MCP server
The MCP server lets an AI client such as Claude Code, Cursor or VS Code read your team's help pages and ask Cactus questions. A client connects to the team address, https://mcp.heycactus.ai/mcp, or to one product's address, https://mcp.heycactus.ai/p/<name>/mcp. Anyone can use a product's address to read its published help and ask Cactus questions; the team address needs a signed-in person or a personal token.
On this page
Connect with a personal token
A personal token lets your client connect without a browser window, because the install line carries the token and the first call is already signed in.
Press the button for Claude Code, Cursor or VS Code. Each press makes one token for you and that client
Copy the install line and run it, or paste it into the client's settings. For Claude Code, the command adds Cactus for every project on the machine
Restart the client, and Cactus is there
A token reaches every product on your team, and it stops working as soon as you leave the team.
Sign in with a browser
A client with no token opens a browser window the first time it connects. You sign in there and approve the client.
Sign in when the window asks you to
Read the request. The screen Allow … to use Cactus as you? names the client by its address and says it will act with your access on your team
Select Allow or Deny
The screen lists what the client may do, in these words:
- Read your team's pages, code map and past conversations
- Ask Cactus questions and start investigations; each creates a conversation
Give an agent your team with a code
An agent with no browser, such as a command-line job, shows you a six-digit code and gives you a link to Give this agent your team?.
Type the code the agent showed you into The code the agent showed you
Select Give it my team. The screen then says the agent has your team.
Which address to use
Address | Without an account | With your sign-in or token |
|---|---|---|
| Without an account Nothing: every tool needs a sign-in | With your sign-in or token Every product on your team: help pages, past conversations, questions and investigations |
| Without an account Published help pages, search, what's new, questions, and a message to your team where the product takes handoffs | With your sign-in or token The same, plus your team's past conversations, questions and investigations |
The team address covers every product on your team. When the team has more than one, the client names one by its number, which it gets from the list of products; the number is optional when the team has only one.
Limits
Who | Limit |
|---|---|
Anyone calling a product's address without an account | Limit 60 calls every 5 minutes |
Anyone sending a message to your team through a client | Limit 3 an hour for each visitor, and 30 a day for each product |
A signed-in person | Limit 600 calls every 5 minutes |
A question | Limit 4,000 characters |
Disconnect a client
What you do | What stops | What stays |
|---|---|---|
Revoke a personal token | What stops The token is refused from the next call | What stays The client keeps the old token in its settings; run the install line again to replace it |
Disconnect a signed-in client | What stops Its access is revoked, so its token is refused on the next call and it must sign in again | What stays An agent that is disconnected has to be claimed again |
Forget a client | What stops It is removed from the list | What stays The client keeps what it was given, and it returns to the list when it next connects |
If a connection fails
What you see | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
"Sign in to read this team's products." | What it means Your client is not signed in to Cactus | What to do Sign in again through the client, which opens a browser window |
This team has more than one product, followed by the list | What it means Your client did not say which product it means | What to do Ask it for the product's number, or use that product's own address |
"This team has no product yet. Create one in Cactus first." | What it means No product is set up on the team | What to do Set up a product in Getting started first |
"No product the number you asked for on this team" | What it means The number is not a product on your team | What to do Ask the client to list the products and use a number from that list |
"No page at the address you asked for on this Help Center" | What it means The client asked for a help page that does not exist | What to do Ask the client to list the topics, then read one of them |
"Cactus could not reach the service that answers this. Try again in a moment." | What it means The service is briefly unavailable | What to do Try again in a moment |
"This connection request cannot be verified" | What it means The request could not be checked, or the page was opened directly | What to do Start the connection again from your client; nothing was shared |
"Join a teamspace before connecting an AI client." | What it means Your account is not on a team | What to do Join a teamspace first |
"Sign in again to approve this connection." | What it means Your sign-in ended before you pressed Allow | What to do Sign in again, then select Allow |
"This claim could not be completed" | What it means The claim failed, for example with a wrong code | What to do Ask the agent to start again |
The client reports a rate limit and a wait time | What it means You passed one of the limits above | What to do Wait the time the client gives, then try again |