    What is Anthropic's total funding to date, and who led their most recent round?

    You should get an answer with specific figures drawn from Crunchbase.

VS Code (GitHub Copilot Chat)

VS Code connects to remote MCP servers and makes their tools available in Copilot Chat's Agent mode. Install the GitHub Copilot extension in VS Code and sign in before you continue.

  1. Add the server. Open the Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P on Mac, Ctrl+Shift+P on Windows/Linux) and run MCP: Add Server. Then:

    • Select HTTP as the server type.
    • Enter the server URL: https://mcp.crunchbase.com
    • Enter a name: Crunchbase
    • Choose Global to make the server available in all your projects, or Workspace to share it with your team via a committed .vscode/mcp.json file.

    When prompted, confirm that you trust the server to start it.

  2. Sign in. When VS Code prompts that the server wants to authenticate, click Allow. Your browser opens the Crunchbase sign-in page; sign in and choose Allow to approve the connection.

  3. Run a test prompt. Open the Chat view, switch to Agent mode in the mode picker, and ask:

    What is Anthropic's total funding to date, and who led their most recent round?

    Copilot displays a confirmation dialog before its first Crunchbase tool call. Use the Allow dropdown to approve the call for the session or all future invocations. This prevents manual approval for each call.

If the Crunchbase tools do not appear, confirm that Copilot Chat is in Agent mode. Tool calling works only in this mode. Then run MCP: List Servers from the Command Palette, select crunchbase, and choose Show Output to check the connection logs.

If you prefer to configure the server by hand, add this to .vscode/mcp.json in your workspace:

{
  "servers": {
    "crunchbase": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.crunchbase.com"
    }
  }
}

Note: VS Code uses a root key of servers. Configs copied from other tools that use mcpServers will fail silently.

Other MCP clients

Any client that implements the current MCP specification can connect:

  • Endpoint: https://mcp.crunchbase.com
  • Transport: Streamable HTTP
  • Authentication: OAuth 2.1 with PKCE. Sign-in uses your Crunchbase account, and your account must have MCP access.

Clients that support Client ID Metadata Documents (CIMD) connect directly, with no registration required. Dynamic Client Registration (DCR) is not supported.

Pre-registered OAuth clients

If your client does not support CIMD, or if you are building a custom integration, create a custom OAuth client for your workspace in Crunchbase. You can create multiple clients.

  1. Open the MCP integration settings. In Crunchbase, go to Account Settings → Integrations → MCP.
  2. Start a client registration. Under Custom OAuth Client, click Create OAuth Client.
  3. Name the client. Enter a descriptive client name so your workspace can identify the integration later.
  4. Add the callback URL. Enter at least one callback URL from your client's MCP or connection settings, then click Add Callback URL. You can register up to 10 callback URLs per client. Callback URLs must use HTTPS, except for localhost or 127.0.0.1. Wildcards are not supported, and URLs must match exactly. You can add, remove, or update callback URLs later, up to the 10-URL limit.
  5. Create the client. Click Create Custom OAuth Client.
  6. Configure your MCP client. Copy the client_id and client_secret from the client details and enter them in your client's connection settings with the MCP server URL.

For clients that require OAuth endpoints to be entered manually, use:

  • Authorization endpoint: https://www.crunchbase.com/oauth/authorize
  • Token endpoint: https://oauth.crunchbase.com/token
  • Token revocation endpoint: https://oauth.crunchbase.com/revoke
  • Authorization server metadata: https://mcp.crunchbase.com/.well-known/oauth-authorization-server
  • Protected resource metadata: https://mcp.crunchbase.com/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource

The authorization server supports the authorization code flow with PKCE and refresh tokens.

Treat the client_secret like a password: don't share it or commit it to source control. If a secret is compromised, rotate it from the client's settings in Crunchbase.

If your client connects but tool calls fail with an authorization error, complete the OAuth flow in a browser when prompted; the server does not accept unauthenticated requests.

Mistral Vibe

Vibe connects to the Crunchbase MCP server with pre-registered OAuth credentials. First, obtain credentials from Crunchbase, then add the connector in Vibe. Custom connectors in Vibe require administrator privileges. On Free, Pro, and Student plans, the account owner is the administrator by default.

  1. Create your OAuth client. In Crunchbase, go to Account Settings → Integrations → MCP and click Create OAuth Client. Follow Pre-registered OAuth clients. Add the callback URL shown in Vibe's connector setup, create the client, then copy its client_id and client_secret from the client details.

  2. Add the connector. In Vibe, open the side panel, expand Context, and click Connectors. Click + Add Connector and switch to the Custom MCP Connector tab. Enter the following:

    • Connector name: Crunchbase
    • Server URL: https://mcp.crunchbase.com

  3. Enter your credentials. Vibe auto-detects OAuth 2.1 as the authentication method and prompts you for OAuth client credentials. Enter your Client ID and Client Secret.

  4. Sign in. Complete the sign-in flow with your Crunchbase account and choose Allow to approve the connection. The connector appears in your organization's connector list, where your team can enable it. Each user signs in with their own Crunchbase account on first use.

  5. Pre-authorize read functions. Open Connectors → My Connectors, click the Crunchbase connector card, and open the Functions tab. Toggle Always Allow for the read functions so you don't have to approve each call manually.

  6. Run a test prompt. Start a new chat, open the Connectors menu, confirm Crunchbase is enabled, and ask:

    What is Anthropic's total funding to date, and who led their most recent round?

    The response includes figures from Crunchbase, and Vibe indicates that it called Crunchbase tools.

Next steps

Updated 11 days ago

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