Massed Compute

A Model Context Protocol server that lets AI assistants — Claude, Cursor, Codex, ChatGPT, and other MCP-compatible clients — interact with your Massed Compute account: browse GPU inventory, launch and manage VMs, audit billing, discover setup recipes.

Contents

• Overview
• Installation
• Verifying the connection
• CLI reference
• Key resolution
• Resources
• License

Overview

The packages published from this repo are a verbatim proxy of the public MCP endpoint at https://vm.massedcompute.com/api/mcp — zero added surface. Every JSON-RPC message (initialize, tools/list, tools/call, resources/list, resources/read, ping, …) is forwarded unchanged with your stored API key injected as a Bearer header, and responses come back unchanged. Nothing is added, renamed, filtered, or rewritten on the way through:

• The hosted endpoint owns the catalog. Tools, resources, schemas, and descriptions come from the live endpoint — the local package never goes stale when new capabilities (like setup recipes) ship upstream.
• The hosted endpoint owns security. Key-scope enforcement (read-only keys hide destructive tools) and credential redaction happen server-side, identically for every client.
• What the local package adds is exactly what a stdio client needs: a stdio↔streamable-HTTP bridge, OS-conventional storage for your API key (0600 on POSIX), and one-shot client wiring via init.

Issue a read-only key for analysis-only assistants and the endpoint rejects destructive tool calls (launch, restart, terminate, SSH-key changes) at call time. Works with Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, and Codex. Run massed-compute-mcp tools to print the live catalog — GPU inventory, VM images, instance lifecycle, coupons, billing, SSH keys, and setup recipes.

Beyond raw tools, Massed Compute publishes Agent Skills — markdown workflow templates for common operations like GPU selection and cost auditing. Full docs at vm-docs.massedcompute.com/docs/category/mcp.

Installation

Step 1. Get your API key

Open vm.massedcompute.com/settings/api, create a key (read-only for analysis-only assistants; full-access to allow launch / restart / terminate / SSH-key changes), copy it.

Step 2. Pick an install path

• Hosted endpoint — point your client at the streamable-HTTP URL, zero install
• Local CLI — runs on your machine, key stored in your OS config dir

Hosted endpoint

The local packages proxy this endpoint verbatim, so pointing your client straight at it gives you the identical catalog with nothing to install. Pick the snippet for your client:

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http massed-compute \
  https://vm.massedcompute.com/api/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer MC_TOKEN"

Cursor — ~/.cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "massed-compute": {
      "url": "https://vm.massedcompute.com/api/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer MC_TOKEN" }
    }
  }
}

Codex — ~/.codex/config.toml

[mcp_servers.massed-compute]
url = "https://vm.massedcompute.com/api/mcp"
bearer_token_env_var = "MC_TOKEN"
enabled = true

Claude Desktop

Claude Desktop does not yet speak streamable-HTTP MCP, so use mcp-remote as a stdio↔HTTP bridge. Config at ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "massed-compute": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y", "mcp-remote",
        "https://vm.massedcompute.com/api/mcp",
        "--header", "Authorization: Bearer MC_TOKEN"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Local CLI

Install via whichever ecosystem you prefer:

npm install -g massed-compute-mcp     # Node >= 20
# or
pip install massed-compute-mcp        # Python >= 3.10
# or
uv tool install massed-compute-mcp    # fast Python install via uv

Run one-shot setup:

massed-compute-mcp init

init prompts for the key, validates it upstream, stores it at 0600 (POSIX), detects installed MCP clients (Claude Code, Cursor, Claude Desktop, Codex), and offers to wire each one. A timestamped backup is taken before any client edit. Restart wired clients to pick up the tools.

Config file location:

• Linux: $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/massed-compute/config.json (falls back to ~/.config/...)
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/massed-compute/config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\massed-compute\config.json

Non-interactive (CI / scripts):

# Key from env, auto-wire every detected client
MASSED_COMPUTE_API_KEY=<your-key> massed-compute-mcp init --yes

# Key from a file, wire only specific clients
massed-compute-mcp init --token-file ~/keys/mc --yes --clients claude-code,cursor

# Store the key only; don't touch any client config
massed-compute-mcp init --yes --no-install-clients

Add or remove a client later:

massed-compute-mcp install-client cursor       # claude-desktop | codex | claude-code
massed-compute-mcp uninstall-client cursor

install-client is idempotent — re-running when the entry already matches is a silent no-op.

Verifying the connection

massed-compute-mcp doctor

doctor confirms the stored key still works, prints the tool catalog, and shows copy-pasteable snippets for any clients you didn't auto-wire. Or just ask your assistant "Validate my Massed Compute API key." — a { message: "Valid Token" } response confirms the wiring.

CLI reference

Command	What it does
massed-compute-mcp (no args)	Run the MCP server over stdio
massed-compute-mcp init	First-run setup: prompt, validate, store, wire clients
massed-compute-mcp doctor	Verify the stored key and print client snippets
massed-compute-mcp install-client <id>	Wire a single client (claude-code, cursor, claude-desktop, codex)
massed-compute-mcp uninstall-client <id>	Remove our entry from a client config
massed-compute-mcp config show	Print resolved config path, masked key, resolution chain
massed-compute-mcp logout	Delete the stored API key
massed-compute-mcp tools [--json]	Fetch and print the live tool catalog from the hosted endpoint
massed-compute-mcp version	Print the version

Key resolution

When the server starts, the API key is taken from the first source that provides one:

1. --token <value> CLI flag
2. --token-file <path> CLI flag (first line, trimmed)
3. MASSED_COMPUTE_API_KEY environment variable
4. Stored config file written by init

If none of those are set, the server exits non-zero with a pointer to massed-compute-mcp init. Override the upstream with MASSED_COMPUTE_API_BASE_URL (default https://vm.massedcompute.com).

Resources

• Full MCP documentation
• Massed Compute API reference
• Massed Compute console
• Model Context Protocol spec

License

MIT — see LICENSE.