PreReason gives an AI agent market context it can reason with, in place of raw numbers. One call returns a briefing on Bitcoin, macro liquidity, FX or the links between assets, and the analysis is already in it: a signal line, trend direction over several windows, a regime label, confidence scores, percentile ranks, correlations and a plain language narrative. The catalogue holds 18 live briefings and 119 individual metrics, covering Bitcoin price and momentum, network and miner health, spot Bitcoin ETF flows, corporate Bitcoin treasuries, the Fed balance sheet, M2, net liquidity, Treasury yields and the dollar. It is served over MCP (a remote server and an npm bridge) and over REST, as Markdown or JSON. The catalogue tools need no key, and an agent can get a free key from inside the session: it shows one link, a person approves it, and the key arrives.

Quick Start

Option 1: Claude Desktop, no key needed

Requires Node.js 18+

Add this to claude_desktop_config.json and restart Claude Desktop:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "prereason": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@prereason/mcp"],
      "env": { "PREREASON_CLIENT": "claude-desktop" }
    }
  }
}

The catalogue tools work at once. The first time a briefing needs a key, the bridge asks for access: ask Claude for any briefing and the answer starts with Approve at https://www.prereason.com/claim/PR-XXXX-XXXX. Open the link, sign in or create a free account, click Approve. The key arrives in the bridge on its own, is saved to ~/.prereason/credentials.json, and the next call works. Nothing is created in your account until you click Approve.

Config file location:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
• Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Already have a key? Add it to the env block as "PREREASON_API_KEY": "pr_live_..." and the bridge never asks.

Option 2: Direct HTTP with an API key (Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Codex, Gemini CLI, VS Code, scripts)

Clients that hold their own config can call the endpoint directly, with the key as a header:

# Claude Code
claude mcp add --transport http prereason https://api.prereason.com/api/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "prereason": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://api.prereason.com/api/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" }
    }
  }
}

Windsurf uses serverUrl instead of url; Gemini CLI uses httpUrl; Codex uses url plus bearer_token_env_var in config.toml. No key yet? Point the client at the endpoint without a header and ask the assistant to call request_access; it walks you through the same one link approval and shows the key once, which you then paste into the config.

Option 3: Claude.ai and Claude Desktop custom connector

Add PreReason as a custom connector, choose "No sign-in", and where the Request headers section is available add Authorization with the value Bearer YOUR_API_KEY (the word Bearer and the space are part of the value). Sign in support for connectors is being re-tested and is not offered until it is verified.

Get an API Key

Three ways, all free:

From inside the session (any MCP client). Ask your assistant to call request_access. It returns an approve_url; open it, sign in or create your account, click Approve. The assistant then calls check_access and receives the key once, attached to your account and named Agent: <client_name>.

From code, for an agent with no browser. POST https://api.prereason.com/api/agent/claims (no auth), show the human the approve_url, then poll GET https://api.prereason.com/api/agent/claims/{claim_code} with Authorization: Bearer <claim_token> until status is approved. Docs: prereason.com/docs#agent-access.

On the website. Sign up at prereason.com/signup, then Dashboard > Settings > API Keys. Keys start with pr_live_.

7 MCP Tools

18 Market Briefings

Free (6 briefings)

Basic - $19.99/mo (6 briefings)

Pro - $49.99/mo (6 briefings)

Example Prompts

Once connected, try prompts like:

• "What's the current BTC regime?"
• "Show me the macro snapshot"
• "What does the full context briefing say about market conditions?"
• "Get the bitcoin price metric with trend analysis"
• "What's the hash ribbon signal right now?"
• "List available briefings"

Troubleshooting

"Server disconnected" error

• Ensure Node.js 18+ is installed: node --version
• Check your API key starts with pr_live_
• Fully quit Claude Desktop (system tray > Quit) and reopen

Tools not appearing

• Restart Claude Desktop after editing config
• Verify JSON syntax: node -e "JSON.parse(require('fs').readFileSync('path/to/config','utf8'))"

Windows: "'C:\Program' is not recognized"

If you still see this error, ensure you're using the env block (not --header args) as shown in Quick Start above. If the issue persists, install globally and use node:

1. Run: npm install -g @prereason/mcp
2. Use this config (replace YOUR_USER with your Windows username):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "prereason": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "C:\\Users\\YOUR_USER\\AppData\\Roaming\\npm\\node_modules\\@prereason\\mcp\\bin\\cli.js"
      ],
      "env": {
        "PREREASON_API_KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Auth errors on get_context / get_metric

• list_briefings, list_metrics, and get_health work without a key
• get_context and get_metric require a valid API key
• Get a free key at prereason.com/signup

Other MCP Clients

If your client supports remote HTTP servers, use Quick Start Option 1 above. The stdio bridge package is only needed for clients that require stdio transport (e.g. Claude Desktop).

CLI Usage

# No key: the bridge asks for access and prints one link to approve
npx @prereason/mcp

# Ask for access now, save the key, exit (useful before a first run)
npx @prereason/mcp --login

# Forget the saved key
npx @prereason/mcp --logout

# Use a key from the environment (never asks)
PREREASON_API_KEY=pr_live_... npx @prereason/mcp

# Name the app the bridge runs in, so your dashboard names the connection
PREREASON_CLIENT=claude-desktop npx @prereason/mcp

# --header (backward compatible), a custom credentials file, a custom endpoint
npx @prereason/mcp --header "Authorization:Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
npx @prereason/mcp --credentials-file /path/to/credentials.json
PREREASON_URL=https://custom.endpoint/mcp npx @prereason/mcp

npx @prereason/mcp --help

Key precedence: PREREASON_API_KEY, then --header, then the credentials file (~/.prereason/credentials.json, or PREREASON_CREDENTIALS_FILE, or --credentials-file), then the claim flow. The file holds the key and which claim issued it, never a claim token. On macOS and Linux the directory is created 0700 and the file 0600; Windows has no mode bits, so the file relies on your profile directory's permissions like every other credential store there.

Claude Desktop extension (.mcpb)

mcpb/manifest.json describes the same bridge as a single click Claude Desktop extension, key optional. To build the bundle: npm install --omit=dev, then npx @anthropic-ai/mcpb pack . from the package directory, and install the resulting .mcpb by double clicking it. Submission to the Claude directory goes through the desktop extension form and is a publisher decision.

Links

• Documentation
• Sign Up
• API Discovery
• Terms of Service
• Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

See prereason.com/privacy for data handling practices.

License

MIT