Tako MCP Server

Tako MCP Server

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that provides access to Tako's knowledge base and data visualizations.

What is this?

This MCP server enables AI agents to:

• Search Tako's knowledge base for charts and data visualizations
• Answer data questions with grounded, citation-backed prose
• Fetch underlying content (CSV or text) behind result URLs
• Run deep multi-step research with Tako's agent

Quick start

Use the hosted endpoint at https://mcp.tako.com. Three lines, no install:

export TAKO_API_TOKEN='<your-token-from-tako.com>'
claude mcp add tako-mcp --transport http https://mcp.tako.com/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $TAKO_API_TOKEN"

That's it for new users. Detailed configs for Claude Code / Claude Desktop / Cursor / Windsurf are in the next section.

Hosted (Cloudflare Workers)

The fastest path: point your MCP client at https://mcp.tako.com with a Bearer token. No install, no local server.

Endpoints:

Authentication: every request needs Authorization: Bearer <TAKO_API_TOKEN>. Get a token at tako.com → account settings → API tokens.

Claude Code

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.

Claude Desktop

Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows):

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

Restart Claude Desktop. Tako MCP should appear in the available tools list.

Cursor / Windsurf

Add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json (Cursor) or the equivalent Windsurf config:

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

Notes

• Tools are discovered automatically via the MCP tools/list handshake on connect — your client always sees the current tool surface, no manual list to keep in sync.
• Auth is connection-level Bearer — once the connection is established with your token, tool inputs require no api_token argument.
• Use the staging endpoint (mcp.staging.tako.com) for testing changes against an unstable build before they reach mcp.tako.com.

Consumer hosts (OAuth)

Use this if you're connecting Tako from Claude.ai or ChatGPT — the consumer chat hosts that don't accept Bearer tokens. The hosted endpoint at https://mcp.tako.com/mcp runs an OAuth 2.1 flow that signs you in with your Tako account and connects on your behalf, no JSON config or CLI required.

If you're using Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, or Windsurf, see the Bearer-auth instructions above — those clients accept a static Authorization: Bearer header and don't need OAuth.

Prerequisites

Before connecting from Claude.ai or ChatGPT:

1. Sign up or sign in at tako.com.
2. Mint an API token at tako.com → settings → API tokens.

Step 2 is no longer required: the consent flow mints a per-host Tako API key for you on first authorize (named "MCP: ", visible and revocable at trytako.com → settings → API tokens). Minting is additive — connecting a new host never rotates another host's key — and Tako trims your oldest MCP key once you exceed ten. You only see a "too many API keys" page if your account is at the overall key cap, in which case revoke one and reconnect.

What you'll see during connect

The same three Tako-hosted screens appear regardless of which host (Claude.ai or ChatGPT) you're connecting from:

1. Tako sign-in page. Two options: Continue with Google or send yourself an email magic-link. Use the same identity you signed up with at tako.com.

   

2. Tako consent page. Reads "Connect [host name] to Tako — Signed in as you@example.com — Allow / Cancel". Click Allow to authorize the connection.

   

3. Bounce back to the host. The connector is now listed and tools are callable.

The host itself (Claude.ai or ChatGPT) may also display its own consent prompt before or after Tako's. That's normal — Tako confirms it's safe to share your account; the host confirms it's safe to invoke an external connector.

Claude.ai

Requires Claude.ai Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise.

1. Open Claude.ai → Settings → Connectors.

   

2. Click Add custom connector.

   [Screenshot: Claude.ai "Add custom connector" dialog]

3. Paste https://mcp.tako.com/mcp and click Connect.

4. You'll be taken through the Tako sign-in flow described above.

5. After consent, Tako appears in your connector list as connected.

   

ChatGPT

Requires ChatGPT Pro, Business, or Enterprise. Developer Mode must be enabled.

1. Open ChatGPT → Settings → Connectors → Developer Mode and toggle it on if it isn't already.

   

2. Click Create custom connector.

   

3. Paste https://mcp.tako.com/mcp and click Connect.

4. You'll be taken through the Tako sign-in flow described above.

5. After consent, the connector is listed and ready to use.

   

Verify it's working

In a fresh conversation, ask:

Show me Tako's chart on Intel vs Nvidia headcount.

A successful response includes a chart link or an inline chart render (depending on host) within a few seconds. If you instead see an authentication error, jump to Disconnecting & re-authorizing below.

Disconnecting & re-authorizing

There are two ways to break the connection, and they have different blast radius. Pick the one that matches what you actually want.

Per-host disconnect (Claude.ai or ChatGPT settings → remove the Tako connector). Stops that host from making MCP calls. Does not revoke the underlying Tako API token. Other connected hosts — and any Claude Code / Cursor Bearer-auth wiring on the same account — keep working unchanged.

Rotate the API token at tako.com → settings → API tokens. This is the hard kill switch. Rotating creates a new token and invalidates the old one server-side, which means every previously-issued OAuth grant — across every host — stops authenticating immediately. To resume from any host, disconnect and reconnect; the new consent flow picks up your fresh token.

This kill-switch behavior is by design for v1. Per-grant scoped tokens (revoke a single host without touching the others) are tracked under TAKO-2679's known limitations.

Available Tools

Tools are discovered automatically via the MCP tools/list handshake; your client always sees the live surface. Auth is connection-level (Bearer token or OAuth) — there is no per-call api_token argument.

• tako_search — Fast search over Tako's curated knowledge graph (and the live web when asked) for charts and live data on any topic. The top result auto-renders inline as an interactive chart on hosts that support MCP Apps (Claude.ai, ChatGPT). Choose sources (["tako"] default, ["web"], or both) and effort (fast default | instant). For deep, multi-step research — or when search returns nothing — use tako_agent.
• tako_answer — Get a single grounded, citation-backed prose answer. Ground in ["tako"], ["web"], or both (default).
• tako_contents — Fetch the content behind a result URL: a Tako card URL returns a CSV; any other URL returns the page's extracted text.
• tako_agent — Run Tako's deep research agent for complex, multi-step data questions. Returns a synthesized answer plus supporting chart cards. (On ChatGPT this is exposed as the tako_agent_start / tako_agent_wait pair to fit the host's tool-call timeout model.)
• get_credit_balance — Check the connected account's API credit balance.

Example Flow

1. User asks: "Show me a chart about Intel vs Nvidia headcount"
2. Agent calls tako_search with the query
3. Agent receives chart results with IDs and URLs; the top result renders inline on supported hosts
4. Agent calls tako_answer to get a grounded prose answer with citations

Breaking changes (v0.3.0)

• The current tool surface is: tako_search, tako_answer, tako_contents, tako_agent (plus the ChatGPT split pair tako_agent_start / tako_agent_wait), and get_credit_balance.
• The chart-image (get_chart_image), interactive-chart (open_chart_ui), chart-creation (create_chart), and report tools (create_report, get_report, list_reports, export_report) were removed.
• The self-hosted Python server (pip install tako-mcp / Docker) was removed in favor of the hosted Cloudflare Worker.

Update any client config or agent prompts that referenced the old tool names or the Python SSE endpoint.

Health Checks

• GET /health - Simple "ok" response

Architecture

Tako MCP is a Cloudflare Worker — a thin TypeScript proxy deployed at mcp.tako.com:

AI Agent (Claude Code/Desktop, Cursor, Claude.ai, ChatGPT, etc.)
    ↓
  MCP Protocol (Streamable HTTP, POST /mcp)
    ↓
Cloudflare Worker  ──  Bearer auth / OAuth, tool dispatch
    ↓
Tako Django API  (api.tako.com)

The Worker extracts the Bearer token (or OAuth-derived token), validates the MCP request, calls the appropriate Django endpoint with the user's token forwarded as X-API-Key, and returns structured tool results. Code lives in workers/ of this repo.

MCP Registry (maintainers)

Tako is published to the official MCP Registry as a remote server under the name io.github.TakoData/tako-mcp.

• server.json (repo root) is the registry descriptor: a remote streamable-http entry pointing at https://mcp.tako.com/mcp. The registry schema does not list tools — hosts discover them at runtime via tools/list. (This is distinct from registry/server.json, the generated in-repo tool catalog used by npm run registry:gen / registry:check.)
• Publishing is automated by .github/workflows/publish-mcp.yml. It authenticates with the registry via GitHub OIDC (no secret — the io.github.TakoData/* namespace is authorized because this repo lives in the TakoData org) and runs mcp-publisher publish. The version lives in code: bump server.json's version and merge to main and it publishes automatically. A merge that touches server.json without changing the version is a no-op (the workflow skips, so the registry never sees a duplicate). Manual workflow_dispatch publishes the checked-in version on demand.
• Branded namespace (com.tako/tako-mcp) is an optional future upgrade. It requires DNS authentication: generate an Ed25519 key, add a TXT record on tako.com, and swap the workflow's login github-oidc step for login dns --domain tako.com --private-key ${{ secrets.MCP_PRIVATE_KEY }}.

License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

Links

• Tako - Data visualization platform
• Tako on Smithery - MCP server listing (hosted Worker at mcp.tako.com/mcp)
• Tako on the MCP Registry - io.github.TakoData/tako-mcp
• MCP Specification - Model Context Protocol