Get an API key

Sign in at app.soullayer.ai, open Settings → API Keys, and create a new key with the mcp scope. Copy the key starting with sk_sl_ — it's only shown once.

Cursor

Add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json (or the workspace equivalent):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "soullayer": {
      "url": "https://api.soullayer.ai/v1/mcp/sse",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer sk_sl_YOUR_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Cursor. The soullayer server should appear in the MCP panel.

Claude Desktop

Claude Desktop only speaks stdio, so point it at a small shim that proxies to the SSE endpoint:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "soullayer": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@soullayer/mcp-remote", "--url", "https://api.soullayer.ai/v1/mcp/sse", "--api-key", "sk_sl_YOUR_KEY_HERE"]
    }
  }
}

On macOS the config lives at ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json.

Self-hosted

If you're running Soullayer locally (not Cloud), skip the API key — use the bundled MCP server directly:

# Self-hosted: run the local MCP server
soullayer serve --mcp

# Claude Desktop config (stdio transport)
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "soullayer": {
      "command": "soullayer",
      "args": ["serve", "--mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Tools & resources

# Tools exposed to the connected client
get_identity       — returns filtered Identity Pack
get_preferences    — returns filtered Preferences Pack
get_context        — compiles SSD for a target platform (openai, claude, cursor, ...)
update_state       — applies a JSON merge patch to State Pack
eval_policy        — evaluates a value against active policy rules

# Resources (read-only)
soullayer://identity    — markdown rendering of Identity Pack
soullayer://state       — current state JSON
soullayer://policy      — active policy rules

# Prompts
soullayer_init          — system prompt with identity compiled for a target
soullayer_reflect       — memory-consolidation guidance prompt

Test the connection

# Quick test: verify the SSE endpoint with curl
curl -N -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_sl_YOUR_KEY_HERE" \
  https://api.soullayer.ai/v1/mcp/sse

# You should see SSE events stream. Ctrl-C to exit.

# List active connections (dashboard session only)
curl --cookie "sl_access=..." https://api.soullayer.ai/v1/mcp/connections

Connection limits

Concurrent MCP connections are gated per plan. Disconnect idle sessions from Settings → API Keys → Active MCP Connections.

Plan     Concurrent connections
───────  ──────────────────────
Free     0 (MCP not available)
Pro      3
Team     10
Enterprise 50

MCP Setup