MCP overview

The PolyTape MCP server — endpoint, transport, connecting, and the caching rule that bites everyone once.

https://api.polytape.io/mcp

FastMCP over streamable HTTP, stateless. 13 tools and one prompt.

Works in Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, opencode, the claude.ai custom connector, and any MCP client.

Connecting

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http polytape https://api.polytape.io/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer td_live_..."

claude.ai

Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector, then the server URL:

https://api.polytape.io/mcp

Authorize over OAuth — you sign in with your PolyTape account, and no key is pasted.

opencode

{
  "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json",
  "mcp": {
    "polytape": {
      "type": "remote",
      "url": "https://api.polytape.io/mcp",
      "oauth": false,
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer td_live_..." }
    }
  }
}

Cursor

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "polytape": {
      "url": "https://api.polytape.io/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer td_live_..." }
    }
  }
}

Both credential families work: a td_live_ key in the Authorization header, or OAuth where your client supports it. See Authentication.

Re-add the connector after an API update. MCP clients cache tools/list, so new tools and sharpened tool descriptions never reach a client that connected before the change — it will keep using the old contract and never tell you.

If a tool you expect is missing, or a tool behaves like an older version of itself, remove the connector and add it again. Reconnecting spends no budget.

What a call costs

Free

Connecting · tools/list · prompts/list · fetching the crack_this_trader prompt.

A Basic user does not spend part of their 50 just to plug in.

1 request

Every tool call, get_chart_template included. There are no exemptions.

MCP and REST draw on the same per-user budget — see Plans & limits.

Tools return their payload twice — as readable text and as structured JSON. That is convenient, and it means paged tools cost roughly double their REST equivalent. Pass limit / points wherever a tool offers one.

Conventions

• trader accepts a 0x wallet, a polymarket.com profile URL, or a display name. Responses echo the canonical wallet and name.
• market is the 0x… 64-hex condition id from list_trader_markets or get_top_markets.
• Timestamps are epoch seconds. Money fields are USD. Prices are UP-normalized (0–1).

Errors come back readable

Failures arrive as tool results (isError: true with text), never as opaque protocol errors.

Text you’ll see	What it means
rate limit: retry in Ns	Transient. Wait N seconds and retry.
A message naming an upgrade and polytape.io/pricing	The paywall — daily (Basic) or monthly (Pro/Max) quota spent, or the Basic 3-wallets-a-day cap. Relay it to your human; do not retry.
this market is outside your history window	The depth gate — Basic sees 5 markets per trader. Surface the upgrade, or treat it as a not-found.
no such tape in your library / no such market for this trader	A 404-equivalent.
the trader archive is not available… / pm_offline	A transient upstream blip. Retry shortly; for pm_offline, fall back to the archive P/L fields.

Full table with HTTP codes: Errors.

The 13 tools

Signatures, what each returns, and when to reach for it.