Claude Code¶

Claude Code talks to MANNA over stdio (Claude Code launches the server) or over HTTP (you run the server yourself).

Stdio (recommended for a laptop)¶

claude mcp add manna -- uvx manna-mcp --stdio

Options worth knowing:

--scope user makes the server available in every project; --scope project writes it to .mcp.json in the repo so teammates get it; the default (local) is this project only, for you.
--env MANNA_ARCHIVES=datalab,alma (before the name) narrows the archives that make curated claims; --env MANNA_INLINE_ROW_LIMIT=2000 --env MANNA_INLINE_BYTE_LIMIT=262144 raises the inline caps, which suits Claude’s context window (Configuration).
If Claude Code reports the server failed to start, the first uvx resolve is probably still downloading astropy. Run uvx manna-mcp --stdio once in a terminal (Ctrl-C when it idles), then retry, or raise the startup timeout with MCP_TIMEOUT=60000 claude.

The equivalent .mcp.json entry:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "manna": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["manna-mcp", "--stdio"],
      "env": {"MANNA_INLINE_ROW_LIMIT": "2000", "MANNA_INLINE_BYTE_LIMIT": "262144"}
    }
  }
}

HTTP (a shared server)¶

Start the server (manna, Docker, or a deployment), then:

claude mcp add --transport http manna http://localhost:8000/mcp/

The endpoint answers at both /mcp/ and /mcp.

Verify¶

claude mcp list          # manna: ... - ✓ Connected
claude mcp get manna

Inside a session, /mcp shows connection status and the tool count (15). Tools appear to the model as mcp__manna__<tool>, for example mcp__manna__run_adql_query.

First prompt¶

Which archives do you know about, and what are the coordinates of M87?

Claude should call list_archives and resolve_target_name. Then try a data question:

Using ALMA’s obscore table, how many observations lie within 0.1 degrees of M87? Show the ADQL you ran.

See Your first query for what a good answer looks like and Large results for what happens when a result is too big to return inline.

Remove¶

claude mcp remove manna