Frequently Asked Questions

• MCP Server — exposes capabilities (tools, resources, prompts) over a defined protocol.
• MCP Client — the AI host application (e.g. Claude Desktop, an IDE plugin) that connects to servers.
• Transport — communication can happen over stdio (local process), HTTP with SSE, or WebSocket.

The AI discovers what tools a server offers, then calls them by name with structured arguments — much like a function call — and receives structured results it can reason over.

• Tools — callable functions (e.g. search the web, run a SQL query, send an email).
• Resources — readable data sources the AI can access (e.g. files, database rows, API responses).
• Prompts — reusable prompt templates the AI or user can invoke.

• MCP servers run with the permissions you grant them — a file-system server only accesses paths you configure.
• Always review what a server claims to do before connecting your AI agent to it.
• Prefer servers from known, reputable providers or open-source projects you can audit.
• The MCP spec includes an authorization framework (OAuth 2.1) for servers that need user-delegated access.

On mAIndala, community ratings and reviews help surface trustworthy servers. Look for high-rated, well-reviewed listings before connecting.

# Install via npm
npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem /path/to/dir

# Or add to Claude Desktop config (~/.claude/claude_desktop_config.json)
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "/Users/you/projects"]
    }
  }
}

After restarting Claude Desktop the new tools will appear automatically in the conversation.

• stdio — the server is a local subprocess; the client communicates over stdin/stdout. Best for local tools.
• HTTP + SSE — the server runs as an HTTP service using Server-Sent Events for streaming. Best for remote or shared servers.
• Streamable HTTP — a newer, stateless variant that works over plain HTTP POST/GET without a persistent SSE connection.

# TypeScript
npm install @modelcontextprotocol/sdk

# Python
pip install mcp

Define your tools with a name, description, and JSON schema for their inputs. The SDK handles the protocol framing. Official quickstart guides are on modelcontextprotocol.io. Once your server is live, you can submit it to mAIndala so the community can discover it.

• Skills are authored by community members and published to the Skills catalog.
• Each Skill has a category, tags, and a short description so you can find the right one quickly.
• Prompts inside a Skill are gated — you must install a Skill before you can view or use its prompts.
• Authors can publish Skills as draft (private), active (public), or deprecated.

1. Browse or search the Skills catalog to find a Skill that fits your task.
2. Open the Skill detail page and click Install. This creates an install record tied to your account.
3. Once installed, the full prompt set is revealed — copy the prompts into Claude, your AI IDE, or any agent harness.
4. You can also access installed Skills programmatically via the mAIndala MCP Gateway's install_skill and get_skill tools.

After using a Skill you can leave a star rating to help the community discover the best ones.

Yes — the maindala CLI lets you install Skills and Agents directly into Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Windsurf, OpenClaw, or any plain markdown file, all from your terminal.

1. Get a personal API key

Go to your Profile and generate a personal API key (mk_...). Then save it:

npx maindala login mk_your_api_key_here

2. Install a Skill

# Auto-detects your tool from project files (CLAUDE.md, .cursor/, etc.)
npx maindala install linkedin-connection-request

# Or specify a format explicitly
npx maindala install linkedin-connection-request --format cursor

3. Install an Agent

npx maindala install agent/stock-analyst-pro --format claude

Supported formats

• claude — appends to CLAUDE.md (Claude Code)
• cursor — writes .cursor/rules/<slug>.mdc
• copilot — appends to .github/copilot-instructions.md
• windsurf — appends to .windsurfrules
• openclaw — writes .openclaw/skills/<slug>.md
• raw — writes <slug>.md in the current directory

Re-running the same install updates the existing block in-place (idempotent). The CLI is published as maindala on npm — no global install needed with npx.

1. Go to Create a Skill and fill in the name, category, and description.
2. Add one or more prompts — give each a label (e.g. "System prompt", "Step 1: Research") and the prompt text.
3. Save as draft to keep it private, or publish as active to make it discoverable by everyone.
4. Edit or deprecate your Skill at any time from its detail page.

• Each Agent has nodes (Skills assigned a role in the workflow) and routes (edges between nodes with conditions like always, on_success, or on_failure).
• One node is marked as the entry point — where execution begins.
• Agents are deployed, not installed — deploying exports a full JSON bundle with all prompts and a framework hint section for Claude, CrewAI, or LangGraph.

There are several ways to deploy an Agent depending on which AI platform you use.

Option 1 — mAIndala website (works with any platform)

1. Find an Agent in the Agents catalog and open its detail page.
2. Click Deploy. This downloads a JSON bundle containing the full Agent definition, all Skill prompts, and frameworkHints for Claude, CrewAI, and LangGraph.
3. Follow the framework hint for your platform to wire up the Agent in your harness.

Option 2 — Claude Code

Add the mAIndala MCP server to your project's .claude/settings.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "maindala": {
      "type": "streamableHttp",
      "url": "https://mcp.maindala.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Then ask Claude: "Use the mAIndala MCP server to deploy the Stock Analyst Agent and set it up for LangGraph." Claude will call the Deploy Agent tool and return the full bundle.

Option 3 — Claude Desktop

Add the following to your Claude Desktop config at ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows), then restart Claude Desktop:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "maindala": {
      "type": "streamableHttp",
      "url": "https://mcp.maindala.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Once connected, you can say: "Search mAIndala for stock analysis agents and deploy the best one."

Option 4 — ChatGPT, Gemini, or Grok

These platforms don't yet support remote MCP servers directly from their chat UI. Instead, download the Agent bundle from mAIndala and paste the prompts manually:

• ChatGPT — deploy the Agent from the mAIndala website to get the bundle, then create a Custom GPT using the system prompt from the first Skill node. For API users, the openai-tool format gives you a ready-to-use tool schema.
• Gemini — copy the Agent's node prompts into a Gem (Gemini's custom AI) or paste them as context at the start of your conversation. Vertex AI users can integrate via the gemini format bundle.
• Grok — paste the Agent's prompts into a custom instruction or system message. The raw format bundle gives you clean, platform-agnostic prompt text.

Platform-specific bundles are available via the mAIndala API: GET /agents/[slug]/package?format=openai-tool (or gemini, grok, claude, crewai, langgraph).

• Skill — a single capability. One task, one prompt set. Used directly by a human or an agent to accomplish a specific thing.
• Agent — a workflow. Multiple Skills stitched together with routing logic to achieve a broader goal automatically.

A Skill is a building block; an Agent is the finished assembly. You can think of Skills as functions and Agents as programs.

A well-designed Agent might use an MCP server for data retrieval at one node and a Skill's prompt to interpret and format the results at the next. Together they form a complete agentic system: MCP handles the "hands", Skills and Agents handle the "brain".

• Public groups are discoverable in the Groups directory and open to anyone who wants to join.
• Private groups are invite-only — members join via an email invite link sent by an admin.
• Groups are useful for enterprises curating a vetted tool list, developer communities around a theme, or teams that want a focused, noise-free catalog.

To create: Any signed-in user can go to Create a Group, choose a name and slug, set visibility (public or private), and add a description. You become the group admin automatically.

To join a public group: Browse the Groups directory, find a group, and click Join. No approval required for public groups.

To join a private group: An admin must invite you by email. Click the link in the invitation email to accept and become a member.

• The Browse page filters to show only that group's curated service list instead of the full public catalog.
• Searches and category filters operate within the curated list.
• Group API keys grant access to the group's curated Skills and Agents — no individual install or deploy record required for curated items.
• Group admins manage services, skills, agents, members, and API keys from the group admin panel.
• You can switch back to the full catalog at any time by clearing your active group from the Groups menu.

You can be a member of multiple groups and switch between them freely.

• Filtered MCP catalog — all MCP Gateway tool calls (list_services, search_services, etc.) automatically filter to the group's curated service list.
• Skill downloads — GET /skills/[slug]/package succeeds for any Skill the group admin has curated, without needing an individual install record.
• Agent packages — GET /agents/[slug]/package succeeds for any Agent the group admin has curated, without needing an individual deploy record.

Group admins generate and revoke API keys from the API Keys tab on the group admin page (/groups/[slug]/admin). Each key shows its prefix and last-used timestamp. Use Group API keys when building agents that should only ever see your team's approved tools, skills, and agents.

Group admins can hand-pick which Skills and Agents are available to their members from the group admin page (/groups/[slug]/admin):

• Open the Skills tab, search the Skills catalog by name, and click Addnext to any Skill you want to curate.
• Open the Agents tab and do the same for Agents.
• Curated items appear in the list below the search — click the trash icon to remove any entry.

Once a Skill or Agent is curated, any member holding a Group API key can download its package via the CLI or API without needing to individually install or deploy it first:

# Install a group-curated Skill
MAINDALA_API_KEY=mg_... npx maindala install financial-analysis

# Install a group-curated Agent
MAINDALA_API_KEY=mg_... npx maindala install agent/stock-analyst-pro

This is designed for teams that want to standardise on a set of approved AI capabilities and distribute them to members without requiring each person to manage their own installs.

• Browse the mAIndala catalog — 2,250+ community-rated MCP servers.
• modelcontextprotocol.io — official specification, SDKs, and documentation.
• github.com/modelcontextprotocol/servers — Anthropic's reference server implementations.
• awesome-mcp-servers — curated community list on GitHub.