Simulatte

Run any of Simulatte's 26 SKUs from Claude, Cursor, Zed, or any MCP-compatible AI client. Get results back as structured JSON. No new UI to learn.

User: "Test this sleep coaching concept on 50 stressed parents."
Claude: [calls simulatte_estimate_cost] → 150 credits (~$1.80). Approve?
User: "yes"
Claude: [calls simulatte_run_study] → Results in 4 minutes.

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Installation

One-off (no install):

SIMULATTE_API_KEY=sim_live_your_key npx @simulatte-io/mcp-server

Global install:

npm install -g @simulatte-io/mcp-server
SIMULATTE_API_KEY=sim_live_your_key simulatte-mcp

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Get an API key

1. Go to app.simulatte.io/settings/api-keys
2. Create a key — starts with sim_live_
3. Set it as SIMULATTE_API_KEY in your environment or MCP client config

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Claude Desktop setup

Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "simulatte": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@simulatte-io/mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "SIMULATTE_API_KEY": "sim_live_your_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop. Simulatte tools appear automatically.

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Cursor setup

Edit ~/.cursor/mcp.json (or your project's .cursor/mcp.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "simulatte": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@simulatte-io/mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "SIMULATTE_API_KEY": "sim_live_your_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

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Zed setup

In ~/.config/zed/settings.json, add:

{
  "context_servers": {
    "simulatte": {
      "command": {
        "path": "npx",
        "args": ["-y", "@simulatte-io/mcp-server"],
        "env": {
          "SIMULATTE_API_KEY": "sim_live_your_key_here"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

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Available tools

Tool	What it does
simulatte_run_study	Run any of 26 research SKUs — concept testing, pricing, messaging, B2B committee, and more
simulatte_get_results	Retrieve full structured results for a completed study
simulatte_ask_insights	Ask a natural-language question across your entire study history
simulatte_list_pools	List all synthetic persona pools in your workspace
simulatte_create_pool	Create a new persona pool with custom demographic/psychographic specs
simulatte_depth_interview	Run a multi-turn simulated depth interview with a synthetic persona
simulatte_estimate_cost	Get a credit + USD cost estimate before running a study (local — no API call)

SKUs supported by simulatte_run_study

concept-viability · claim-credibility · brand-identity-test · message-resonance · price-sensitivity · feature-priority · ad-copy · b2b-committee · conjoint · iris-pulse · card-sort · open-end · ab-backlog · polarization-stress-test · name-test · founder-positioning · ad-concept-resonance · depth-interview · custom-study · iat · counterfactual-positioning · personalization-sensitivity · regulated-claim-preflight · volume-forecast · brand-tracker · creative-audit

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Example prompts

Concept test:

"I have a new sleep coaching app concept. Test it on 50 stressed parent personas and tell me if it'll land."

Pricing sensitivity:

"Run a price sensitivity study on my premium plan ($99/mo) against 100 millennial professionals. Use pool_abc123."

Cross-study synthesis:

"What are the most common objections across all of our B2B studies this quarter?"

Depth interview:

"Conduct a depth interview with a skeptical 35-year-old UK parent about our onboarding flow. 15 turns."

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Authentication

Preferred: per-customer API key

Send your sim_live_* key in either of these headers — both are accepted:

x-api-key: sim_live_your_key_here
# or
Authorization: Bearer sim_live_your_key_here

Deprecated: shared platform key

The shared key forge-prod-2026 (used in internal integrations before v0.4) is deprecated and will be removed at v0.5. If your integration sends x-api-key: forge-prod-2026, migrate to a sim_live_* per-customer key now. The worker logs a deprecation warning on every request that uses the shared key.

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Response headers

Every successful /v1/forge/* and /v1/iris/* response includes these headers:

Header	Description
X-Simulatte-Credits-Used	Credits charged for this request
X-Simulatte-Credits-Remaining	Workspace credit balance after this charge
X-Simulatte-Spend-Warning	Present only when your key has consumed ≥ 80% of its spend cap. Value: "85%-of-cap-consumed" (percentage varies).

Sample curl showing all headers

curl -X POST https://forge-worker-production.up.railway.app/v1/forge/concept-viability \
  -H "x-api-key: sim_live_your_key" \
  -H "x-workspace-id: your-workspace-uuid" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"concept":"A sleep app for stressed parents","population_id":"default","sample_size":20}' \
  -i

Expected response headers (2xx):

HTTP/2 201
x-simulatte-credits-used: 28
x-simulatte-credits-remaining: 472

If your key is at 85% of its spend cap:

x-simulatte-spend-warning: 85%-of-cap-consumed

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Error reference

Status	error field	Meaning
401	invalid_api_key	Key not found, revoked, or expired
401	(message)	Bearer JWT invalid or expired
402	key_spend_cap_exceeded	Key has a spend cap and this request would exceed it. Body: {"error":"key_spend_cap_exceeded","cap":500,"used":498,"would_charge":10}
429	rate_limited	60 req/min or 1000 req/hr limit hit. Check Retry-After header
503	database_unavailable	Worker DB not reachable — retry in 30s

Sample error bodies

402 — spend cap exceeded:

{
  "detail": {
    "error": "key_spend_cap_exceeded",
    "cap": 500,
    "used": 498,
    "would_charge": 10
  }
}

429 — rate limited:

{
  "detail": {
    "error": "rate_limited",
    "limit": "60/min",
    "retry_after_seconds": 42
  }
}

Retry-After: 42 header is also present.

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Rate limits and quotas

Rate limits and credit caps are enforced per API key:

Default limit	Value
Per-minute	60 req/min
Per-hour	1,000 req/hr

Spend caps are optional, set per-key by workspace admins. A key with no spend cap has unlimited spend (bounded only by workspace credit balance).

See app.simulatte.io/settings/billing for your current usage.

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Troubleshooting

"Missing SIMULATTE_API_KEY" — Make sure the env block in your MCP config contains your key. The key must start with sim_live_.

Tool not appearing in Claude Desktop — Restart Claude Desktop after editing claude_desktop_config.json. Check the MCP logs at ~/Library/Logs/Claude/mcp*.log.

simulatte_get_results returns status: "running" — Studies take 2–8 minutes. Poll again in 30 seconds, or ask Claude to wait and retry.

401 Unauthorized — Your API key may be revoked or incorrect. Generate a new one at app.simulatte.io/settings/api-keys.

429 Too Many Requests — You've hit the rate limit for your tier. Upgrade at app.simulatte.io/settings/billing.

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Development

git clone https://github.com/Iqbalahmed7/simulatte-mcp-server
cd simulatte-mcp-server
npm install
npm run build    # compiles TypeScript → dist/
npm test         # runs vitest test suite
npm run dev      # runs directly via tsx (no build step)

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License

MIT — see LICENSE.