Use BOW from Claude or another MCP client

Connect Claude, Cursor, or any other MCP client to Bag of Words and ask about your data from inside your assistant. BOW runs the queries as you, under your normal permissions, and saves each conversation as a report.

A report created from Claude Code over MCP

This guide covers setup. For the full list of tools, controls, and OAuth endpoints, see MCP.

Before you start

The BOW MCP server is on. An admin can check this in Settings → Channels → BOW MCP Server. It is on by default.
You can query at least one agent. Your assistant sees only the agents and data you can see in BOW.
You have an MCP client. This guide uses Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, and Claude on the web as examples.

The BOW MCP Server switch in Settings → Channels

Step 1: Open the MCP Server settings

Click your name at the bottom left and choose Account Settings, then open the MCP Server tab. The tab shows your organization’s MCP server URL and a Configuration snippet. The snippet stays a template until you generate a token.

Admins have a shortcut: click your name at the bottom left and choose MCP Server.

Step 2: Generate a token

Click Generate Token. BOW fills in the Configuration snippet with your token and shows the token under Access Token. Click Copy next to Configuration now. BOW shows the full token only once. After you close the window, the token shows only as dots and Copy no longer works.

A generated token and the Configuration snippet (token hidden in this screenshot)

The snippet looks like this:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "bagofwords": {
      "url": "https://<YOUR_BOW_DOMAIN>/api/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer <YOUR_TOKEN>"
      }
    }
  }
}

The token acts as you. Anyone who has it can query every data source you can. Don’t commit it to a repository or paste it into a shared chat.

Step 3: Add BOW to your client

Use the URL and token from the snippet.

Claude Code

Run this in a terminal:

claude mcp add --transport http --scope user bagofwords https://<YOUR_BOW_DOMAIN>/api/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_TOKEN>"

--scope user makes BOW available in all your projects. Leave it out to add BOW to the current project only. Check the connection:

claude mcp list

The output should include this line:

bagofwords: https://<YOUR_BOW_DOMAIN>/api/mcp (HTTP) - √ Connected

Then start claude and ask a question. The first time Claude calls a BOW tool, it asks for permission. In non-interactive mode (claude -p), allow the BOW tools up front:

claude -p "Using Bag of Words, what data do I have access to?" --allowedTools "mcp__bagofwords"

Cursor

Paste the Configuration snippet into ~/.cursor/mcp.json, or into .cursor/mcp.json in a project. If the file already has an mcpServers object, add only the bagofwords entry to it.

Claude Desktop

Claude Desktop keeps its config file here:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

How you add a remote server like BOW depends on your Claude Desktop version. Some versions read a URL entry from this file, and others connect remote servers through Settings → Connectors. Follow Claude’s documentation for your version. If it uses the config file, paste the snippet from BOW exactly as shown. If it uses connectors, ask your admin to register an OAuth app (next section).

Claude on the web and other hosted clients

Hosted clients sign you in with OAuth instead of a token. An admin registers the client once:

Open Settings → Channels → OAuth Apps and click Register app.
Enter an App name your users will recognize, such as “Claude”.
Under Access surfaces, select MCP tools. Clear BOW app unless the client also calls the BOW API.
Under Redirect URIs, enter the client’s callback URL. For Claude on the web, use https://claude.ai/api/mcp/auth_callback.
Click Register app, then copy the Client ID and the client secret. The secret is shown only once.

Register an OAuth app for Claude with the MCP tools access surface

Each user then adds a custom connector in Claude:

Go to Settings → Connectors and add a custom connector.
Enter https://<YOUR_BOW_DOMAIN>/api/mcp as the URL.
Under Advanced settings, enter the Client ID and client secret.
Click Connect. Sign in to BOW if asked, then click Approve on the Authorize access screen.

The BOW Authorize access screen, requesting MCP tools

BOW doesn’t support dynamic client registration. If a client can’t accept a Client ID and secret, connect it with a personal token instead.

Step 4: Ask your first question

In your client, mention Bag of Words so the assistant uses its tools:

Using Bag of Words, what data do I have access to?

The assistant starts a report and lists your agents and their tables. Then ask for a chart:

Using Bag of Words, start a report titled “Top customers” on the Music Store data and show the top 10 customers by total spend as a bar chart.

The assistant answers with the numbers in your client. In BOW, the same query and chart are saved to a report.

Step 5: Find the report in BOW

Open Reports. Reports created over MCP have the MCP icon next to their title. Hover it to see Created via MCP.

A report created via MCP in the Reports list

Open the report to see each tool call the assistant made and the charts it created. From there, click Add to Dashboard, share the report, or keep asking questions in BOW. BOW records the tool calls only. Your assistant’s own messages stay in your client.

More prompts to try

Goal	Prompt
Explore	Using Bag of Words, list the tables in the Music Store agent and show me a few sample rows from Invoice.
Trend	Using Bag of Words, chart monthly revenue for the Music Store over the last 12 months in the data.
Break down	Using Bag of Words, show revenue by genre as a bar chart, sorted from highest to lowest.
Build a dashboard	Using Bag of Words, build a dashboard from the charts in my “Top customers” report.
Check the rules	Using Bag of Words, list the instructions that apply to the Music Store agent.

Tips

Name the source. Start prompts with “Using Bag of Words” so the assistant calls BOW instead of guessing.
Give the report a title. Ask for one in your first prompt so you can find the report in BOW later.
One token per client. Regenerate Token creates an extra token and keeps the old ones. Under Manage tokens, hover a token and click the trash icon to delete one you no longer use.
Say “the latest month in the data”. If your data isn’t up to date, “last month” can return nothing.

Troubleshooting

What you see	What to do
`401` / `Not authenticated`, or Claude Code shows `× Failed to connect — Server rejected the configured Authorization header (HTTP 401)`	The token is missing, mistyped, or deleted. Generate a new token, then update the `Authorization` header in your client. Check that the header reads `Bearer` and then the token.
`403` / `MCP integration is not enabled for this organization`	The BOW MCP server is off. Ask an admin to turn on Settings → Channels → BOW MCP Server.
A tool is missing, such as `create_instruction`, `delete_instruction`, or `send_email`	BOW lists only the tools you can use. Instruction tools need permission to manage instructions. `send_email` appears only when your organization has outbound email set up.
The assistant can’t see an agent you use in BOW	The agent may be turned off for the MCP channel, or you may not have access to it. Ask the agent’s owner.
The assistant answers without calling BOW	Start the prompt with “Using Bag of Words”. In Claude Code, allow the BOW tools when asked.

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Use BOW from Claude or another MCP client

Before you start

Step 1: Open the MCP Server settings

Step 2: Generate a token

Step 3: Add BOW to your client

Claude Code

Cursor

Claude Desktop

Claude on the web and other hosted clients

Step 4: Ask your first question

Step 5: Find the report in BOW

More prompts to try

Tips

Troubleshooting

​Before you start

​Step 1: Open the MCP Server settings

​Step 2: Generate a token

​Step 3: Add BOW to your client

​Claude Code

​Cursor

​Claude Desktop

​Claude on the web and other hosted clients

​Step 4: Ask your first question

​Step 5: Find the report in BOW

​More prompts to try

​Tips

​Troubleshooting

​Related

Before you start

Step 1: Open the MCP Server settings

Step 2: Generate a token

Step 3: Add BOW to your client

Claude Code

Cursor

Claude Desktop

Claude on the web and other hosted clients

Step 4: Ask your first question

Step 5: Find the report in BOW

More prompts to try

Tips

Troubleshooting

Related