Connect an MCP client to CompliAPI

CompliAPI exposes its full screening engine as an MCP server over streamable HTTP at https://api.compliapi.com/mcp. Once connected, AI agents can call sanctions screening and geo/VPN checks as native tool calls, using the same data and quota as the REST API.

Authentication options

You have three ways to authenticate when connecting an MCP client:

OAuth (browser flow) — clients that support remote MCP servers (such as Claude and Claude Code) open a browser window, you sign in to CompliAPI and approve the connection, and the client is authorized automatically. No token to copy or manage. Authorized apps appear under Connected apps on the Tokens page, where you can disconnect them at any time.
API token — create a token on the Tokens page and pass it as a bearer header in your client configuration.
x402 (tokenless) — skip the account entirely. Connecting without an Authorization header still works: initialize and tools/list are free, and each tool call returns an x402 payment challenge until you supply an X-PAYMENT header. See pay per request for details.

Set up in Claude Code

The official CompliAPI plugin bundles the MCP server plus a /compliapi:screen workflow skill. Install it with:

/plugin marketplace add Compli-API/compliapi-plugin/plugin install compliapi@compliapi

The plugin picks up your token from the COMPLIAPI_API_TOKEN environment variable or ~/.compliapi/token, and falls back to x402 tokenless access if neither is present. To add just the bare MCP server without the plugin:

claude mcp add --transport http compliapi https://api.compliapi.com/mcp \  --header "Authorization: Bearer capi_..."

Set up via JSON configuration

For clients configured with a JSON file — including Cursor (~/.cursor/mcp.json), Claude Code (.mcp.json), and most others — add the following block:

{  "mcpServers": {    "compliapi": {      "url": "https://api.compliapi.com/mcp",      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer capi_..." }    }  }}

Clients that add remote servers through a UI only need the URL — https://api.compliapi.com/mcp — plus the Authorization header if the UI supports custom headers.

Verify the connection

Once connected, ask your agent to list its available tools — all eight CompliAPI tools should appear. Then run a quick test:

Screen the address 0x098B716B8Aaf21512996dC57EB0615e2383E2f96 against the sanctions lists.

The agent should call screen_crypto_address and report a Lazarus Group OFAC hit, confirming the connection and authentication are working correctly.