Quickstart

Every client needs the same two things — there’s nothing to install, the server is hosted at mcp.bolna.ai:

URL:     https://mcp.bolna.ai/api/mcp
Header:  Authorization: Bearer <your BOLNA_API_KEY>

Get your API key

Grab it from the Bolna Dashboard → Developers. Keep it secret — anyone with the key can read your account data and place calls that spend your balance.

Add the MCP server

claude mcp add --transport http bolna https://mcp.bolna.ai/api/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer <your BOLNA_API_KEY>" \
  --scope user

Desktop only launches local (stdio) servers, so reaching this remote HTTP server needs the mcp-remote bridge. Add to claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "bolna": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y", "mcp-remote",
        "https://mcp.bolna.ai/api/mcp",
        "--header", "Authorization: Bearer <your BOLNA_API_KEY>"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop after saving.

Add to .cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "bolna": {
      "url": "https://mcp.bolna.ai/api/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer <your BOLNA_API_KEY>" }
    }
  }
}

Add to ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "bolna": {
      "serverUrl": "https://mcp.bolna.ai/api/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer <your BOLNA_API_KEY>" }
    }
  }
}

Reads the key from an environment variable:

export BOLNA_API_KEY="<your BOLNA_API_KEY>"

codex mcp add bolna \
  --url https://mcp.bolna.ai/api/mcp \
  --bearer-token-env-var BOLNA_API_KEY

Add to settings.json. Zed doesn’t support environment-variable interpolation in headers yet, so the key goes in directly:

{
  "context_servers": {
    "bolna": {
      "url": "https://mcp.bolna.ai/api/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer <your BOLNA_API_KEY>" }
    }
  }
}

Point it at the URL and header above. If it only launches local (stdio) servers, bridge it with mcp-remote:

npx -y mcp-remote https://mcp.bolna.ai/api/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer <your BOLNA_API_KEY>"

Verify the connection

Start a new conversation and ask:

List my Bolna agents

A real list back means you’re connected.

claude.ai (web/mobile) isn’t supported yet — its custom-connector UI has no field for a personal Bearer token. The options above are the only self-serve paths until OAuth support ships.

Troubleshooting

Tools return an auth error

Check the header reads exactly Authorization: Bearer <key> — a missing space after Bearer, or quotes baked in from copy-paste, will break it. An invalid key surfaces as a 403 from the underlying Bolna API.

Client can't reach a remote HTTP server

Some clients (Claude Desktop is the common one) only support locally-run stdio servers — use the mcp-remote bridge shown above.

Not sure the server is even reachable

Test it directly with the MCP Inspector:

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector

Connect with transport Streamable HTTP, URL https://mcp.bolna.ai/api/mcp, header Authorization: Bearer <your BOLNA_API_KEY>, and check all 11 tools appear under “List Tools”.

Tool List

Every tool the server exposes

Prompt Cheatsheet

Copy-paste prompts for common tasks

Get Started

AI Coding Assistants

Bolna MCP Server

Docs for LLMs & Agents

Troubleshooting

Tool List

Prompt Cheatsheet

​Troubleshooting

Tool List

Prompt Cheatsheet

Troubleshooting