3 minutes
Claude Desktop
This guide walks you through the integration of Subgraph Model Context Protocol (MCP) to access Subgraph data via natural language conversations with Claude.
Prerequisites
- Node.js installed and available in your path
- Claude Desktop installed (latest version)
- A Gateway API key from Subgraph Studio
Installation Options
Option 1: Using npx (Recommended)
Configuration Steps using npx
1. Open Configuration File
Navigate to your claude_desktop_config.json
file:
Settings > Developer > Edit Config
- OSX:
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
- Windows:
%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
- Linux:
.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
2. Add Configuration
Paste the following settings into your config file:
1{2 "mcpServers": {3 "subgraph": {4 "command": "npx",5 "args": ["mcp-remote", "--header", "Authorization:${AUTH_HEADER}", "https://subgraphs.mcp.thegraph.com/sse"],6 "env": {7 "AUTH_HEADER": "Bearer GATEWAY_API_KEY"8 }9 }10 }11}
3. Add Your Gateway API Key
Replace GATEWAY_API_KEY
with your API key from Subgraph Studio.
4. Save and Restart
Once you’ve entered your Gateway API key into your settings, save the file and restart Claude Desktop.
Option 2: Building from Source
Requirements
- Rust (latest stable version recommended: 1.75+)
Follow the on-screen instructions. For other platforms, see the official Rust installation guide.1curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh
Installation Steps
-
Clone and Build the Repository
1git clone [email protected]:graphops/subgraph-mcp.git2cd subgraph-mcp3cargo build --release
-
Find the Command Path
After building, the executable will be located at
target/release/subgraph-mcp
inside your project directory.- Navigate to your
subgraph-mcp
directory in terminal - Run
pwd
to get the full path - Combine the output with
/target/release/subgraph-mcp
- Navigate to your
-
Configure Claude Desktop
Open your
claude_desktop_config.json
file as described above and add:1{2 "mcpServers": {3 "subgraph": {4 "command": "/path/to/your/subgraph-mcp/target/release/subgraph-mcp",5 "env": {6 "GATEWAY_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"7 }8 }9 }10}
Replace
/path/to/your/subgraph-mcp/target/release/subgraph-mcp
with the actual path to the compiled binary.
Using The Graph Resource in Claude
After configuring Claude Desktop:
- Restart Claude Desktop
- Start a new conversation
- Click on the context menu (top right)
- Add “Subgraph Server Instructions” as a resource by adding
graphql://subgraph
to your chat context
Important: Claude Desktop may not automatically utilize the Subgraph MCP. You must manually add “Subgraph Server Instructions” resource to your chat context for each conversation where you want to use it.
Troubleshooting
To enable logs for the MCP when using the npx option, add the --verbose true
option to your args array.
Available Subgraph Tools and Usage
The Subgraph MCP provides several tools for interacting with Subgraphs:
Schema Retrieval Tools
- Get schema by deployment ID: Access the GraphQL schema using a deployment ID (0x…)
- Get schema by Subgraph ID: Access the schema for the current deployment of a Subgraph (5zvR82…)
- Get schema by IPFS hash: Access the schema using a Subgraph’s IPFS manifest hash (Qm…)
Query Execution Tools
- Execute query by deployment ID/IPFS hash: Run GraphQL queries against specific, immutable deployments
- Execute query by Subgraph ID: Run GraphQL queries against the latest version of a Subgraph
Discovery Tools
- Search subgraphs by keyword: Find subgraphs by keyword in their display names, ordered by signal
- Get deployment 30-day query counts: Get aggregate query count over the last 30 days for multiple subgraph deployments
- Get top Subgraph deployments for a contract: Find the top 3 Subgraph deployments indexing a specific contract on a particular chain, ordered by query fees
Key Identifier Types
- Subgraph ID (e.g.,
5zvR82...
): Logical identifier for a subgraph. Useexecute_query_by_subgraph_id
orget_schema_by_subgraph_id
. - Deployment ID (e.g.,
0x4d7c...
): Identifier for a specific, immutable deployment. Useexecute_query_by_deployment_id
orget_schema_by_deployment_id
. - IPFS Hash (e.g.,
QmTZ8e...
): Identifier for the manifest of a specific, immutable deployment. Useexecute_query_by_deployment_id
(the gateway treats it like a deployment ID for querying) orget_schema_by_ipfs_hash
.
Benefits of Natural Language Queries
One of the most powerful features of the Subgraph MCP integration is the ability to ask questions in natural language. Claude will:
- Understand your goal (lookup, find Subgraphs, query, get schema)
- Find relevant deployments if needed
- Fetch and interpret the Subgraph schema
- Convert your question into an appropriate GraphQL query
- Execute the query and present the results in a readable format
Example Natural Language Queries
1What are the pairs with maximum volume on deployment 0xde0a7b5368f846f7d863d9f64949b688ad9818243151d488b4c6b206145b9ea3?
1Which tokens have the highest market cap in this Subgraph?
1Show me the most recent 5 swaps for the USDC/ETH pair
1Find the top subgraphs for contract 0x1f98431c8ad98523631ae4a59f267346ea31f984 on arbitrum-one