Valyu MCP Server

The Valyu MCP Server is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) tool that enables AI models to retrieve high-quality context from Valyu's API, including full search capabilities over Wikipedia, arXiv papers (great for finance, research, etc.), and web search.

Prerequisites

Before setting up the MCP server, ensure you have the following:

1. Python 3.10+

2. Claude Desktop (latest version)

3. Valyu API Key (Get one from Valyu Exchange)

To check your Python version, run:

python --version

Installation & Configuration

Option 1: Automated Setup (Recommended)

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/ValyuNetwork/valyu-mcp.git
cd valyu-mcp

2. Run the setup script

chmod +x setup.sh  
./setup.sh       

The setup script will:

• Create and activate a virtual environment

• Install all dependencies

• Prompt you for your Valyu API key

• Create the necessary .env file

• Provide instructions for updating your Claude Desktop configuration

Option 2: Manual Setup

If you prefer to set up manually or the automated setup doesn't work for your environment, follow these steps:

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/ValyuNetwork/valyu-mcp.git
cd valyu-mcp

2. Create a virtual environment and activate it

python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate  # macOS/Linux
.venv\Scripts\activate    # Windows

3. Install dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt

4. Create a .env file in the project root:

echo "VALYU_API_KEY=your-api-key-here" > .env

5. Open your Claude Desktop config file for editing:

   • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

   • Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

   If the config file doesn't exist:

   1. Open Claude Desktop

   2. Go to Settings

   3. Enable Developer Mode in the Developer tab

   4. The config file will be generated automatically

   You can open this file in VS Code using:

   code ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json  # macOS
   code %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json  # Windows (PowerShell)

6. Add the following entry under mcpServers:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "valyu-mcp": {
      "command": "/ABSOLUTE/PATH/TO/.venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["-u", "/ABSOLUTE/PATH/TO/valyu-mcp.py"],
      "env": {
        "VALYU_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Running the MCP Server

1. Start the server manually (for testing):

python valyu-mcp.py

2. Start Claude Desktop and verify the MCP tool is recognized:

   • Look for the valyu-mcp tool in the Claude interface.

   • Test a query in Claude (e.g., "What are the latest papers on reinforcement learning?").

Testing and Debugging

Check logs if you encounter issues:

tail -n 20 -F ~/Library/Logs/Claude/mcp*.log  # macOS

Get-Content $env:APPDATA\Claude\Logs\mcp_valyu-mcp.log -Wait  # Windows

Troubleshooting

• ModuleNotFoundError: Ensure your virtual environment is activated before running the script.

• Server doesn't start: Check paths in claude_desktop_config.json.

• No results from Valyu API: Verify your API key is valid and has credits.

Free Credits & API Access

Sign up at Valyu Exchange and claim your $10 free credits to test Valyu API with the MCP server.

Contributing

Pull requests are welcome! Feel free to open an issue for bug reports or feature requests.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

For more information about what we are building at Valyu, visit valyu.network. And check out our blogs at valyu.network/blog.