claude mcp add blockrun -s user -- npx -y @blockrun/mcp@latest

BlockRun MCP is an open-source Model Context Protocol server that gives Claude — and any MCP-compatible agent — 20 tools for real-time data and real actions: 76 LLMs, image & video generation, prediction-market data, live web/X search, on-chain queries across 40 chains, and the ability to place real, USDC-settled bets on Polymarket.

You pay per call, and you choose how. Wallet mode authenticates with a signature and settles each call in USDC via the x402 protocol — no account, no credit card, no subscription, on Solana or Base. Account mode authenticates with a BlockRun API key (brk_live_…) from user.blockrun.ai and bills prepaid credit at exact usage — for teams that can't hand a wallet to an agent. Same 20 tools either way. MIT licensed.

🏆 First of its kind — the signal → trade loop in Claude Code

Read live Polymarket odds and place the bet, from one self-custody wallet, pay-per-call. Jump to Polymarket trading →

Why BlockRun MCP exists

Every other data integration was built for human developers — create an account, copy an API key into .env, add a credit card, repeat for every vendor.

Agents can't do any of that. BlockRun MCP is built for the agent-first world:

• One wallet, every source — 20 tools behind a single self-custody wallet. No per-vendor signups.
• No API key required — your wallet signature is authentication. (One is available at user.blockrun.ai for teams who need an invoice instead of a keypair.)
• No credit cards — pay per request in USDC via x402, fractions of a cent each.
• Starts free — the free tier (blockrun_chat mode:"free", blockrun_dex, crypto blockrun_price, blockrun_models) costs $0.
• Reads and acts — most tools deliver data; blockrun_polymarket places real, confirm-gated trades.
• Human-in-the-loop payments — turn on BLOCKRUN_CONFIRM_SPEND=on and the agent pauses before any paid call above your threshold; nothing is signed until you approve. Details ↓
• Generative UI — on Claude Desktop, claude.ai, VS Code and Cursor the Polymarket preview is a live order card with a Place button, and the wallet is a panel with balances, QR and card top-up. MCP Apps ↓
• Self-custody — your key never leaves your machine (~/.blockrun/.session, 0600 — or the OS keychain once you opt into BLOCKRUN_KEYCHAIN=strict). BlockRun can't move your funds.

How it compares

✓ One wallet · ✓ Pay-per-call · ✓ Reads and trades · ✓ Multi-chain · ✓ Agent-ready · ✓ Open source

What changes

Before BlockRun, Claude can't answer:

• "What's the current Polymarket probability that Bitcoin hits $100k this year?"
• "Find me the top 5 papers on RAG published in the last 30 days."
• "What are people saying about @sama on X right now?"
• "What's the 24h volume on the PEPE/ETH pair on Uniswap?"
• "Polymarket has the Fed holding at 73% — put $2 on it." ← and now it can place the trade, not just read the odds.

After BlockRun, it can. Each query costs fractions of a cent — billed from a local USDC wallet, or from prepaid credit on a BlockRun account. No subscriptions, no per-vendor signups.

Quick Start

0. Choose how you pay

Both modes reach the same 20 tools. You can switch at any time; setting BLOCKRUN_API_KEY takes priority over a wallet, and unsetting it hands the wallet back.

1. Install

Claude Code (recommended)

claude mcp add blockrun -s user -- npx -y @blockrun/mcp@latest

-s user installs globally (available in every project). The -- separator ensures -y is passed to npx, not parsed by claude mcp add.

💡 Homebrew / nvm users: if the server doesn't connect, Claude Code likely can't find node/npx on its launcher PATH. Pass your shell PATH through — works on CLI and desktop:

claude mcp add blockrun -s user -e PATH="$PATH" -- npx -y @blockrun/mcp@latest

See Troubleshooting if it persists.

Every MCP client — one command or one JSON block. Verified = we ran the published package on that client and saw the tools listed (client version · date). Documented = install path from the client's own docs; not run by us yet — tell us if it works. The Spend dialog column is whether the client renders the human-in-the-loop payment prompt; on ❌ clients paid calls proceed without asking and BLOCKRUN_BUDGET_LIMIT is the guard.

Any other MCP client that can spawn a stdio server works the same way: command: npx, args: ["-y", "@blockrun/mcp@latest"]. With nvm/Homebrew Node on a JSON-configured client, put the absolute path from which npx in command. Spend-dialog sources and what "proceeds without asking" means: docs/spend-confirmation.md.

OpenClaw: the published npx package was verified end-to-end on 2026.8.2: all 20 tools were projected, free calls worked, and paid x402 calls settled. Add a hard session cap while installing:

openclaw mcp set blockrun '{"command":"npx","args":["-y","@blockrun/mcp@latest"],"env":{"BLOCKRUN_BUDGET_LIMIT":"2"}}'
openclaw mcp doctor blockrun --probe

Spend confirmation depends on the OpenClaw runtime and chat surface. Its Codex harness supports MCP form elicitation, but an unmappable prompt is returned as an explicit decline; in the WebChat → Codex route tested here, BLOCKRUN_CONFIRM_SPEND=on declined paid calls without presenting an actionable dialog. Keep confirmation off on that route and rely on BLOCKRUN_BUDGET_LIMIT plus OpenClaw's own tool-approval mode.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "blockrun": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@blockrun/mcp@latest"] }
  }
}

2. Choose a tool profile (optional)

Expose a trimmed tool set so the client loads fewer schemas into context. Pass --profile <name> (or set BLOCKRUN_MCP_PROFILE); omit for the full set.

claude mcp add blockrun-trading -s user -- npx -y @blockrun/mcp@latest --profile trading

# Codex CLI
codex mcp add blockrun-trading -- npx -y @blockrun/mcp@latest --profile trading

An unknown profile name falls back to full. modal and phone are full-profile only.

What each profile costs your context

Installing an MCP server spends context on every turn, whether or not you call the tools — the client loads each tool's schema into the model's prompt and re-sends it for the whole session. Package managers have shown install size for decades. Almost no MCP server shows this. Ours:

Running --profile trading instead of the default costs 57% less context for the same trading workflow. If you only ever ask about markets, that is the single cheapest change you can make.

Measure it yourself — against us, or against any other stdio MCP server:

npm i gpt-tokenizer
node scripts/measure-tool-schema.mjs                     # this server, every profile
node scripts/measure-tool-schema.mjs -- npx -y @some/other-mcp-server

3. Add funds

Option A — API key (no wallet). Sign in at user.blockrun.ai with Google, then:

1. Dashboard → Keys — mint a key. It looks like brk_live_… and is shown once.
2. Dashboard → Credits — top up by card or wire.
3. Point the server at it:

claude mcp add blockrun -s user -e BLOCKRUN_API_KEY=brk_live_… -- npx -y @blockrun/mcp@latest

Or export BLOCKRUN_API_KEY=brk_live_… in the environment the client launches from.

If your client makes environment variables awkward, write the key to ~/.blockrun/.api-key instead (chmod 600) — same file directory the wallet uses. The environment variable wins when both are present. 4. Dashboard → Activity — every call, priced at exact usage.

Verify with blockrun_wallet action:"status" — it reports the account, its real balance, and what this session has spent:

Paying with: BlockRun account API key (no wallet, no chain)

  Account:  acme (ungated)
  Spent to date: $4.5239 (invoiced account — no prepaid ceiling)
  Top up:   https://user.blockrun.ai/dashboard/credits

A prepaid account shows Credit remaining: $12.50 of $50.00 granted instead. If the account is blocked, status says so and why before you spend a call finding out.

Option B — wallet (no account). Run blockrun_wallet to see your addresses. New installs default to Solana; send USDC (SPL) on Solana from Coinbase (pick "Solana"), Phantom, Solflare, or Backpack. To pay on Base instead: blockrun_wallet action:"chain" chain:"base", then send USDC on Base. Full instructions: Fund your wallet.

$5 covers ~525 market queries · ~500 Exa searches · ~250 image generations · ~14 Seedance 1.5-pro clips.

4. Ask Claude anything

"What's Polymarket saying about the next Fed decision? If 'hold' is above 70%, put $2 on it."

Claude reads the odds with blockrun_markets and — with your confirmation — places the trade with blockrun_polymarket. One wallet. Gasless. Confirm-gated.

5. Install the agent skills (optional)

The package ships 16 skills — which tool answers what, worked examples, and a setup / debug / upgrade trio so the agent can install, troubleshoot and update the server on its own.

/plugin marketplace add BlockRunAI/blockrun-mcp            # Claude Code
npx -y @blockrun/mcp@latest skills install                 # any project → ./.claude/skills
npx -y @blockrun/mcp@latest skills install --global        # ~/.claude/skills
npx -y @blockrun/mcp@latest skills install --to ~/.codex/skills

skills list shows what ships; --only a,b picks; --force refreshes copies after an upgrade.

Demo

User: What's Polymarket saying about the Fed rate decision next month?

Claude: According to Polymarket, the market puts a 73% probability on the Fed holding rates steady, 24% on a 25bp cut, 3% on a hike. 24h volume: $2.1M. The "Hold" contract last traded at $0.73.

(via blockrun_markets · cost: $0.0095)

User: Polymarket has Hawley at ~13% to announce a 2026 presidential run — put $1 on Yes.

Claude: Done — bought 7.63 shares of Yes at $0.131 ($1.00, market FOK). Real on-chain order, settled in pUSD from your gasless Polymarket deposit wallet; I'm tracking the position now.

(signal via blockrun_markets, trade via blockrun_polymarket — one self-custody wallet, gasless · on-chain tx 0x7ca8…)

Tools

Key use cases

1. Prediction-market consensus → "Polymarket's odds for the next Fed decision?" — blockrun_markets
2. Signal → trade (the full loop, self-custody) → "If 'hold' is under 30%, put $2 on Yes." — blockrun_markets reads, blockrun_polymarket action:"buy" places. Gasless, confirm-gated.
3. On-chain forensics → "This wallet — what's it labeled, what does it hold, when did it whale up?" — blockrun_surf
4. Cited research → "5 most-cited papers on speculative decoding, last 90 days." — blockrun_exa
5. Image generation with on-image text → "Poster announcing GPT-5.5, retro-futuristic, headline 'NOW LIVE'." — blockrun_image
6. Give your agent a voice → "Speak this with the sarah voice." — blockrun_speech
7. Voice phone-out → "Call +1-415-… and confirm Friday at 3pm." — blockrun_phone
8. Multi-agent research, capped → "Spawn 3 agents on competing L1 narratives. Cap each at $0.50." — blockrun_wallet delegate × 3
9. Cross-chain SQL → "Top 10 tokens by DEX volume on Base, last 24h." — blockrun_surf onchain/sql

📈 Polymarket trading

blockrun_polymarket lets an agent place real bets on Polymarket (CLOB V2, Polygon). It is non-custodial: every order and approval is EIP-712-signed locally by your BlockRun wallet key — the same self-custody key that pays x402 API fees on Base also authorizes bets on Polygon. Neither BlockRun nor Polymarket's relayer can move funds; they only forward payloads you signed.

Architecture — the official "deposit wallet" path (signature type POLY_1271): a smart-contract vault on Polygon, CREATE2-derived from your key (only your key can authorize it), holds betting funds in pUSD (Polymarket's 1:1 collateral wrapper). Deployment, approvals, and redemptions all run gasless through Polymarket's relayer — you never need POL.

📖 Full step-by-step guide: docs/polymarket-trading-setup.md

# 1. Provision your deposit wallet (idempotent, gasless)
blockrun_polymarket action:"setup"

# 2. Fund it from your Base USDC in one call (gasless; $0.01 fee, non-custodial)
blockrun_polymarket action:"fund" amount_usd:5 confirm:true

# 3. Sign the one-time gasless approval batch
blockrun_polymarket action:"setup" confirm:true

# 4. Find a market, preview safely, then place only after exact user approval
blockrun_polymarket_read action:"preview" side:"buy" token_id:"<id>" amount_usd:5 order_type:"FOK"
blockrun_polymarket action:"buy" token_id:"<id>" amount_usd:5 order_type:"FOK" confirm:true

# 5. Manage → positions · orders · cancel · sell · redeem · withdraw

Safety rails (server-side; an agent cannot bypass them): confirm:true required for every order/approval/redeem, POLYMARKET_MAX_BET_USD per-order cap (default $25), optional POLYMARKET_MAX_SESSION_USD session cap, and bets never draw from the x402 API budget.

Regions: Polymarket geoblocks order placement by IP (US/UK + many regions). Handled by default — the MCP routes CLOB traffic through BlockRun's hosted Finland egress (a fully unrestricted region under Polymarket's policy), so trading works out of the box; setup reports your status. Override POLYMARKET_CLOB_HOST to go direct or run your own egress, optionally reached via HTTPS_PROXY / POLYMARKET_CLOB_PROXY (a proxy alone doesn't change the Polymarket-facing egress). Complying with Polymarket's terms for your jurisdiction is your responsibility.

⚠️ Back up your signer key (~/.blockrun/.session by default; a BLOCKRUN_WALLET_KEY env var or an existing agent wallet.json takes precedence — setup prints the actual signer address). It is the only key to both the payment wallet and the Polymarket deposit wallet.

🛡️ Human-in-the-loop payments

Turn on BLOCKRUN_CONFIRM_SPEND=on and every paid tool pauses before it signs. The server sends an MCP elicitation; your client renders it as a dialog with the estimated charge:

💸 BlockRun charge — video · bytedance/seedance-2.5 · 10s
Estimated: $2.6500
Approve this spend? (USDC is debited per call.)
To stop the charge, choose Decline — Cancel/ESC lets it proceed.

[ ] Approve all BlockRun charges for the rest of this session (don't ask again)

                                          [ Decline ]  [ Approve ]

Decline → nothing is sent, nothing is charged, the tool reports "Charge declined". Approve → the call proceeds. Tick the box and you're not asked again for the session. Free calls never prompt. Set BLOCKRUN_CONFIRM_THRESHOLD=0.05 to only be asked above $0.05.

claude mcp add blockrun -s user -e BLOCKRUN_CONFIRM_SPEND=on -e BLOCKRUN_CONFIRM_THRESHOLD=0.05 -- npx -y @blockrun/mcp@latest

On a client that can't ask, the gate fails open — the call proceeds and the cost footer reports the charge. The hard stop on every client is the budget: BLOCKRUN_BUDGET_LIMIT for the process, blockrun_wallet action:"delegate" per sub-agent. blockrun_polymarket keeps its own, stronger per-order confirm:true.

📖 When to use it, sources for the matrix, limitations: docs/spend-confirmation.md

🧩 MCP Apps — order card & wallet panel

On hosts that support the MCP Apps extension — Claude Desktop, claude.ai, VS Code, Cursor, ChatGPT — two tools render as interactive cards instead of text. Everywhere else (Claude Code, Codex, terminals) nothing changes.

• Order card on blockrun_polymarket_read action:"preview" — question, outcome, side, best quote, est. shares, notional, cap meter, session ledger. Edit the amount → Re-quote. Place order is arm-then-confirm and asks the host to call blockrun_polymarket … confirm:true, so the host's consent prompt and every server cap (POLYMARKET_MAX_BET_USD, session cap) still apply.
• Wallet panel on blockrun_wallet — both chains' balances, switch chain, copy address, EIP-681 / Solana Pay QR, explorer, Buy USDC with card.

📖 Hosts, money path, local testing: docs/mcp-apps.md

Fund your wallet

Paying with an API key instead? There is no wallet to fund — top up credit at user.blockrun.ai/dashboard/credits and skip this section.

The server keeps two wallets — one on Solana, one on Base — and pays from one at a time. Run blockrun_wallet to see both addresses, balances, and which is active.

$5 covers ~525 market queries, ~500 Exa searches, ~250 image generations, or ~14 Seedance 1.5-pro clips (5s @ 720p+audio, ~$0.35 each).

Pay on Solana (default for new installs)

blockrun_wallet action:"setup"    # shows the Solana address + funding QR

Send USDC (SPL) on the Solana network — from Coinbase (pick "Solana"), Phantom, Solflare, or Backpack.

Pay on Base

One tool call — no env vars, no file editing, no restart:

blockrun_wallet action:"chain" chain:"base"   # provisions + activates the Base wallet
blockrun_wallet action:"setup"                # shows the Base address + funding QR

Switch back with blockrun_wallet action:"chain" chain:"solana". Switching only changes which wallet pays; both keep their balances.

Upgrading from an older version? Nothing moves. The Solana-first default applies only to installs with no wallet and no saved chain preference — if you already have a Base wallet, you stay on Base until you switch.

What each mode reaches

Almost everything now settles on either chain. The exceptions:

A blocked capability returns a message naming the fix, not a raw error.

What a call costs, and how sure we are

Anything estimated is printed with a ~ and says so. Estimates run high on the account rail — they add a transaction fee it does not charge — so a budget cap trips early rather than late. The invoice is always Dashboard → Activity.

For agents & LLMs

If you are an LLM invoking BlockRun MCP tools, read these first:

• CRITICAL: On any payment / balance / 402 error, call blockrun_wallet first to check status, then action:"setup" for funding. Don't retry the failing tool blindly — the wallet is empty.
• CRITICAL: blockrun_polymarket moves REAL user funds (pUSD on Polygon), separate from the x402 API budget. Never buy/sell/redeem with confirm:true unless the user explicitly approved that exact trade; without confirm you get a safe dry-run. Discover markets/token IDs with blockrun_markets first.
• CRITICAL: blockrun_surf's 84-endpoint catalog is in skills/surf/SKILL.md; blockrun_markets' full endpoint list is in its tool description (worked examples in skills/prediction-markets/SKILL.md; live-demo workflow in skills/signal-to-trade-demo/SKILL.md). Browse those before guessing paths.
• CRITICAL: blockrun_music and blockrun_video are payment-on-completion async. Failures / client timeouts do NOT charge. Don't retry-loop — they may take 60–180s.
• CRITICAL: Before spawning child agents, allocate per-agent budget: blockrun_wallet action:"delegate" agent_id:"X" agent_limit:1.00, then pass agent_id:"X" to every downstream call. The child is auto-blocked at zero.
• Free tier first for drafts: blockrun_chat mode:"free" (NVIDIA), blockrun_dex, blockrun_price (crypto/FX/commodity), and blockrun_models are $0.
• A declined spend confirmation is the user's decision. Report it and stop — never re-issue the call with a cheaper model, smaller parameters, or split requests to get under their threshold.

Showcase

Posters generated through blockrun_image with openai/gpt-image-2 — each a single API call routed through BlockRun, paid in USDC on Base.

Cornell Blockchain Conference 2026	Cornell Blockchain Conference 2026	100 Trillion Tokens milestone

Prompts and a worked example are in skills/image-prompting/SKILL.md.

Why not just use the APIs directly?

One wallet. All sources. No dashboards.

Configuration

Troubleshooting

🤖 Hand this to the agent: the blockrun-debug skill carries every row below as symptom → cause → fix, plus the diagnostics it can run itself. blockrun-setup and blockrun-upgrade cover the other two halves. Install: npx -y @blockrun/mcp@latest skills install.

• Insufficient balance / HTTP 402 after retry → Run blockrun_wallet action:"setup", send USDC on Base (or Solana).
• blockrun doesn't connect / "MCP server failed" / spawn npx ENOENT → Almost always a PATH issue: Claude Code can't find node/npx on its launcher PATH (common with Homebrew / nvm, on CLI and desktop). Fix by passing your shell PATH at install:

  claude mcp remove blockrun -s user
  claude mcp add blockrun -s user -e PATH="$PATH" -- npx -y @blockrun/mcp@latest
  

  Then restart Claude Code. Or pin absolute paths (which npx).
• claude mcp list doesn't show blockrun → Check node -v (≥20.19). Clear the npx cache: rm -rf ~/.npm/_npx. Re-run the install.
• fetch failed / balance-check timeout → Base RPC transient outage. The tool falls through 3 public RPCs; retry after 30s. Persistent = local proxy / firewall blocking outbound RPC.
• Video/Music generation timed out → Upstream queue congestion. No charge (payment-on-completion). Retry, or pick a faster model.
• No spend-confirmation dialog although BLOCKRUN_CONFIRM_SPEND=on → Your client doesn't support MCP elicitation (Windsurf, Codex, Gemini CLI); the server proceeds without asking by design. Use BLOCKRUN_BUDGET_LIMIT as the guard, or a client from the support table.
• Polymarket: neg-risk ("winner") market buy fails, or redeem reverts, though setup shows ready → Re-run action:"setup" confirm:true once (grants the on-chain approvals a pre-upgrade deposit wallet may lack — including the collateral-adapter approvals redeem needs). See the setup guide.

FAQ

What is BlockRun MCP? An open-source MCP server that gives Claude and other agents 20 tools for real-time data and real actions (trading, media, on-chain), paid per call — from a self-custody wallet or a BlockRun account key.

Do I need an API key or an account? No. A wallet is auto-created locally on first run; you fund it with USDC and there are no signups, dashboards or keys to rotate.

But you can have one. If your team can't hand a wallet to an agent, sign in at user.blockrun.ai, mint a key at Dashboard → Keys, top up at Dashboard → Credits, and set BLOCKRUN_API_KEY. You then get post-paid billing at exact usage — no $0.001 per-call minimum, no per-call network fee — and a per-call ledger at Dashboard → Activity. Everything works except the parts that genuinely need a keypair: Polymarket trading, wallet balances/top-ups, and the wallet-indexed blockrun_realface action:"list".

Which is cheaper? Account billing, slightly — it charges exact metered usage with no per-call minimum and no $0.001 transaction fee. Wallet mode buys you self-custody and Polymarket trading instead.

How much does it cost? Pay-per-call — fractions of a cent to a few cents. The free tier (blockrun_chat mode:"free", blockrun_dex, crypto blockrun_price, blockrun_models) is $0. $5 of USDC covers thousands of queries.

Is it safe / non-custodial? Yes. Your private key never leaves your machine (~/.blockrun/.session by default, 0600). x402 payments and Polymarket orders are signed locally — BlockRun forwards signed payloads and cannot move your funds.

Which clients work? Any MCP client that can spawn a stdio server. Verified on Claude Code and Codex CLI, in daily use on OpenClaw; install paths documented for Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code, Gemini CLI and Windsurf — see the client table. The spend-confirmation dialog additionally needs MCP elicitation (Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code).

Does it have a UI? On MCP-Apps hosts (Claude Desktop, claude.ai, VS Code, Cursor) the Polymarket preview is a live order card and the wallet is a panel — see MCP Apps ↑. Terminal clients get the same information as text.

Can I make the agent ask before it spends? Yes — BLOCKRUN_CONFIRM_SPEND=on. Every paid tool pauses with the estimated charge and nothing is signed until you approve. Human-in-the-loop payments ↑

Can it really place real bets? Yes. blockrun_polymarket places real, USDC-settled orders on Polymarket's CLOB — confirm-gated and capped. Read the odds with blockrun_markets, place with blockrun_polymarket.

Base or Solana? Both. Switch instantly with blockrun_wallet action:"chain". A few media/paid tools settle on Base only (noted above).

From the BlockRun ecosystem

BlockRun is agent-native AI infrastructure — one wallet, x402 USDC micropayments, across every surface:

• ⚡ ClawRouter — the agent-native LLM router for OpenClaw. 76 models, <1ms local routing, USDC on Base & Solana.
• 🤖 BRCC — BlockRun for Claude Code: smart routing + x402 payments, purpose-built for Claude Code.
• 🐍 ClawRouter-Hermes — Python plugin wiring NousResearch Hermes into the ClawRouter proxy.
• 📚 Docs · Models & pricing — full SDKs, APIs, and the model catalogue.

Support & community

Contributing

PRs welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md for setup, the tool-vs-skill design rule, and how to add a new partner API.