MCP Setup Guide

Who can use this

MCP access is available to users on an active paid plan (Starter, Professional, or Enterprise). Free-tier accounts cannot generate MCP API keys.

What you need

• An active paid SmarterTariff account
• An MCP API key (created below)
• A supported client: Claude Desktop, Cursor, or Claude Code

Step 1: Create an API key

curl -X POST https://smartertariff.com/api/mcp/keys \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name":"My MCP Key"}'

Save the returned key immediately. SmarterTariff stores only a SHA-256 hash of the key and cannot display the plaintext again. You can also create keys from the Settings page in your dashboard.

Step 2: Configure your client

Claude Desktop

Add SmarterTariff as a remote MCP server using the streamable-HTTP transport:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "smartertariff": {
      "type": "streamable-http",
      "url": "https://smartertariff.com/api/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer st_live_YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Cursor

Add SmarterTariff as a remote MCP server in your project or local config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "smartertariff": {
      "url": "https://smartertariff.com/api/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer st_live_YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Code

Use mcp-remote to bridge the hosted SmarterTariff MCP endpoint into your coding workflow:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "smartertariff": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-remote@latest",
        "https://smartertariff.com/api/mcp",
        "--header",
        "Authorization: Bearer st_live_YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Step 3: Test it

Try prompts like:

• Audit the supply chain transparency of patagonia.com
• Check whether nike.com aligns with CSRD and EUDR
• List my recent supply chain audits
• Get the audit report for my saved domain

Troubleshooting

I get “unauthorized”

• Confirm you are using a valid bearer token.
• Make sure the key was copied completely.
• Check that the key has not been revoked.

Access is blocked even though I have an account

• MCP access requires an active paid plan.
• If your subscription was cancelled, SmarterTariff revokes MCP keys automatically.
• If billing was just updated, sign in again and create a fresh key if needed.

I hit rate limits

Starter, Professional, and Enterprise tiers have different per-minute limits (10, 30, and 100 requests respectively). Wait for the reset window and try again.

Perplexity does not show remote MCP yet

Perplexity currently supports local MCP only. Remote MCP is still rolling out to paid users. SmarterTariff is ready for that rollout, but availability depends on Perplexity’s platform support.

Security notes

• API keys are hashed at rest (SHA-256)
• All requests are audit-logged
• Access is scoped to your own audits and reports
• Rate limits are enforced per API key per tier
• SmarterTariff is advisory software, not legal certification or a substitute for human due diligence