Connecting Claude Desktop

Connect Claude Desktop to your MetaTrader terminal and you can ask it, in plain English, for live prices, your account state, indicators, and — when you choose — trades. There's no Python and no local server to run: MTContext's cloud does the bridging, and Claude Desktop just needs one config block.

This takes about five minutes and assumes you've already subscribed, installed the Expert Advisor on your terminal, and have your terminal connected. If you haven't installed the EA yet, read the Installing the EA on MT5 article first.

What you need

• Claude Desktop installed on your computer

• An active MTContext account and license key (from your dashboard)

• Your MetaTrader terminal running with the MTContext EA attached and showing connected

Step 1 — Copy your config snippet from the dashboard

In your MTContext dashboard, open the terminal you want to connect and copy the ready-made MCP config snippet. It looks like this, already filled in with your endpoint and key:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mtcontext": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.mtcontext.com/mcp/v1",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_LICENSE_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Always use the snippet from your dashboard rather than copying this one — yours has your real key already inserted.

Step 2 — Open Claude Desktop's config file

In Claude Desktop, go to Settings → Developer → Edit Config. That opens claude_desktop_config.json. You can also open it directly:

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

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

Step 3 — Paste in the MTContext block

Paste the mtcontext entry inside mcpServers. If you already have other MCP servers configured, add mtcontext alongside them rather than replacing the file. Save the file.

Step 4 — Restart Claude Desktop

Fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop so it reloads the config. When it restarts you should see MTContext listed among the available tools (look for the tools/plug icon in the message box).

Step 5 — Confirm it works

Ask Claude something read-only, for example:

"Using MTContext, what's the current EURUSD bid and ask?"

If Claude returns a live quote, you're connected. Read-only requests like this are completely safe — nothing touches your account.

Troubleshooting

• MTContext doesn't appear after restart — check the JSON is valid (a missing comma or brace is the usual cause) and that the block is inside mcpServers.

• "No terminal connected" — your terminal isn't online. Confirm MetaTrader is running with the EA attached and showing connected; see the EA won't connect / shows "disconnected" article.

• Auth error — the license key in the config doesn't match your account. Re-copy the snippet from the dashboard.

Next steps

Once you're getting live prices, see Checking prices, bars, and account state to learn what else you can ask, and Placing trades safely with dry_run before you let Claude touch an order.

Ready to try it? Start free at mtcontext.com — the free tier includes read-only market data with no card required. Full setup reference lives in the documentation.