What is the Amygdala MCP Server?

The Amygdala MCP Server is a Model Context Protocol server that connects the Human Authority Index to Claude Desktop, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible AI agent. It exposes four tools: search, detail, peers, and match, which map directly to the Amygdala REST API endpoints.

What can I do with the Amygdala MCP tools?

Four tools are available: (1) search — find the top ranked authorities on any topic; (2) detail — retrieve a full authority profile including bio, score, and verified social handles; (3) peers — map the influence network around a social handle; (4) match — look up an authority by their social media handle and return their ranked profile.

How do I install the Amygdala MCP Server?

Download the server file with: curl -o server.py https://amygdala.eu/mcp/server.py. Install the dependency with: pip install mcp requests. Then add the server to your Claude Desktop config under mcpServers with your API key as AMYGDALA_API_KEY.

Which AI clients work with the Amygdala MCP Server?

The server works with Claude Desktop, Cursor, any MCP-compatible client, custom AI agents, and OpenAI-compatible tools that support the Model Context Protocol.

Does the MCP Server use the same API key as the REST API?

Yes. The MCP server authenticates with the same API key used for the Amygdala REST API. Create a key in the dashboard and set it as the AMYGDALA_API_KEY environment variable in your Claude Desktop config.

MCP Server

Utilize the Authority Index.
In your AI.

Connect the Amygdala Human Authority Index to Claude, ChatGPT, or any MCP-compatible AI. Ask in plain language, get back ranked, verified authorities in any niche.

Get API access View API reference

Try asking your AI:"find the top 5 authorities on quantum computing"

4 tools exposed

What your AI can do with Amygdala

Four tools map directly to the REST API. Same data, zero plumbing.

search

Search any topic and get a ranked list of the top verified authorities in that niche.

Example prompt"Find the top authorities on climate policy"

detail

Get full profile data: bio, authority score, verified social handles, follower counts, and website.

Example prompt"Get the full profile for SDU 294152..."

peers

Map the influence network around a social handle and find who the top authorities in that circle are.

Example prompt"Who is in the same circle as @lexfridman?"

match

Look up an authority directly by their social media handle. Returns their ranked profile, name, country, and core topic.

Example prompt"Look up the authority profile for @sama"

Setup in 3 steps

Connect to Claude in minutes

Get API access

Go to dashboard →

Install and download

Download the MCP server file and install its dependencies.

Terminal

# Download the server
curl -o server.py https://amygdala.eu/mcp/server.py

# Install dependencies
pip install mcp requests

You don't need to start the server manually — Claude Desktop launches it automatically using the config in step 3.

Add to Claude Desktop config

Open ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json and add the Amygdala server:

claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "amygdala": {
      "command": "python3",
      "args": ["/path/to/amygdala/mcp/server.py"],
      "env": {
        "AMYGDALA_API_KEY": "your_api_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop. The Amygdala tools will appear in Claude's tool list.

On some systems you may need to use the full Python path (e.g. /usr/local/bin/python3 or /usr/local/opt/python@3.11/libexec/bin/python3). Run which python3 in your terminal to find the correct path.

How it works: Claude Desktop spawns server.py as a local subprocess and communicates over stdio. Your API key stays on your machine — it's passed as an environment variable to the local process and never sent to Anthropic or any third party.

Other MCP clients

Claude Code and Cursor setup

The same server works with any MCP client. Here's how to configure it in the most popular tools.

Claude Code

Add to your project's .mcp.json:

.mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "amygdala": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "python3",
      "args": ["/path/to/amygdala/mcp/server.py"],
      "env": {
        "AMYGDALA_API_KEY": "your_api_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Or add it interactively:

Terminal

claude mcp add amygdala -- python3 /path/to/amygdala/mcp/server.py

Cursor

Add to .cursor/mcp.json in your project root:

.cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "amygdala": {
      "command": "python3",
      "args": ["/path/to/amygdala/mcp/server.py"],
      "env": {
        "AMYGDALA_API_KEY": "your_api_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

On some systems, use the full Python path (run which python3 to find it).

See it in action

Ask Claude: "find the top 5 authorities on quantum computing"

Claude calls search, gets back a ranked list of authorities from the Human Authority Index, and presents them inline. No copy-pasting, no API calls to manage.

Get API access

Find the top 5 authorities on quantum computing

You

Here are the top 5 verified authorities on quantum computing, ranked by the Amygdala Authority Index:

John PreskillUnited States · Rank #1

Quantum computing pioneer at Caltech. Coined the term "quantum supremacy."

Andreas WallraffSwitzerland · Rank #2

Leading superconducting qubit researcher at ETH Zurich.

Scott AaronsonUnited States · Rank #3

Theoretical computer scientist, known for computational complexity in quantum systems.

Umesh VaziraniUnited States · Rank #4

Co-director of the Berkeley Quantum Computation Center.

Peter ShorUnited States · Rank #10

Inventor of Shor's algorithm for quantum factoring at MIT.

Want me to pull the full profile for any of these? I can show their verified social handles, bio, and authority score.

Live example using the Amygdala MCP server in Claude Desktop. Results from the Authority Index.

Compatible with

Claude Desktop

Any MCP client

Custom AI agents

OpenAI-compatible tools

Start finding verified authorities in your AI today

Get an API key and plug Amygdala into any AI workflow in minutes.

Get API access Read the docs