MCP Setup

MCP Setup

This page explains how to connect an AI assistant to your TREK instance. TREK supports two authentication methods: OAuth 2.1 (recommended) and static API tokens (deprecated).

Option A: OAuth 2.1 (recommended)

OAuth 2.1 is the preferred connection method. You grant specific scopes during the consent step and no token management is required afterward — TREK issues short-lived access tokens and automatically rotates refresh tokens.

Claude.ai

Claude.ai (web) supports native MCP connections — no JSON config file required:

1. In TREK, go to Settings → Integrations → MCP → OAuth Clients and click Create.
2. Select the Claude.ai preset. This fills in the redirect URI (https://claude.ai/api/mcp/auth_callback) and a default scope set.
3. Give the client a name, adjust scopes if needed, and save. Copy the client ID and client secret (trekcs_ prefix) — the secret is shown only once.
4. In Claude.ai, open the MCP settings and add a new server using your TREK URL (https://<your-trek-instance>/mcp). Claude.ai will open your browser to complete the OAuth consent flow.

Claude Desktop

Claude Desktop connects via mcp-remote. After creating an OAuth client using the Claude Desktop preset (redirect URI: http://localhost), add the following to your Claude Desktop config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "trek": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://<your-trek-instance>/mcp",
        "--static-oauth-client-info",
        "{\"client_id\": \"<your_client_id>\", \"client_secret\": \"<your_client_secret>\"}"
      ]
    }
  }
}

When the client starts it opens your browser to the TREK consent screen to complete the OAuth flow.

Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf, and Zed

Clients that support mcp-remote can connect in one of two ways.

Option 1 — dynamic registration (no pre-created client needed):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "trek": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://<your-trek-instance>/mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

When the client starts, it fetches TREK's OAuth discovery document (/.well-known/oauth-authorization-server), registers itself automatically, and opens your browser to the TREK consent screen. You choose scopes there.

Option 2 — pre-created OAuth client:

Create a client in TREK using the appropriate preset (Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf, or Zed — all use http://localhost as redirect URI), then pass the credentials via --static-oauth-client-info:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "trek": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://<your-trek-instance>/mcp",
        "--static-oauth-client-info",
        "{\"client_id\": \"<your_client_id>\", \"client_secret\": \"<your_client_secret>\"}"
      ]
    }
  }
}

On Windows, npx may need a full path, for example C:\PROGRA~1\nodejs\npx.cmd.

Requirement: APP_URL must be set on the server for OAuth discovery to work.

Pre-created OAuth clients

Settings → Integrations → MCP → OAuth Clients lets you create named OAuth clients before connecting. This gives you:

• A fixed, named scope list defined up front
• A client secret (trekcs_ prefix, shown once) for confidential client mode
• Preset buttons for Claude.ai, Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf, and Zed that fill in the correct redirect URIs and a sensible default scope set

Each user can have up to 10 OAuth clients.

Option B: Static API token (deprecated)

Deprecated: Static tokens will stop working in a future version of TREK. Migrate to OAuth 2.1.

Static tokens grant full access to all tools and resources with no scope restrictions. Sessions using a static token will receive deprecation warnings in the AI client on every tool call.

1. Go to Settings → Integrations → MCP, open the API Tokens sub-tab, and click Create New Token.
2. Give the token a name and copy it immediately — it is shown only once. The token starts with trek_.
3. Pass the token as a header in your client config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "trek": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://<your-trek-instance>/mcp",
        "--header",
        "Authorization: Bearer trek_your_token_here"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Each user can create up to 10 static tokens.

Authentication reference

Method	Token prefix	Access level	Expiry
OAuth 2.1 access token	trekoa_	Scoped (per-consent)	1 hour; auto-refreshed via 30-day rolling refresh token (trekrf_)
OAuth client secret	trekcs_	Used during OAuth registration	No expiry (revoke via UI)
Static API token	trek_	Full access	No expiry — deprecated

Related

• MCP-Overview
• MCP-Scopes
• Admin-MCP-Tokens
• Environment-Variables