Use it to inspect clusters, workloads, logs, alerts, and related platform data from an MCP client. Write access can also apply changes through Ankra’s agent tools, and lets your client work AI board tickets alongside Ankra’s own agents - see Work the AI board with your own agent.
Read-only platform tools and Ankra’s safe ask-mode tools, including temporary workspace operations and isolated pull request demos
mcp:write
The read surface plus mutating tools such as apply, scale, delete, and pull request creation
mcp:write implies read access. When creating a write token in the portal, Ankra selects both scopes.
MCP clients own the confirmation experience. Ankra does not show a second server-side confirmation prompt before a write tool runs. Only grant mcp:write to clients you trust.
MCP-scoped tokens work only with the MCP endpoint and stay bound to the organisation selected when the token was created. They cannot call Ankra’s REST API or override their organisation.
Restart or refresh MCP servers in Cursor after saving the configuration. Ankra then appears as an available MCP server with tools filtered by the token’s scopes.
Keep personal tokens out of shared project configuration. Use a user-level MCP configuration or a local file that is excluded from version control.
Claude connects to Ankra over OAuth, so you do not need to create or copy a token first. Where you add the connection depends on which Claude you use:
Claude web and desktop apps - add Ankra as a custom connector in Settings.
Claude Code (the terminal client) - add Ankra with the claude mcp add command.
Claude web and desktop
Claude Code
Custom connectors require a paid Claude plan. On Team and Enterprise plans an owner may need to add the connector for the organisation.
1
Open the Connectors settings
In Claude, select your profile icon in the bottom left corner, then Settings. In the settings sidebar, select Connectors under the Customize heading. You see a list of available connectors such as Slack and Gmail - Ankra is not in this list yet, which is why you add it as a custom connector.
2
Add a custom connector
Select the Add button in the top right of the Connectors page, then select Add custom connector from the menu.
The Add menu in the top right of Claude's Connectors settings
3
Enter the Ankra server details
In the Add custom connector dialog, enter Ankra as the name and this URL in the Remote MCP server URL field:
https://platform.ankra.app/api/v1/mcp
Leave the OAuth Client ID and OAuth Client Secret fields under Advanced settings empty - Ankra does not need them. Then select Add.
The completed Add custom connector dialog
4
Connect and sign in to Ankra
Ankra now appears in your connector list with a Connect button. Select it. Claude opens Ankra’s OAuth consent page in a new window - sign in to Ankra if you are not signed in already, select the organisation the connection should use, review the requested mcp:read or mcp:write access, then approve the connection. Claude then shows Ankra as connected.
5
Enable Ankra in a chat
Open a new chat and select the tools menu (the sliders icon below the message box). Check that Ankra is listed and enabled. To verify the connection works end to end, ask Claude to list your Ankra clusters - it should call the list_clusters tool and return the clusters in your organisation.
1
Add the server
Run this once from your terminal:
claude mcp add --transport http ankra https://platform.ankra.app/api/v1/mcp
This registers the server for your user in the current project. Add --scope user to make it available in every project.
2
Authenticate
Start Claude Code and run the /mcp command. It lists every configured MCP server with its connection status - ankra shows as needing authentication. Select it, then choose Authenticate. Your browser opens Ankra’s OAuth consent page - sign in, select the organisation, review the requested access, then approve the connection and return to the terminal.
3
Verify the connection
Run /mcp again and confirm that ankra shows as connected. Then ask Claude Code to list your Ankra clusters - it should call the list_clusters tool and return the clusters in your organisation.
If you prefer a long-lived token over OAuth, create an MCP token and register the server with an authorisation header instead:
By default, Ankra issues a seven-day MCP-only token to the client. The flow uses OAuth 2.1 authorization code with PKCE. No client secret or refresh token is issued, so when the grant expires, reconnect: select Connect on the Ankra connector in Claude’s Connectors settings, or run /mcp and authenticate again in Claude Code.
MCP is stateless: each tools/call is one request with nothing parked between calls. Three consequences follow, and the server’s instructions field repeats them to the model on initialize.
Every call has a 55-second deadline. A call that outruns it answers isError with a timeout. A mutating call that had already started is not undone by that timeout, so read the target’s state before repeating a write.
Writes that start platform work do not wait for it. Tools such as apply_stack_changes, upgrade_cluster or update_node_group answer at once with an operation_id (or a live_status_hint naming the id to poll). Call wait_for_execution with that id to block for up to 50 seconds and receive the settled execution, or timed_out: true with the last observed step summary; call it again to keep waiting. get_execution_details reads the same document without waiting.
Confirmation cards do not exist over MCP. A tool that raises a confirmation card in the Ankra chat executes directly here when the token holds mcp:write: the token scope is the approval. apply_stack_changes applies the stack draft the token last edited, so keep one client per token while editing a draft and pass stack_name on every apply.
Everything the tools read and change is also visible in the Ankra portal, and the server’s instructions ask the model to give you a portal link when it reports on a resource, finishes a change, or asks you to review or approve something in the UI.
list_clusters and get_cluster_details return each cluster’s portal_url.
get_portal_url returns the link for any other page - a cluster’s stacks, add-ons, operations or nodes, one pod or Deployment, an application, a pipeline run, a stack profile, an AI ticket, an alert, a CVE, credentials, tokens or settings. It is read-only, so an mcp:read token can call it.
Links carry the organisation as ?org=, so one opened while another organisation is selected offers to switch.
Portal URLs lists every page and how its address is built, if you want to point your own agents or runbooks at them.
The token is missing, expired, revoked, or copied incorrectly. Create a new MCP token and update the client. For Claude clients connected with OAuth this usually means the seven-day grant expired - reconnect the Ankra connector in Claude’s settings, or run /mcp and authenticate again in Claude Code.
Claude reports “Couldn’t register with Ankra’s sign-in service”
Claude could not reach Ankra’s OAuth discovery endpoints, so it could not register itself as an OAuth client. This is a platform-side routing problem, not a mistake in your connector configuration - the server URL field only accepts the MCP endpoint, and no OAuth Client ID is needed. Ask your Ankra administrator to confirm that /oauth/ and the /.well-known/oauth-* discovery paths on the platform host route to the API service, then select Connect on the Ankra connector again.
