Install Altrady's MCP for Claude desktop

This article explains how to install Altrady's MCP (AI) for use with Claude Desktop, as opposed to Claude Code.

If you have Claude code, floow the instructions on the MCP page in Altrady.

These instructions are for Windows 11 or Mac.

Prerequisites

• Altrady Desktop V5.4 or greater must be installed and open. Get it here: Altrady download, select: Download for Windows or Download for Mac.
• Claude Desktop (not browser) must be installed. Get it here: claude.com/download
• A free Claude account works; usage limits reset every 5 hours. Upgrade to Claude Pro inside the app for more capacity.
• Node.js must be installed. Many users already have it installed for other tools, so check first before downloading anything, instructions below.

Check if Node.js is already installed

Open a terminal — Command Prompt on Windows (Start menu → type cmd) or Terminal on Mac (Spotlight → type Terminal) — and run:

node --version

If you see a version number (for example v22.11.0), Node.js is already installed — skip to Installation steps below.

If you see "command not recognized" or a similar error, continue with the next section.

Install Node.js

Download Node.js MSI file for Windows or Mac from nodejs.org/en/download and run the installer.

For Windows: accept the default options by clicking Next on each tab. Exclude extras such as Chocolatey.

On Mac: Open the downloaded .pkg file and accept the defaults. Exclude extras such as Chocolatey.

After installing, close any open terminal windows, open a fresh one, and run node --version again to confirm it's working. If it still says command not recognized/found, restart your computer — sometimes a reboot is needed to pick up the new PATH.

Installation steps

1. In Altrady Desktop, navigate to Settings → MCP

Here you can enable MCP and find your server URL and unique Auth token.

Keep your Auth token private. It can be regenerated (rotated) at the bottom of the MCP page if it is ever compromised.

The automated instructions on this page can be used by Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor. For Claude Desktop, follow the steps below instead.

2. In Claude Desktop, go to Settings → Developer

3. Click Edit Config

This will open your file manager with the Claude configuration file selected.

4. Open the config file in a plain text editor

• On Windows: Double-click the file. If asked which app to open it with, choose Notepad.
• On Mac: Right-click the file → Open With → TextEdit. Before editing, go to the Format menu → Make Plain Text. Otherwise TextEdit may insert smart quotes that break the JSON.

5. Prepare the JSON code

Go back to the chat prompt in Claude, and paste in:

• The existing contents of your config file--all lines
• The JSON code for your operating system below
• In the JSON code, replace URL-HERE with your server URL from step 1, and replace BEARER-TOKEN-HERE with your Auth token

For Windows

  "mcpServers": {
    "altrady": {
      "command": "cmd",
      "args": [
        "/c",
        "npx",
        "-y",
        "mcp-remote",
        "URL-HERE",
        "--header",
        "Authorization:${AUTH_HEADER}"
      ],
      "env": {
        "AUTH_HEADER": "Bearer BEARER-TOKEN-HERE"
      }
    }
  }

For Mac

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "altrady": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-remote",
        "URL-HERE",
        "--header",
        "Authorization: Bearer BEARER-TOKEN-HERE"
      ]
    }
  }
}

6. Ask Claude to merge the new Altrady block with your existing config

Include your Auth token and URL when you ask. Claude will return a complete config file as the result.

7. Copy the result back into the config file

Copy the code Claude has generated, and paste it back into the config file, replacing all of the previous content.

The result will look something like this (your exact content depends on what your original config file contained):

8. Save the config file

Windows: File → Save (or Windows: Ctrl+S Mac: Cmd+S).

Check the installation

First, exit Claude Desktop completely so it can pick up the new config file. Closing the window isn't enough — you need a full quit:

• On Windows: Find Claude in the system tray (bottom-right; you may need to click the ^ arrow to expand), right-click, and select Quit.
• On Mac: Use Cmd+Q while Claude is the active app, or right-click the Claude icon in the Dock and select Quit. (Just closing the window keeps the app running in the background.)

Reopen Claude Desktop and navigate back to Settings → Developer. You should now see Altrady installed with a status of running.

In Altrady, go to Settings → MCP server → Active sessions. You should see at least one active session.

If the status in claude is Failed, most likely the config file has a syntax error. Click View Logs, copy the text, and ask Claude to diagnose the issue. Then retry.

Daily use — important

Always start Altrady before opening Claude Desktop. Claude Desktop only checks for MCP connections at startup, and will not reconnect automatically if Altrady is unavailable.

If Altrady closes or restarts while Claude Desktop is open, the connection will silently fail. To reconnect, you must:

1. Make sure Altrady is open and the MCP server is enabled.
2. Fully quit Claude Desktop (system tray on Windows, Cmd+Q or Dock right-click on Mac).
3. Reopen Claude Desktop.

Restarting Altrady desktop alone is not enough — Claude Desktop also needs to restart.

What you can do with Altrady MCP

Once installed, you can have natural conversations with Claude about your Altrady data. The MCP gives Claude direct access to your account, so there's no copy-pasting or exporting.

Try a simple read query first to confirm the connection is working:

Use the Altrady MCP to call get_session_context and tell me which exchange account is active.

If that returns your account info, you're set. Some examples of what you can ask, without any skills installed:

Account and exchange accounts

• "Which exchange account is active?"
• "List all my exchange accounts."

Positions

• "Show me my open positions."
• "What's my P&L on the ETH-USDT position?"
• "Have any of my positions been open more than 48 hours?"

Bots

• "List my signal bots and grid bots."
• "How is my BTC grid bot performing?"

Markets and price data

• "What's the current price of SOL-USDT?"
• "Show me the last 100 1h candles for ETH-USDT."

Alerts and watchlists

• "What alerts do I have set?"
• "What's in my "Layer 1s" watchlist?"

Backtests

• "List my recent backtests."
• "Show me the summary stats for my latest backtest."

For guided workflows such as daily check-ins, market scans, technical analysis, position management, install the skills below.

Adding Skills

To get the most from the integration, you can also add the set of Skills Altrady has developed to use with AI. Skills are guided workflows that help Claude perform specific Altrady tasks, such as daily check-ins, market scans, technical analysis, risk sizing, position management, and more.

In Claude Desktop, skills must be uploaded individually (Claude Code installs them all in one step, but Desktop doesn't currently support that). It's relatively quick once you know the steps.

What each skill does

Pick the skills that match how you trade. You can install all 12 or just the ones useful to you. (Caveats about Claude Desktop are summarised at the end of this section.)

• altrady-morning-check — A daily account briefing. Claude summarises your open positions, recently triggered alerts, bot performance, and watchlist movers in one sweep.
• altrady-market-scanner — Find trade candidates. Pick a criterion (breakouts, volume spikes, trend strength, mean reversion) and Claude returns a ranked shortlist.
• altrady-technical-analysis — A multi-timeframe read of a chart. Identifies trend, support/resistance, and structure; applies indicators; draws the levels on the active chart.
• altrady-risk-sizer — Calculates position size from your risk %. Tell Claude your account risk %, entry, SL, and leverage; it returns size and required margin. Doesn't open the position.
• altrady-backtest-analyzer — Analyses a replay backtest. Computes win rate, drawdown, fee drag, and (if you tell Claude your rules) per-trade deviations from your stated strategy.
• altrady-trade-review — Reflect on a closed trade. Claude reconstructs the chart context, summarises what happened (R-multiple, hold time, max drawdown), and asks one targeted question about the lesson.
• altrady-smart-entry — Turn a trade idea into a sized, multi-Take Profit position. Claude calculates size, places SL at structure, staggers take-profits, and pre-fills the trade panel. You submit in Altrady.
• altrady-position-manager — Review each open position and get tagged suggestions: move SL to break-even, set a trail, take partial profit, close stagnant positions. Per-position confirmation.
• altrady-alert-manager — Create alerts anchored to chart structure (S/R, swing levels) rather than arbitrary prices, or audit existing alerts and prune stale or duplicate ones.
• altrady-watchlist-curator — Build themed watchlists, scan an existing list for today's movers, or prune stagnant and illiquid tickers.
• altrady-signal-bot-builder — Walk through a DCA signal bot setup interview (capital, safety orders, deviation, take profit). Claude computes the full ladder and presents a plan to confirm.
• altrady-grid-bot-builder — Build a grid bot for the current market regime. Claude derives a range from recent price action, sets density from volatility, and presents a plan to confirm.

Download the skills

1. Go to https://github.com/altrady/altrady-mcp.
2. Click the green Code button, then Download ZIP.
3. Extract the ZIP file to a folder you can find easily — for example, Documents\altrady-mcp (works on both Windows and Mac).
4. Inside the extracted folder, open the skills subfolder. You'll see one folder per skill.

Each skill folder contains a SKILL.md file. You'll upload these one at a time.

Upload each skill

1. In Claude Desktop, navigate to Customize.

2. Select Create New Skills.

3. Click the + to add a new skill, then + Create Skill, then Upload a skill.

4. Drag the SKILL.md file from one of the skill folders, or click to select and upload it.

5. Repeat the previous two steps for each skill you want to upload. After uploading all of them, the list will look like this:

Try them out

Go back to the chat prompt and start using the skills. A good first prompt:

Tell me about the Altrady MCP skills you have available.

Or trigger one naturally:

Do a morning check on my Altrady account.

Run technical analysis on BTC-USDT.

A few things to know

• On the free Claude plan, multi-step skills will use your tokens quickly. Usage resets every 5 hours.
• The read and analysis skills work in Claude Desktop: daily check-ins, market scanning, technical analysis, risk sizing, backtest analysis, and position monitoring. You can ask Claude exactly what it can do using these skills.
• Skills that perform write actions in Altrady (creating alerts, editing watchlists, modifying positions, setting up trades, creating bots) haven't yet been fully verified in Claude Desktop. Use the Altrady app directly for those actions for now; this article will be updated as testing completes.
• The altrady-trade-review skill normally saves journal entries to a file on your computer, which Claude Desktop can't do by default. The skill will still analyse the trade and produce the journal entry in the chat, then you can copy it to your own file.

Updated on: 07/06/2026