Claude MCP Server Integration

Overview

Use the Stack Internal Community Model Context Protocol (MCP) server to search trusted questions and articles from Claude, read full content, and use the actions your site permits. This guide covers Claude’s remote connectors on the web, desktop, and Cowork, as well as Claude Code command line interface (CLI).

Your Stack Internal Community server URL has the form https://[your_site].stackenterprise.co/mcp. Replace [your_site] with your site’s subdomain.

Before you begin

Make sure you have the following:

• A Stack Internal Community account with access to the content you want to use. The server follows your account permissions.
• The Stack Internal Community MCP server is on by default. If your site has turned it off, ask a site admin to enable it. See Configure the MCP server for more info.
• You have a current Claude Code installation configured with an authorized Claude account or API provider, or a Claude account with remote connector access. For Claude Code, see Install Claude Code. For web, Desktop, and Cowork, see Claude’s custom connector guide.

There are two methods to connect Claude to the Stack Internal Community MCP server, depending on whether you're using 1) web, Desktop, or Cowork, or 2) the CLI. Both methods configure the same connection on your computer.

Method 1: connect Claude on the web, desktop app, or Cowork

Use a remote custom connector to connect Claude on the web, desktop app, or Cowork to your Stack Internal Community site. All three methods use the same MCP URL.

Before you start, make sure your site is reachable from Anthropic’s cloud. If your site has network restrictions such as an IP AllowList, review Anthropic’s outbound IP ranges, then reach out to support@stackoverflow.com to have the IPs added to your IP AllowList. This also applies to remote connectors in Desktop and Cowork.

1. For an individual account, click Customize, then select Connectors, then click + Add, then Add custom connector. For a Team or Enterprise organization, ask an authorized administrator to open Organization settings, click Connectors, select Add, point to Custom, and select Web. If your organization already provides the connector, go to step 6.
2. Enter a name such as "stack-internal-community" and the URL https://[your_site].stackenterprise.co/mcp. Click Continue.
3. Review the detected authentication settings, then click Continue.
4. Under "Authentication", click Sign in now. If Claude displays an OAuth client setting, select Register automatically. Leave Request headers empty; Stack Internal Community uses OAuth instead.
5. Click Add to finish setup and follow any sign-in prompts.
6. Click Customize, then select Connectors. Click Connect for the new connector and complete the Stack Internal Community sign-in and consent prompts. Each member connects using their own Stack Internal Community account.
7. Open a chat. Select +, then Connectors to enable the connector for that conversation.

Claude’s custom connector guide describes account roles and the available Claude surfaces.

You've completed the Claude web, desktop app, or Cowork configuration. Jump down to the "Use the Stack Internal Community MCP tools and prompts" section below.

Method 2: connect Claude Code

Use this method if the claude command is available in your terminal. On Windows, use PowerShell or command prompt; on macOS or Linux, use Terminal.

1. Check that Claude Code is installed by enterintg claude --version.
2. Run this command, replacing [your_site] with your site’s subdomain:
   claude mcp add --transport http stack-internal-community --scope user https://[your_site].stackenterprise.co/mcp
3. Run claude mcp list to check that stack-internal-community is saved.
4. Start Claude Code with claude and complete its initial sign-in if prompted. This is separate from signing in to Stack Internal Community. Then enter /mcp. Select stack-internal-community and complete the browser sign-in and consent prompts for your Stack Internal Community account.
5. Return to /mcp and check that the server is connected. You can also run claude mcp get stack-internal-community to check the saved URL.

Use the Stack Internal Community MCP tools and prompts

You can now test your Claude MCP connection. Ask Claude to use the connector by name, and tell it what result you need. Start with a search request so you can confirm that the connection works.

Example: "Use the Stack Internal Community MCP server to search for our deployment process. Open the most relevant question or article, summarize the answer, and link to the original content."

The Stack Internal Community MCP server can expose the following tools:

• Find and retrieve content
  search, get_question, get_article, and get_comments
• Discover expertise and opportunities
  get_questions_to_answer, recommend_SME, and get_existing_tags
• Draft and publish content
  draft_question, create_question, create_QA, create_article, and submit_user_answer
• Update and engage with content
  update_question, update_answer, update_article, and vote

Tool availability depends on the Stack Internal Community site’s configuration and your permissions.

Some things to keep in mind when creating content (for example: questions or articles) with the MCP server:

• MCP doesn't support tag creation. New content must use existing site tags.
• As with all AI-generated content, review proposed questions, answers, articles, edits, votes, and other write actions before approving them.

In Claude Code, type / to see prompts exposed by connected MCP servers. Choose a prompt under stack-internal-community if one appears, then supply its requested details. Claude Code presents MCP prompts using a server-qualified name such as /stack-internal-community:search; the exact options depend on the server. You can also request a tool in ordinary language, for example, “Use the stack-internal-community search tool to find our incident review checklist.” See Claude Code MCP prompts and tools for more info.

Refresh access or sign in again

The Community server issues short-lived, user-scoped tokens and supports refresh. Claude Code normally refreshes an authorized connection automatically. If Claude says the connection needs authentication or a tool reports an expired session, sign in again with one of the following methods.

Claude Code

1. In Claude Code, enter /mcp and select stack-internal-community to reauthenticate. You can also run claude mcp login stack-internal-community in a terminal.
2. Complete the browser sign-in and consent prompts, then retry your request.

Claude web, desktop, or Cowork

1. Click Customize, then Connectors.
2. Select the stack-internal-community connector and use its Connect or reauthentication option when prompted. Enable it again in the conversation if needed. See Claude Code MCP authentication and Claude custom connectors for more info.

Troubleshooting

Check the following if Claude cannot connect to the Stack Internal Community MCP server or cannot find a tool.

• Wrong server URL Confirm that the URL is https://[your_site].stackenterprise.co/enterprise/mcp, replacing [your_site] with your Stack Internal Community site’s subdomain. For the separate Stack Internal service, see the Stack Internal MCP Server Overview article.
• Server unavailable Ask your site admin to confirm that the MCP server is enabled at https://[your_site].stackenterprise.co/enterprise/mcp. They should see Configure the MCP server for more info.
• Sign-in fails Start sign-in from your AI tool and follow the browser prompts, using the sign-in/authentication steps in this guide. If you see “Client ID is not registered,” see Common issues for more info.
• A tool is missing Check the connected server at https://[your_site].stackenterprise.co/enterprise/mcp for a list of available tools. Your site may disable write tools, and your account can use only permitted content and actions. Ask your site admin to confirm your access.
• Existing connection Review saved server names and URLs using your AI tool’s MCP settings or server-management commands. If you already have a working Stack Internal Community connection, you can continue using it. If your existing connection uses npx mcp-remote, that bridge manages sign-in to the Stack Internal Community server. Complete any browser sign-in prompts it opens.
• Name already used If the name you want to use already points to another server, choose a distinct name for the Stack Internal Community connection. Use that name consistently in later commands and requests.