Guide · AI

How to use CryptoAPIs with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live blockchain access through the Model Context Protocol. Install our open-source MCP servers in Claude Desktop or Cursor, point at the hosted MCP endpoint, or drop the n8n node into a workflow — and your agent can read balances and transactions, watch addresses and sign locally across 20+ chains.

Get an API key Hosted MCP endpoint →

What is MCP, and why it matters here

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is the open standard for giving AI assistants tools they can call. CryptoAPIs ships MCP servers that expose blockchain operations as tools — so an agent can answer "what's the balance of this address?" or "prepare and broadcast this payment" by actually calling the chain, not guessing.

Under the hood the MCP tools are a thin, open-source client over the same CryptoAPIs REST API — same endpoints, same x-api-key auth. Nothing new to learn on the backend; you're exposing capabilities you already have to an AI client.

Non-custodial, even for agents: the signer runs locally and makes zero network calls — an agent can build and broadcast a transaction while the private key never leaves the machine.

Three ways to connect

Pick the integration that matches where your agent lives.

Local · MCP

Claude Desktop & Cursor

Install the open-source @cryptoapis-io/mcp-* servers (MIT, on npm) and your desktop AI client gets blockchain tools directly.

Hosted · HTTP/SSE

ai.cryptoapis.io/mcp

A hosted endpoint with nothing to install. Point a client at /mcp for the full toolset, or at a single product — /mcp/blockchain-events, /mcp/utils, /mcp/market-data — to scope it to just those tools.

Workflow · n8n

n8n community node

Drop @cryptoapis-io/n8n-nodes-cryptoapis into n8n to use the same operations in automations, including AI-agent workflows.

Connect in three steps

Get a CryptoAPIs API key

Create an account and generate an API key. The MCP tools authenticate with it and consume your normal API credits — no separate setup.

Add the MCP server to your AI client

For Claude Desktop or Cursor, install the open-source servers locally and add them to your client's MCP config with your API key. Prefer nothing to install? Point the client at the hosted endpoint instead.

# Local: install just the servers you need (MIT, on npm) — one package per product
npm install -g @cryptoapis-io/mcp-address-latest @cryptoapis-io/mcp-signer @cryptoapis-io/mcp-broadcast
# …and any others: mcp-hd-wallet, mcp-blockchain-events, mcp-prepare-transactions, mcp-market-data, etc.

# Then register them in your AI client's MCP config, e.g.:
{ "mcpServers": {
  "cryptoapis-address": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@cryptoapis-io/mcp-address-latest"],
    "env": { "CRYPTOAPIS_API_KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY" } },
  "cryptoapis-signer": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@cryptoapis-io/mcp-signer"] }
} }

# Hosted alternative — no install. Full toolset: https://ai.cryptoapis.io/mcp
# Or scope to one product: https://ai.cryptoapis.io/mcp/blockchain-events · /mcp/utils · /mcp/hd-wallet · …

Let the agent use blockchain tools

Your agent can now do real on-chain work in natural language — read balances, transactions and blocks, pull market data, create webhook subscriptions, and prepare → sign locally → broadcast transactions across 20+ chains.

# Example prompts your agent can now actually execute:
# "What's the BTC balance of bc1q...?"
# "Watch 0xabc... and alert me on incoming USDT."
# "Prepare a 0.1 ETH transfer from 0x... — I'll sign it locally."

Open source, so you can trust it

The MCP servers and the n8n node are open source (MIT) — you can read exactly what each tool does and what touches your keys. The signer in particular makes no network calls at all. Explore the full tool set and setup in the developer docs.

Frequently asked questions

How do I give an AI agent access to blockchain data?

Connect CryptoAPIs over MCP — install the open-source @cryptoapis-io MCP servers in Claude Desktop or Cursor, or use the hosted endpoint at ai.cryptoapis.io/mcp — and the agent can read balances, transactions, blocks and market data and manage webhooks across 20+ chains with your API key.

What is the CryptoAPIs MCP server?

A set of open-source (MIT) Model Context Protocol servers, published to npm as @cryptoapis-io/mcp-*, that expose the CryptoAPIs REST API as tools an AI agent can call. There's also a hosted HTTP/SSE endpoint at ai.cryptoapis.io/mcp that aggregates them.

Can an AI agent sign and send transactions?

Yes, non-custodially. The prepare-transactions tool builds an unsigned transaction, the signer signs it locally with zero network calls, and broadcast submits it. The private key never leaves the machine.

Can I use CryptoAPIs in n8n workflows?

Yes. The @cryptoapis-io/n8n-nodes-cryptoapis community node brings the same blockchain operations into n8n automations, including AI-agent workflows.

Can I connect just one product instead of all the tools?

Yes. On the hosted endpoint, ai.cryptoapis.io/mcp exposes the full toolset, while ai.cryptoapis.io/mcp/{product} scopes it to a single product — for example /mcp/blockchain-events, /mcp/utils, /mcp/market-data or /mcp/hd-wallet. Locally, just install the matching per-product package (e.g. @cryptoapis-io/mcp-blockchain-events).

Give your AI agent blockchain access

Open-source MCP servers, a hosted endpoint and an n8n node — live data and non-custodial signing across 20+ chains.

Get an API key Read the docs