Connect FINOS MCP to your AI assistant¶

These instructions install the independently maintained read-only FINOS MCP servers for AIGF, CDM 7.8.0 and FDC3 from the published Python packages. No FINOS-specific account, API key, paid model API or database is needed to run the servers.

Choose one server to begin with; running all three at the same time can use more memory.

Prerequisites¶

Install uv so the uvx command is available to your MCP client. In a terminal, check uvx --version.
Have Python 3.12 available, or let uv install and manage it. Verify with uv python install 3.12 and uv python find 3.12.
Install or open an MCP client that supports local stdio servers. The first uvx invocation downloads packages from PyPI; the installed standards data are vendored, so the servers themselves require no network access at runtime.

All examples intentionally pin the published v0.3.2 packages so setup is repeatable. For future releases, update the version pins only after the new packages are publicly available on PyPI and verified.

Claude Desktop¶

Copy the complete Claude Desktop JSON example into your own claude_desktop_config.json, merging its mcpServers entries with any servers you already have. Do not replace an existing config blindly.

Windows: %APPDATA%\\Claude\\claude_desktop_config.json
macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json if your installation supports local MCP configuration (or $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json).

The example enables three separate stdio servers. To conserve memory, remove the servers you do not need; one finos-aigf entry is enough to start. Save the JSON and restart Claude Desktop. Confirm the local server appears in the available tools/connectors, then use the verification prompt below.

Claude Desktop also supports desktop extensions; these JSON instructions are for manually configured local stdio servers, not remote claude.ai connectors.

Claude Code¶

In a shell with the claude command installed, run whichever lines you need:

claude mcp add --scope user finos-aigf -- uvx --python 3.12 finos-mcp-aigf==0.3.2
claude mcp add --scope user finos-cdm -- uvx --python 3.12 finos-mcp-cdm==0.3.2
claude mcp add --scope user finos-fdc3 -- uvx --python 3.12 finos-mcp-fdc3==0.3.2

--scope user makes each available in all your Claude Code projects. To share a configuration only with one trusted project, instead copy the Claude Desktop JSON example as .mcp.json in that project's root (Claude Code uses the same mcpServers shape), and approve the project's server configuration when prompted.

Run claude mcp list in the shell and use /mcp inside Claude Code to check connection status.

Official reference: Claude Code MCP guide.

VS Code¶

For the VS Code local MCP configuration format, copy the complete VS Code JSON example into a trusted workspace's .vscode/mcp.json, or add its entries to your user-level MCP configuration. Unlike Claude Desktop, VS Code requires the top-level servers key and type: "stdio" for command-based servers.

Use the Command Palette's MCP: List Servers action to start a server and inspect its output. Review workspace trust and permissions before enabling any third-party MCP server.

Official reference: VS Code MCP configuration.

GitHub Copilot portable MCP configuration¶

If you use the Copilot harness or GitHub Copilot CLI, copy the portable Copilot JSON example into the workspace-root .mcp.json or your Copilot user config (~/.copilot/mcp-config.json, unless COPILOT_HOME is set). Portable files use mcpServers, not VS Code's servers format. Review the MCP server trust settings before enabling it.

The portable .mcp.json file can be shared with your own team if the repository is trusted. It is not the same format as .vscode/mcp.json.

Official reference: VS Code / Copilot MCP format comparison.

Verify a real tool call¶

After connecting AIGF, ask your client:

Use the finos-aigf MCP server's get_control tool to retrieve mi-20. Return its control id and the aigf:// citation. Do not answer from memory.

You should see an actual get_control tool call with a result identifying AIR-PREV-020. Confirm the response came from the MCP tool rather than the assistant's own knowledge.

For the CDM server, ask the assistant to call describe_type with name=TradeState, which returns TradeState and a citable cdm:// schema URI.

For FDC3, ask your assistant:

Call suggest_intent with context {"type":"fdc3.instrument","id":{"ticker":"AAPL"}} and goal "show a price chart". Show the top proposed standard intent.

The verified top suggestion is ViewChart. Inspect the actual MCP tool call rather than treating an answer from memory as proof. All three published v0.3.2 uvx/stdio launch paths are checked by clean-PyPI protocol tests on Python 3.12; direct installed commands are also checked on Python 3.14. You can also try the demo walkthrough.

Troubleshooting¶

Symptom	What to check
`uvx` not found	Run `uvx --version` in a normal terminal. Restart the desktop client after installing uv, or use the full absolute path to uvx in the `command` field (especially for GUI apps on macOS/Windows).
Python 3.12 not available	Run `uv python install 3.12`, then retry. The first setup needs network access to download Python and packages.
A server will not start	Test `uvx --python 3.12 'finos-mcp-aigf==0.3.2' --help` in a terminal; for the other servers, replace the package name. `--help` should exit without starting a persistent MCP session.
The server starts but no tool appears	Verify the client supports stdio, that the correct JSON wrapper was used, restart/reload the server, and inspect the client MCP server logs.
The configuration is rejected	Check JSON syntax and ensure you merged, not duplicated, the top-level `mcpServers` or `servers` key.
Startup is slow or uses too much RAM	Start only one of the three servers. CDM contains large, vendored standard definitions.
No call appears in the client	Explicitly request `get_control`, `describe_type` or `list_intents` and inspect the tool-call record. A plausible natural-language answer alone isn't proof.

All FINOS MCP tools are read-only, but always review and trust the client configuration before allowing it to launch local commands. The independent packages are not affiliated with or endorsed by FINOS.