Getting Started

Connect your AI assistant to ACCESS-CI services and start exploring cyberinfrastructure resources. These servers use the Model Context Protocol (MCP), an open standard supported by Claude and other AI tools.

What You Get

Once connected, you can ask your AI questions like:

"What GPU resources are available on ACCESS-CI?"
"Are there any current outages or upcoming maintenance on Delta?"
"Show me upcoming workshops on parallel computing"
"What machine learning software is available on Anvil?"
"What NSF-funded projects are doing work in quantum computing?"

Your AI queries the relevant ACCESS services and gives you a synthesized answer — no need to navigate multiple websites or APIs.

Logging In

Most tools work without logging in. Browsing, searching, and reading data are all available anonymously. You only need to authenticate if you want to create or manage content — for example, drafting an announcement or viewing your own draft events.

Server	Anonymous use	Requires login
Compute Resources	All tools	—
System Status	All tools	—
Software Discovery	All tools	—
XDMoD	All tools	—
Allocations	All tools	—
NSF Awards	All tools	—
Events	All tools	—
Announcements	`search_announcements`, `suggest_tags`, `suggest_summary`, `get_announcement_context`	`create_announcement`, `update_announcement`, `delete_announcement`, `get_my_announcements`
Affinity Groups	All tools	—

How to log in

When you connect a server that supports authentication (currently Announcements), Claude will prompt you to authorize via CILogon — the same single sign-on system used by other ACCESS services.

After adding the connector, Claude will show a CILogon authorization page in your browser
Choose your home institution from the list and sign in with your institutional credentials
Approve the authorization
Return to Claude — the connector is now authenticated

You can skip this step if you only need read-only access. The server will still work for anonymous tools; you just won't be able to use the management tools.

Logging out / revoking access

To revoke access for a connector, remove it in Customize > Connectors in Claude. The next time you add it, you'll be prompted to log in again.

Available Servers

All servers are hosted at https://mcp.access-ci.org. You can add as many or as few as you need — start with one and add more later.

Server	URL	Description
Compute Resources	`https://mcp.access-ci.org/compute-resources/sse`	Hardware specs, GPU availability, system capabilities
System Status	`https://mcp.access-ci.org/system-status/sse`	Current outages, maintenance schedules, incidents
Software Discovery	`https://mcp.access-ci.org/software-discovery/sse`	Software packages available across ACCESS resources
XDMoD	`https://mcp.access-ci.org/xdmod/sse`	Usage statistics, visualizations, resource utilization
Allocations	`https://mcp.access-ci.org/allocations/sse`	Research projects and allocation trends
NSF Awards	`https://mcp.access-ci.org/nsf-awards/sse`	NSF funding data and cross-referencing
Events	`https://mcp.access-ci.org/events/sse`	Workshops, webinars, training sessions
Announcements	`https://mcp.access-ci.org/announcements/sse`	Community news and updates
Affinity Groups	`https://mcp.access-ci.org/affinity-groups/sse`	Community groups, events, and knowledge base

For XDMoD Data Analytics, see the separate setup section below — it requires a personal API token and works only via Claude Code, not as a Claude.ai connector.

Quick Start

Claude Desktop or claude.ai

Add ACCESS servers as connectors. Setup takes about a minute per server.

In Claude, open Customize (palette/settings icon) > Connectors
Click "Add custom connector"
Paste https://mcp.access-ci.org/compute-resources/sse into the Server URL box
Save and authorize when prompted
Repeat for any other servers from the table above

TIP

You don't need to add all servers at once. Start with one or two that match your needs, then add more later.

Try it: Open a chat and ask "What GPU resources are available on ACCESS-CI?"

Claude Code (CLI)

Requires Node.js 20+. Add all servers with:

bash

claude mcp add access-compute-resources -s user -- npx mcp-remote https://mcp.access-ci.org/compute-resources/sse
claude mcp add access-system-status -s user -- npx mcp-remote https://mcp.access-ci.org/system-status/sse
claude mcp add access-software-discovery -s user -- npx mcp-remote https://mcp.access-ci.org/software-discovery/sse
claude mcp add access-xdmod -s user -- npx mcp-remote https://mcp.access-ci.org/xdmod/sse
claude mcp add access-allocations -s user -- npx mcp-remote https://mcp.access-ci.org/allocations/sse
claude mcp add access-nsf-awards -s user -- npx mcp-remote https://mcp.access-ci.org/nsf-awards/sse
claude mcp add access-events -s user -- npx mcp-remote https://mcp.access-ci.org/events/sse
claude mcp add access-announcements -s user -- npx mcp-remote https://mcp.access-ci.org/announcements/sse
claude mcp add access-affinity-groups -s user -- npx mcp-remote https://mcp.access-ci.org/affinity-groups/sse

Restart Claude Code after adding.

Other MCP Clients

The Model Context Protocol is supported by a growing number of AI tools beyond Claude. The ACCESS MCP servers should work with any client that supports remote MCP servers over SSE or Streamable HTTP transport.

The connection URL pattern is the same for all clients:

https://mcp.access-ci.org/<server-name>/sse

Setup instructions vary by client — refer to each tool's documentation for adding custom MCP servers. Some clients only support local (stdio) MCP servers; for those, you can use npx mcp-remote <url> as a stdio-to-SSE bridge (the same approach used by Claude Code above).

We've focused our testing on Claude. If you successfully connect another client — or run into trouble — we'd love to hear about it. Open a support ticket so we can improve the docs or address compatibility gaps.

Try These Queries

Once connected, ask your AI questions like:

Resources & hardware:

"What GPU resources are available on ACCESS-CI?"
"Show me the hardware specs for Delta"
"Which systems support NVIDIA A100 GPUs?"

System status:

"Are there any current outages?"
"What maintenance is scheduled this week?"

Software:

"Is TensorFlow available on Anvil?"
"What Python ML libraries are installed on DeltaAI?"

Events & training:

"Show me upcoming workshops on parallel computing"
"What training events are happening this month?"

Allocations & research:

"What research projects use GPU resources?"
"Find allocations related to climate modeling"

NSF funding:

"What NSF-funded projects are doing work in quantum computing?"
"Show NSF awards for the University of Michigan"

Optional: XDMoD Data Analytics

The XDMoD Data server provides deep analytics across jobs, allocations, cloud usage, resource specifications, and more using the XDMoD data analytics framework. It requires a personal API token.

Compatibility note

The XDMoD Data server only works with Claude Code or other clients that can pass HTTP headers (via the mcp-remote --header flag or stdio). It is not compatible with Claude.ai connectors, because the SSE transport used by connectors cannot pass per-request authentication headers.

Get your API token:

Sign in to xdmod.access-ci.org with your ACCESS credentials
Click My Profile in the top-right corner
Click the API Token tab
Generate and copy your token

Add to Claude Code:

bash

claude mcp add access-xdmod-data -s user -- npx mcp-remote https://mcp.access-ci.org/xdmod-data/sse --header "X-XDMoD-Token:your-token-here"

Add to other clients with header support — example config:

json

"access-xdmod-data": {
  "command": "npx",
  "args": ["mcp-remote", "https://mcp.access-ci.org/xdmod-data/sse", "--header", "X-XDMoD-Token:your-token-here"]
}

Troubleshooting

"Server disconnected" Error

Verify the hosted servers are accessible: curl https://mcp.access-ci.org/compute-resources/health
Check your internet connection
Restart Claude Desktop (fully quit with Cmd+Q, then reopen)

npm/npx Not Found (for Claude Code)

Install Node.js LTS which includes npm and npx.

macOS (Homebrew):

bash

brew install node

Windows:

powershell

winget install OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS

Tool Schemas Look Outdated

MCP clients cache tool definitions when they connect. After a server update, you may need to reconnect:

Claude Desktop: Fully quit (Cmd+Q on macOS) and reopen
Claude Code: Restart the CLI

Connectors Not Showing Up

Verify the URL is exactly right (including the /sse suffix)
Check that the connector was authorized after adding
Restart Claude completely

Next Steps

Browse all servers and tools
View on GitHub
Self-hosting guide (Docker deployment for organizations)

For Developers

Want to contribute or extend the MCP servers? Set up a local development environment.

Clone and Build

bash

git clone https://github.com/necyberteam/access-mcp.git
cd access-mcp
npm install        # Install all workspace dependencies
npm run build      # Build all packages

Note: The xdmod-mcp-data package requires Python 3.11+. See its README for setup instructions.

Run Tests

bash

npm test                  # Unit tests
npm run test:integration  # Integration tests (requires API access)
npm run test:all          # All tests

Test Local Changes

Run a server locally and connect Claude Desktop to it:

bash

# Start a server in HTTP mode
PORT=3002 node packages/compute-resources/dist/index.js

Then configure Claude Desktop to use your local server:

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "access-compute-resources-dev": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["mcp-remote", "http://localhost:3002/sse"]
    }
  }
}

Self-Hosting (Docker)

Organizations can run their own instance of the MCP servers using Docker.

Using Pre-built Images

Images are published to GitHub Container Registry on every push to main.

Create deployment directory:
bash
```
mkdir ~/access-mcp && cd ~/access-mcp
```
1

Download compose file:

bash

curl -o docker-compose.yml https://raw.githubusercontent.com/necyberteam/access-mcp/main/docker-compose.prod.yml

Create environment file:

bash

cat > .env << 'EOF'
GITHUB_REPOSITORY=necyberteam/access-mcp
SDS_API_KEY=your-sds-api-key-here
XDMOD_API_TOKEN=your-xdmod-api-token-here
ACCESS_MCP_SERVICES=nsf-awards=http://mcp-nsf-awards:3000
EOF

Start services:

bash

docker login ghcr.io -u YOUR_GITHUB_USERNAME
docker compose pull
docker compose up -d

Connect to Your Deployment

Update the Claude Desktop config to point to your server:

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "access-compute-resources": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["mcp-remote", "http://YOUR_SERVER_IP:3002/sse"]
    }
  }
}

Replace YOUR_SERVER_IP with your server's hostname or IP. Each MCP server runs on its own port (3002–3012); see docker-compose.prod.yml for the full mapping.

Environment Variables

Variable	Required	Description
`GITHUB_REPOSITORY`	Yes	Repository path for image pulls
`SDS_API_KEY`	For software-discovery	Software Discovery Service API key
`XDMOD_API_TOKEN`	For xdmod-data	XDMoD API token (see XDMoD Data server docs for setup and per-user token plans)
`ACCESS_MCP_SERVICES`	For NSF integration	Inter-service communication endpoints

Automated Deployment

The repository includes GitHub Actions for CI/CD. Configure these secrets for automated deployment:

PRODUCTION_HOST - Server hostname or IP
PRODUCTION_SSH_KEY - SSH private key for deployment

See .github/workflows/deploy-production.yml for details.

Getting Started ​

What You Get ​

Logging In ​

Which servers require login? ​

How to log in ​

Logging out / revoking access ​

Available Servers ​

Quick Start ​

Claude Desktop or claude.ai ​

Claude Code (CLI) ​

Other MCP Clients ​

Try These Queries ​

Optional: XDMoD Data Analytics ​

Troubleshooting ​

"Server disconnected" Error ​

npm/npx Not Found (for Claude Code) ​

Tool Schemas Look Outdated ​

Connectors Not Showing Up ​

Next Steps ​

For Developers ​

Clone and Build ​

Run Tests ​

Test Local Changes ​

Self-Hosting (Docker) ​

Using Pre-built Images ​

Connect to Your Deployment ​

Environment Variables ​

Automated Deployment ​

Getting Started

What You Get

Logging In

Which servers require login?

How to log in

Logging out / revoking access

Available Servers

Quick Start

Claude Desktop or claude.ai

Claude Code (CLI)

Other MCP Clients

Try These Queries

Optional: XDMoD Data Analytics

Troubleshooting

"Server disconnected" Error

npm/npx Not Found (for Claude Code)

Tool Schemas Look Outdated

Connectors Not Showing Up

Next Steps

For Developers

Clone and Build

Run Tests

Test Local Changes

Self-Hosting (Docker)

Using Pre-built Images

Connect to Your Deployment

Environment Variables

Automated Deployment