MCP Quickstart

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Choose an authentication method

• Use OAuth when you’re connecting from a consumer chat app, the app will walk you through a sign-in flow and SAN will recognize you as the logged-in user.
• Use an API key when you’re connecting from a developer tool you control (Claude Code, Claude Desktop, custom agents, CI) where a static credential is supported.

• OAuth
• API Key

Most consumer MCP clients support OAuth out of the box. The flow takes about thirty seconds and doesn’t require an API key.

1

Add SAN as a connector

In your MCP client, add a new custom connector pointing at:

https://gateway.sanfoundation.com/mcp

In claude.ai, this is under Settings > Connectors > Add custom connector.

2

Sign in

The client will redirect you to the SAN gateway sign-in page. Log in with the same account you registered at gateway.sanfoundation.com.

3

Approve access

Review the permissions and click Allow. SAN only requests the identity scopes shown and it does not access anything outside your SAN account. You’ll stay signed in until you revoke access from the connector settings.

API key auth is the right choice for developer tools and programmatic clients where a browser-based sign-in doesn’t work.

1

Get an API Key

Follow the API Quickstart to create a key. Any key from the gateway works for both REST and MCP.

2

Add the server to your client config

Most MCP clients accept HTTP headers in their server configuration. Add SAN with your key in the x-api-key header. For Claude Desktop, edit claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "san": {
      "url": "https://gateway.sanfoundation.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "x-api-key": "sk_..."
      }
    }
  }
}

3

Restart client

Restart your client and SAN’s tools will appear alongside any others you’ve configured. Please note that other clients use slightly different config formats.