TakoData-tako-mcp

Tako MCP Server

Tako MCP gives your agent industry-leading live web search plus licensed data that the open web does not have. That includes company financials, macroeconomic indicators, web and app traffic, sports, US government spending, and more.

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Tako MCP lets an agent:

• Search Tako's knowledge graph and the live web — top result renders inline as a chart
• Answer one specific data question with citations — the top cited card renders inline as a chart too
• Answer a specific data question with grounded, citation-backed prose
• Discover exactly what proprietary data exists for an entity or metric — free and fast
• Fetch the underlying rows (CSV) or a page's text behind any result URL
• Visualize your own structured data as an embeddable chart (opt-in)
• Run Tako's Answer Agent for deep, multi-step research (opt-in)

Why a data-native search API? On Tako's VerticalRTK benchmark of real-time domain questions (finance, economics, sports, weather), Tako outperforms the next-best web search API by 21% — while using ~75% fewer tool calls at up to one-tenth the cost, and answering research tasks in 15.5s vs 124.2s for OpenAI web search. It reaches parity with Exa, Parallel, Nimble, and Tavily on standard web benchmarks (SimpleQA, FRAMES) and pulls ahead where structured, real-time data matters. Read the evals →

Installation

Point your MCP client at the hosted endpoint — no install, no local server:

https://mcp.tako.com/mcp

No token needed to start. Connecting without credentials lands on the free tier: tako_search, tako_answer, and tako_available_data, rate-limited to 10 requests/min per IP. (On ChatGPT, tako_contents and tako_visualize also appear in the list, but prompt you to sign in before they run.) Authenticating unlocks the full toolset and your own account limits, two ways:

• OAuth (Claude Code plugin, Claude.ai, Claude Desktop, ChatGPT) — a browser sign-in with your Tako account; a per-host API key is minted for you automatically.
• Bearer token (config-file clients: Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code, …) — get your API key and paste it into the header.

One-click install

Claude Code installs with one command — the plugin brings the MCP connection plus Tako's bundled research skills:

claude plugin marketplace add TakoData/tako-mcp && claude plugin install tako@tako

Gemini CLI installs as an extension. Same one command, same bundled skills, plus /data, /chart, and /coverage commands:

gemini extensions install https://github.com/TakoData/tako-mcp

Each of these lands on the free tier immediately. Authenticate later to unlock the full toolset — see your client's section below.

Pick your client below.

Claude Code

Plugin (recommended) — installs the MCP connection plus Tako's bundled research skills in one step, and works immediately on the free tier — no API key to mint or manage:

claude plugin marketplace add TakoData/tako-mcp
claude plugin install tako@tako

That's it — the core tools (tako_search, tako_answer, tako_available_data) work right away on the anonymous free tier. To unlock the full toolset and your own account limits, authenticate once with OAuth: run /mcp inside Claude Code, select tako, and choose Authenticate. A browser opens to sign you in with your Tako account and a per-host API key is minted for you automatically (visible and revocable at tako.com/console/api-keys). The same OAuth flow powers the plugin on Claude.ai — the plugin's Tako connector connects with a click, no token pasting.

If you previously added the server with claude mcp add, remove it first (claude mcp remove tako-mcp) so you don't end up with two copies of every tool.

Updating from an earlier plugin version? Older releases asked for a Tako API key in the plugin config; that setting is gone, so after updating your connection silently lands on the free tier (the three core tools, 10 requests/min) — nothing errors, but the full toolset and your account limits are no longer active. Run /mcp → tako → Authenticate once (or use the Connect button on Claude.ai) to restore full authenticated access.

Or add the MCP server directly:

export TAKO_API_TOKEN='<your-token>'

claude mcp add tako-mcp --transport http https://mcp.tako.com/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $TAKO_API_TOKEN"

Verify with claude mcp list (should show tako-mcp connected) or /mcp inside a session.

Cursor

Add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tako-mcp": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.tako.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer <your-tako-api-token>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Windsurf

Add to your Windsurf MCP config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tako-mcp": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.tako.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer <your-tako-api-token>"
      }
    }
  }
}

VS Code

Add to .vscode/mcp.json (workspace) or your user mcp.json:

{
  "servers": {
    "tako-mcp": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.tako.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer <your-tako-api-token>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Gemini CLI

Extension (recommended) installs in one command, and works immediately on the free tier with no API key to mint or manage:

gemini extensions install https://github.com/TakoData/tako-mcp

That installs the MCP connection, Tako's bundled research skills, and three commands:

To unlock the full toolset and your own account limits, authenticate once: run /mcp auth tako inside Gemini CLI. A browser opens to sign you in with your Tako account, and a per-host API key is minted for you automatically (visible and revocable at tako.com/console/api-keys).

Manual config: if you'd rather not install the extension, or you want to pin a ?tools= surface or use a Bearer token instead of OAuth, add to ~/.gemini/settings.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tako-mcp": {
      "httpUrl": "https://mcp.tako.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer <your-tako-api-token>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Omit the headers block entirely to stay on the free tier. Gemini substitutes unset ${VAR} references literally, and a malformed Authorization header is rejected rather than ignored, so a half-filled token breaks the connection where no token at all would have worked.

OpenCode

Add to opencode.json:

{
  "mcp": {
    "tako-mcp": {
      "type": "remote",
      "url": "https://mcp.tako.com/mcp",
      "enabled": true,
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer <your-tako-api-token>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Codex CLI

Codex connects to remote servers through the mcp-remote bridge. Add to ~/.codex/config.toml:

[mcp_servers.tako-mcp]
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.tako.com/mcp", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer <your-tako-api-token>"]

Zed

Add to Zed settings.json (via the mcp-remote bridge):

{
  "context_servers": {
    "tako-mcp": {
      "source": "custom",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.tako.com/mcp", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer <your-tako-api-token>"]
    }
  }
}

Claude.ai, Claude Desktop & ChatGPT (OAuth — no token needed)

The consumer chat hosts don't accept Bearer tokens. claude_desktop_config.json only validates stdio servers, so a remote "type": "http" entry there is silently dropped — Claude Desktop connects through Connectors like Claude.ai. The hosted endpoint runs an OAuth 2.1 flow that signs you in with your Tako account and mints a per-host key for you automatically.

Prerequisites: just sign in at tako.com with the identity you'll authorize. You do not mint a token yourself — the consent flow creates a per-host key (named MCP: <client>, visible and revocable at tako.com/console/api-keys). Connecting a new host never rotates another host's key; Tako trims your oldest MCP key past ten.

Claude.ai (requires Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise)

1. Open Claude.ai → Settings → Connectors
2. Click Add custom connector
3. Paste https://mcp.tako.com/mcp and click Connect
4. Complete the Tako sign-in flow; Tako then appears as connected

Claude Desktop (same plan requirement as Claude.ai)

1. Open Claude Desktop → Settings → Connectors
2. Click Add custom connector
3. Paste https://mcp.tako.com/mcp and click Connect
4. Complete the Tako sign-in flow; Tako then appears as connected

ChatGPT (requires Pro, Business, or Enterprise; Developer Mode enabled)

1. Open ChatGPT → Settings → Connectors → Developer Mode and toggle it on
2. Click Create custom connector
3. Paste https://mcp.tako.com/mcp and click Connect
4. Complete the Tako sign-in flow; the connector is then listed and ready

During connect you'll see three Tako-hosted screens regardless of host: a sign-in page (Google, or your Tako email and password), a consent page ("Connect [host] to Tako — Allow / Cancel"), then a bounce back to the host. The host may show its own consent prompt too — that's normal.

Disconnecting. A per-host disconnect (remove the connector in host settings) stops that host only; other hosts and Bearer-auth clients keep working. To hard-kill everything, rotate your key at tako.com/console/api-keys — every previously-issued grant across every host stops authenticating immediately.

Endpoints:

Tools are discovered automatically via the MCP tools/list handshake, so your client always sees the live surface. Auth is connection-level — once connected, tool inputs need no api_token argument.

Available Tools

Enabled by default:

Free tier (no credentials): an unauthenticated connection can run tako_search, tako_answer, and tako_available_data only, capped at 10 requests/min per IP. Most clients list just those three; ChatGPT also lists tako_contents and tako_visualize for its link-account flow. On every client, explicitly calling a tool that authentication would unlock returns account guidance ("sign in with Tako, or connect with a Tako API key") rather than a misleading "tool not found" — on ChatGPT that same response triggers the sign-in prompt. Authenticate (OAuth or Bearer) for the full surface above plus the opt-in tools below, under your own account limits.

On connect, the server also advertises MCP server instructions that hosts like Claude.ai, Claude Desktop, and Claude Code place in the model's system prompt. They steer data and metric questions to tako_search ahead of the host's built-in web search, and note that tako_search covers the live web too, so one call can stand in for a separate web search on mixed questions. Built-in web search remains the fallback for queries outside Tako's coverage.

Opt-in — off by default to keep the tool surface small. Enable per-connection via the ?tools= query parameter (comma-separated aliases):

The param rides on the connection URL, so how you set it depends on your client:

• Claude.ai, Claude Desktop, ChatGPT (connectors): include it in the URL you paste when adding the connector — e.g. https://mcp.tako.com/mcp?tools=agent. OAuth is unaffected (the server canonicalizes the resource, query string included). ChatGPT and Claude both get visualize automatically, no param needed.
• Config-file clients (Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code, …) and claude mcp add: put it on the URL in your config:

# Aliases compose as a comma-separated list on the MCP URL
claude mcp add tako-mcp --transport http "https://mcp.tako.com/mcp?tools=agent,visualize" \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $TAKO_API_TOKEN"

• Claude Code plugin: the plugin pins the default surface (its URL isn't user-editable). Note that tako_visualize's default-on status does not follow the plugin into the terminal: Claude Code is a CLI, not a widget host, so it is classified alongside other non-widget clients and gets charts as inline images. The same plugin used on Claude.ai does get tako_visualize by default, because that host renders the widget. For opt-in tools in Claude Code — agent, visualize, credits, graph — add the server yourself with claude mcp add and the ?tools= param as above, and keep only one Tako connection active so you don't get two copies of every tool (the plugin's bundled skills keep working regardless of which connection serves the tools).

Only alias names are recognized; unknown values are ignored, so a typo never breaks the connection. Omit the parameter for the default surface.

Answer vs. Search — the core distinction

tako_answer and tako_search look similar but serve opposite needs. Pick by what you want back:

• One narrow, known question → tako_answer. e.g. "What was US GDP in 2024?" — surface the answer field as-is.
• Broad or multi-part → tako_search, parallelized. Decompose into narrow single entity+metric sea