Connect AI Assistants with MCP

MentorStack exposes a Model Context Protocol (opens in new tab) (MCP) server, so any MCP-compatible AI assistant — Claude, Cursor, OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot, Windsurf, and others — can read and act on your MentorStack data directly. Ask about upcoming meetings, draft session notes, review goal progress, or surface matches, all without leaving your existing workflow.

The setup is the same for everyone: generate an API key, then point your AI tool at the MCP server. What the assistant can see and do depends on your key — see What you can do below.

Generate your API key

You generate your own key — no admin handoff required. In MentorStack:

1. Go to Settings → API & Integrations.
2. Under API Keys, click Connect an AI agent.
3. Give the key a name (e.g. Claude Desktop, Cursor agent).
4. Click Generate key and copy it immediately — the full key is shown only once.

Keys start with ms_live_. As a mentor or mentee, this creates a participant key scoped to your account only: the agent can see your own matches, meetings, messages, and goals, and nothing about other members or org-level data.

Connect your AI tool

In every example below, replace ms_live_YOUR_KEY_HERE with the key you generated.

Claude Desktop

Open claude_desktop_config.json (find it via Claude menu → Settings → Developer → Edit Config) and add a mentorstack entry:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mentorstack": {
      "url": "https://app.mentorstack.co/api/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer ms_live_YOUR_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Save and restart Claude Desktop. A hammer icon in the chat toolbar confirms MentorStack tools are active.

Claude Code

Run this in your terminal:

claude mcp add --transport http mentorstack https://app.mentorstack.co/api/mcp \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ms_live_YOUR_KEY_HERE"

Verify with claude mcp list — MentorStack should appear with a green status.

Cursor

Edit ~/.cursor/mcp.json (global) or .cursor/mcp.json inside a project folder:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mentorstack": {
      "url": "https://app.mentorstack.co/api/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer ms_live_YOUR_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Cursor after saving.

Windsurf

Edit ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mentorstack": {
      "url": "https://app.mentorstack.co/api/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer ms_live_YOUR_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Windsurf after saving.

OpenAI Codex

Codex reads its bearer token from an environment variable, so first add your key to your shell profile (~/.zshrc, ~/.bashrc, etc.):

export MENTORSTACK_API_KEY=ms_live_YOUR_KEY_HERE

Then edit ~/.codex/config.toml and add:

[mcp_servers.mentorstack]
url = "https://app.mentorstack.co/api/mcp"
bearer_token_env_var = "MENTORSTACK_API_KEY"

Or add it in one command:

codex mcp add mentorstack --url https://app.mentorstack.co/api/mcp \
  --bearer-token-env-var MENTORSTACK_API_KEY

Start Codex and run /mcp to confirm mentorstack shows its tools.

GitHub Copilot CLI

Edit ~/.copilot/mcp-config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mentorstack": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://app.mentorstack.co/api/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer ms_live_YOUR_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Copilot CLI and run /mcp show to confirm MentorStack is listed. You can also configure it interactively from a Copilot session with /mcp add.

What you can do

What your assistant can do depends on your key's scope.

Mentees (participant key) — your assistant can:

• Review your current goals and progress
• Create or update goals from your mentoring conversations
• Check upcoming meetings and prepare questions
• Message your mentor
• Build a career plan and match it against your goals
• Export your mentoring portfolio

Mentors (participant key) — your assistant can:

• List your upcoming meetings and mentees
• Schedule or reschedule meetings
• Draft and send messages to your mentees
• Pull up goal progress for any of your mentees
• Log meeting summaries and action items
• Surface your mentoring stats and badges

Admins (admin key) — everything above, org-wide:

• Manage members, matches, and cohorts
• Run program analytics and reports
• Configure skills, surveys, and matching

Troubleshooting

Tools don't appear in my AI tool Restart the app after editing the config file. The MCP server list is only loaded on startup.

Getting an Unauthorized error The raw key is only shown once when generated. If you didn't copy it in time, revoke it and generate a new one from Settings → API & Integrations.

Can't access data I expect to see Participant keys are scoped to your own account by design — you can't reach another member's records or org-level data with one. If you need broader access, an admin can generate an admin-scoped key. Contact your admin if you think your key has the wrong permissions.