> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.narrative.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Data Collaboration MCP Server > How the Narrative MCP server lets AI agents interact with your data The Narrative MCP Server for Agents is a remote [Model Context Protocol](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/) (MCP) server that lets AI agents like Claude explore datasets, kick off queries, refresh materialized views, and manage your Narrative account — all from a single conversation. Instead of switching between a chat window and the Narrative UI, you tell the agent what you need and it operates the platform on your behalf. ## What is MCP? MCP is an open protocol that standardizes how AI applications connect to external tools and data sources. It defines a universal interface so that any MCP-compatible AI client — Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, and others — can discover and call tools exposed by an MCP server. The protocol handles: * **Tool discovery.** The client asks the server what tools are available and receives their names, descriptions, and parameter schemas. * **Authentication.** OAuth-based flows let the server verify your identity without you sharing API keys with the AI client. * **Tool execution.** The client calls a tool on your behalf, and the server returns structured results that the AI can reason about. ## Why use an AI assistant with Narrative? Working with data collaboration platforms often involves switching between multiple screens — searching for datasets, inspecting schemas, writing queries, monitoring jobs. An AI assistant connected via MCP can compress these multi-step workflows into a conversational loop: * **Explore datasets naturally.** Ask "what datasets do I have about mobile identifiers?" instead of navigating through the UI. The assistant searches, describes schemas, and summarizes what it finds. * **Write and validate NQL iteratively.** Describe what you want in plain language, and the assistant drafts NQL, validates it against your schema, and fixes errors before submitting — all without you writing a query from scratch. * **Operate on datasets without context-switching.** Trigger samples, refresh materialized views, and recalculate statistics through conversation. The assistant polls job status and reports when operations complete. * **Work across companies.** If you belong to multiple companies, the assistant can switch context on your behalf, making cross-tenant operations seamless. ## How it works The Narrative MCP server sits between your AI client and the Narrative API: 1. **You connect once.** Add the server URL to your AI client's MCP configuration. The first time the assistant calls a tool, a browser window opens for you to log in with your Narrative credentials. 2. **The assistant discovers tools.** On connection, the client fetches the list of available tools — dataset operations, NQL execution, attribute search, and more. 3. **Tools call the Narrative API.** When the assistant uses a tool, the MCP server translates the request into the appropriate Narrative API calls, using your authenticated session. 4. **Results flow back as context.** The server returns structured responses that the assistant incorporates into the conversation, so it can chain operations (e.g., describe a dataset, then write a query against it). The server accepts two kinds of bearer credential, so the same endpoint works for interactive and programmatic clients: * **OAuth login** — Interactive MCP clients (Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf) open a browser-based login, and the server exchanges the resulting credential for a scoped Narrative access token. Your session persists across tool calls, so you only log in once per session. * **Narrative API token** — Server-to-server callers and scripted clients can send a long-lived Narrative API token directly in the `Authorization: Bearer` header, skipping the browser flow. The token's existing user, company, and permission scope apply. See [Connecting to the Narrative MCP Server](/guides/mcp/connecting-an-ai-assistant#narrative-api-token-for-programmatic-clients) for setup details. ## Available tools The server organizes its tools into these categories: | Category | What you can do | | ---------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Context** | Inspect the current session, list your companies, switch the active company, search companies by name | | **Datasets** | Search and describe datasets, inspect column statistics, configure stats collection | | **Dataset operations** | Request samples, refresh materialized views, recalculate statistics | | **Attributes** | Search and describe Rosetta Stone attributes | | **Access rules** | Discover and inspect the access rules your company owns or has been granted | | **NQL** | Validate queries and submit them for execution | | **Jobs** | Search and describe jobs to track asynchronous work — NQL runs, samples, materialized-view refreshes | | **Data planes** | Discover available data planes and their compute pools | | **Workflows** | Create, trigger, describe, and follow runs of multi-step workflows | See the [MCP server reference](/reference/integrations/mcp-server) for the complete tool catalog with parameters and examples. ## Other Narrative MCP servers Narrative publishes a small suite of MCP servers alongside the Data Collaboration server. You can add any of them to your client independently: | Server | URL | Auth | What it does | | ------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------- | ----- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | | [Data Collaboration](/reference/integrations/mcp-server) | `https://mcp.narrative.io/mcp` | OAuth | Query datasets, run NQL, manage workflows | | [Knowledge Base](/reference/integrations/mcp-knowledge-base) | `https://docs.narrative.io/mcp` | None | Search the Narrative docs and answer questions with citations | | [Agent Feedback](/reference/integrations/mcp-agent-feedback) | `https://narrative.support/mcp` | None | Submit structured product feedback and bug reports from a session | All three are discoverable in the Narrative product under **Marketplace > MCP Servers**. ## Getting started To connect your AI assistant to Narrative, follow the setup guide for your client: Step-by-step setup for Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, and other MCP clients Complete catalog of available tools with parameters and usage patterns