Connecting to the MCP server

Endpoints

Host	Purpose
https://mcp.theneuralledger.com/mcp	Canonical endpoint. Use this.
https://mcp.tnl.st/mcp	Short transport alias. Same server.

Both hosts use the OAuth resource identifier https://mcp.theneuralledger.com/mcp as the token audience, regardless of which host you connect through.

Authentication

The MCP server uses OAuth 2.0, not API keys. A token must satisfy all of:

• valid signature
• expected issuer
• audience https://mcp.theneuralledger.com/mcp
• unexpired
• scope includes tnl:read

Requests failing any of these are rejected before any tool runs.

Client registration

Named OAuth clients require a static allowlist entry on the server side — contact support to have your client registered.

Dynamic client registration (DCR) is supported only when the issuer's DCR policy restricts callbacks and scopes, and only when the server has TNL_MCP_AUTH_ALLOW_DYNAMIC_CLIENTS=true. In that mode the gateway accepts issuer-generated UUID client ids. Signature, issuer, audience, expiry, and tnl:read validation still apply in every case.

Client configuration

Most MCP clients accept a remote server URL and handle the OAuth handshake interactively.

Claude Desktop

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tnl-intelligence": {
      "type": "url",
      "url": "https://mcp.theneuralledger.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http tnl-intelligence https://mcp.theneuralledger.com/mcp

Generic MCP client

{
  "name": "tnl-intelligence",
  "transport": "http",
  "url": "https://mcp.theneuralledger.com/mcp",
  "oauth": {
    "scope": "tnl:read",
    "resource": "https://mcp.theneuralledger.com/mcp"
  }
}

Your client will open a browser for the OAuth consent step on first connection, then cache the token.

Timeouts

Research tools do real work and can take a while. The budget is:

Layer	Limit
Application	180 seconds
nginx proxy	190 seconds
Node request	190 seconds

Configure your client's timeout to at least 180 seconds. Clients defaulting to 30 or 60 seconds will abandon legitimate long-running research.

Usage accounting

MCP tool calls consume your monthly allowance, and every response carries a usage block reporting exactly where you stand:

{
  "usage": {
    "month": "2026-07",
    "calls": 412,
    "remaining": 9588,
    "monthlyLimit": 10000,
    "resetAt": "2026-08-01T00:00:00.000Z"
  }
}

A tool call that exceeds the allowance fails with a quota error rather than returning partial research.

Verifying the connection

Once connected, the client should list six tools prefixed tnl_research_. If it lists none, the token is missing the tnl:read scope. If the connection drops around the one-minute mark, the client timeout is too low.