How to connect Claude to real-world data with MCP
Step-by-step: connect an MCP client such as Claude to Proxygate, search a catalog of real-world data APIs, check a price, and make a paid call in USDC, all inside the conversation.
What you end up with
By the end of this, Claude (or any MCP-compatible client) can search a live catalog of real-world data APIs, see the price before spending, and make a paid call from a single prepaid USDC balance, returning the response, the exact amount charged, and a signed receipt. No per-provider signups, no API keys to collect.
This is a working setup, not a concept. Proxygate is two months live and this flow runs in production today.
1. Fund a balance
Connect a wallet at app.proxygate.ai and deposit USDC into a prepaid balance. In gasless mode the platform covers Solana transaction fees and rent, so only USDC is needed, never SOL. This is the only step a human has to do; everything after this is the agent acting on its own.
2. Add the Proxygate MCP server
Add Proxygate as an MCP server in Claude (or another MCP client) over Streamable HTTP, using a scoped API key tied to the balance, not a wallet key. The agent authenticates to the marketplace only; it never holds a Solana private key or an upstream provider credential.
3. Let the agent discover, price, and call
Once connected, the agent has a small set of tools: browse_apis to search the catalog semantically, describe_endpoint to inspect parameters before spending, get_pricing and check_balance to see cost and funds, call_api to make the paid request, get_usage to review history, and rate_seller to rate a provider after use.
A typical turn: the agent calls browse_apis with a plain-language need such as weather for a postal code, picks a listing, calls describe_endpoint if the shape is unclear, then calls call_api. The response includes the upstream body, the exact amount charged in micro-USDC, a signed receipt, and a request id, so the whole exchange is auditable after the fact.
What this is not, yet
The catalog is real but young, filled in provider by provider (crypto, prediction markets, news, and others live today; more categories in progress). It is more useful for some questions than others right now, and that is worth knowing before pointing a production workflow at it.
Related concepts
More guides
Frequently asked questions
No. A human funds the balance once with a connected wallet in the browser. The agent authenticates with a scoped API key tied to that balance, not a wallet keypair, so there is no private key anywhere near the agent.
The upstream response body, the exact amount charged in micro-USDC, a signed receipt, and a request id. The receipt and request id are what make an agent’s spending auditable after the fact.
Any MCP-compatible client can connect the same way. Proxygate is also reachable via a TypeScript SDK, a CLI, and plain REST, so the same balance and receipts work outside an MCP client too.