MCP server - Kraken Developers

kraken-cli ships a built-in Model Context Protocol server over stdio. It exposes all 151 CLI commands as structured tools that any MCP-compatible AI agent can call — Claude, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Windsurf, and others. The MCP server is part of the CLI binary. Install the CLI first.

Quickstart

kraken mcp

This starts the server with the default safe service set: market (public data), account (read-only), and paper (paper trading). No credentials required for market and paper.

Client setup

Claude Code
Claude Desktop
Cursor
VS Code (Copilot)
Windsurf

Run once to register the server for your user:

claude mcp add --scope user kraken -- kraken mcp -s market,account,paper

For all services including live trading:

claude mcp add --scope user kraken -- kraken mcp -s all

Verify it is registered:

claude mcp list

Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "kraken": {
      "command": "kraken",
      "args": ["mcp", "-s", "market,account,paper"]
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop to pick up the change.

Create or edit ~/.cursor/mcp.json (global) or .cursor/mcp.json in your project:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "kraken": {
      "command": "kraken",
      "args": ["mcp", "-s", "market,account,paper"]
    }
  }
}

Reload the Cursor window after saving.

Create or edit .vscode/mcp.json in your workspace:

{
  "servers": {
    "kraken": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "kraken",
      "args": ["mcp", "-s", "market,account,paper"]
    }
  }
}

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "kraken": {
      "command": "kraken",
      "args": ["mcp", "-s", "market,account,paper"]
    }
  }
}

Restart Windsurf to apply.

Services

Pass -s <services> to control which command groups are exposed. Multiple services are comma-separated.

Service	Auth	Risk level	What it exposes
`market`	No	None	Ticker, orderbook, trades, OHLC, spreads
`account`	Yes	Read-only	Balances, open orders, trade history, positions
`paper`	No	None	Spot paper trading (live prices, no real capital)
`futures-paper`	No	None	Futures paper trading
`trade`	Yes	Dangerous	Place, amend, and cancel live Spot orders
`futures`	Mixed	Dangerous	Futures order entry and market data
`earn`	Yes	Dangerous	Staking allocations and deallocations
`funding`	Yes	Dangerous	Withdrawals and transfers
`subaccount`	Yes	Dangerous	Subaccount creation and transfers
`auth`	No	Read-only	Credential validation
`all`	Mixed	Mixed	All of the above

Default (no -s flag): market, account, paper.

Dangerous tools

Tools marked dangerous (order placement, withdrawals, transfers) require the calling agent to pass acknowledged: true in the tool input unless the server was started with --allow-dangerous. This gives you a confirmation gate at the tool level without relying on the agent’s judgment alone.

# Require per-call acknowledgement for dangerous tools
kraken mcp -s all

# Disable the acknowledgement gate (use in trusted, controlled environments only)
kraken mcp -s all --allow-dangerous

Authentication

Set credentials as environment variables before starting the server:

export KRAKEN_API_KEY="your-key"
export KRAKEN_API_SECRET="your-secret"
kraken mcp -s market,account,trade

Or use the CLI config file (set up once with kraken setup). The server inherits credentials from the CLI’s standard resolution order.

What agents can do

With the default safe service set, an agent can:

Query live prices, orderbooks, and recent trades for any pair
Check account balances and open orders
Place and cancel paper trades against live prices
Stream real-time market data

With trade added, an agent can place, amend, and cancel live orders. With funding, it can initiate withdrawals. Scope services to the minimum your workflow requires.

Safety notes

The MCP server runs locally over stdio and is not exposed as a network service
Use minimum-permission API keys scoped to what the agent actually needs
The default service set (market, account, paper) is read-only for live funds
Treat agent sessions with live trading scope the same as a logged-in user session
Set position size limits and pair allowlists at the API key level on Kraken’s settings page

Agent resources

The CLI ships supplementary resources for agent integration:

Resource	Purpose
`AGENTS.md`	Full integration guide with patterns and constraints
`CONTEXT.md`	Runtime context injected at session start
`agents/tool-catalog.json`	All 151 commands with parameter schemas in machine-readable form
`agents/error-catalog.json`	9 error categories with retry guidance
`skills/`	50 pre-built workflow packages for common trading tasks
`CLAUDE.md`	Claude-specific guidance for the CLI

​Quickstart

​Client setup

​Services

​Dangerous tools

​Authentication

​What agents can do

​Safety notes

​Agent resources