Clayo

Reference/MCP server

MCP server overview and authentication

Clayo has exactly one write surface: an MCP server your AI coding tool connects to. Every article you create, edit, publish, or reorganize flows through it. There is no web editor and no CLI to learn. You describe the change to your agent, and the agent calls the right tools.

This article covers how the connection itself works. For the step-by-step install in Claude Code, Cursor, or Codex, see Connect your AI tool.

The endpoint

The MCP server lives at:

https://api.clayo.com/mcp/

It speaks streamable HTTP, the current MCP transport. Any MCP-capable client can use it: Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, or your own tooling.

Once connected, your agent discovers the full tool list automatically. The tools cover content (Content tools), structure (Structure tools), and insights plus hosting (Insights and hosting tools).

How authentication works

Clayo uses OAuth 2.1 with PKCE, the standard MCP authorization flow. You never paste a password or token into your coding tool.

  1. Add the server to your tool and start the login step.
  2. Your browser opens a Clayo consent page. If you are not signed in, sign in first.
  3. Review the connection and choose Allow.
  4. Your tool receives its credentials and is connected.

From then on the connection maintains itself. Access tokens are short-lived and refresh silently in the background. As long as you use the connection at least once every 90 days, you stay signed in.

Each teammate connects with their own account. Changes made through MCP are attributed to the person who made them, so the activity feed on your project Home shows who published what, and through which tool.

API keys for CI and headless use

The OAuth flow needs a browser, which makes it wrong for CI pipelines and other headless environments. For those, create an API key instead:

  1. In the dashboard, go to Account, then the Keys tab.
  2. Create a key and give it a name you will recognize later, like "GitHub Actions".
  3. Copy the key when it is shown. For security, the full value is shown once and never again.

API keys start with clayo_sk_ and carry the same access as an OAuth connection. Send one as a Bearer token:

Authorization: Bearer clayo_sk_your_key_here

Each key tracks when it was last used and by what client, so you can spot stale keys and remove them with confidence.

Managing and revoking access

Everything you have connected is visible in Account, under Keys:

  • Connected tools lists every OAuth connection by client name, with its last use. Revoking one signs that tool out everywhere it is installed.
  • API keys lists your keys with their last use. Revoking a key disables it immediately.

Revoking access never touches your content. Articles, sections, and settings stay exactly as they are.

Rate limits

The MCP server applies gentle throttles to keep the service healthy. Normal authoring, even a large migration handled by an agent, stays well inside them. The specifics live in Limits and quotas.

Try it

Once connected, ask your agent something like:

List my Clayo projects and show me what sections exist.

If the agent answers with your project and its sections, the connection works end to end.