Docs MCP Server
Add Pipelines documentation to local coding agents through MCP.
Pipelines exposes the public documentation as a hosted MCP server. Add it to a local coding agent when you want the agent to search and read current Pipelines docs while it works. The key is used for abuse control and rate limiting; the documentation content itself is public.
Endpoint
https://api.pipelines.tech/mcpAuthentication
Use a normal Pipelines API key (pk_live_...) from the same environment as the
endpoint. The MCP server accepts either header:
Authorization: Bearer pk_live_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
X-API-Key: pk_live_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxSee API Reference for creating and revoking API keys.
Quick setup
If you use Claude Code, this is the fastest setup:
claude mcp add --transport http pipelines-docs \
https://api.pipelines.tech/mcp \
--header "Authorization: Bearer pk_live_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"Verify the connection:
claude mcp get pipelines-docsExpected output includes:
Status: Connected
Type: httpClaude Desktop, Cursor, and JSON config
Claude Desktop, Cursor, and similar local MCP clients can use an mcpServers
JSON object. Configure the hosted docs server with your Pipelines API key:
{
"mcpServers": {
"pipelines-docs": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://api.pipelines.tech/mcp",
"headers": {
"Authorization": "Bearer pk_live_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
}
}
}
}The "type": "http" line is required. Without it, clients that default to stdio
may treat the entry as a local command instead of a hosted MCP server.
Codex
Codex stores bearer tokens by environment variable:
export PIPELINES_API_KEY=pk_live_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
codex mcp add pipelines-docs \
--url https://api.pipelines.tech/mcp \
--bearer-token-env-var PIPELINES_API_KEYVerify the saved config:
codex mcp get pipelines-docs --jsonExpected output includes:
{
"name": "pipelines-docs",
"transport": {
"type": "streamable_http",
"url": "https://api.pipelines.tech/mcp",
"bearer_token_env_var": "PIPELINES_API_KEY"
}
}Hosted connector limitations
Hosted connector UIs that require OAuth, including ChatGPT connectors and Claude's hosted custom connector flow, cannot use this static bearer-key config. Use a local MCP client such as Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, or Codex.
Tools
The server exposes three tools:
| Tool | Purpose |
|---|---|
search_docs | Search documentation pages by keyword. |
list_docs | List the full documentation table of contents. |
get_doc | Read one page as Markdown by slug or URL. |
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Fix |
|---|---|
401 missing_api_key | Add Authorization: Bearer <key> or X-API-Key: <key> to the MCP config. |
401 invalid_api_key | Use an active pk_live_... key from the same environment as the endpoint. |
429 rate limit exceeded | Wait for the Retry-After value before retrying. |
503 docs MCP disabled | The server kill-switch is enabled. Try again after the endpoint is reenabled. |