Connecting Parabola to AI tools with MCP

The Parabola MCP is available to customers on our Team, Advanced, and Enterprise plans. If your organization is on one of these plans and you’d like access, reach out to your account manager or help@parabola.io.

What you can do with the Parabola MCP

🔒 Scoped to your permissions. The MCP only sees flows you have editor or viewer access to in Parabola — if you can’t see it in the app, the MCP can’t either. Org admins and content admins have the same full access through the MCP that they already have in Parabola.

Here are example questions the MCP handles well, organized by the use case they support.

1. Adoption, cost, and ROI visibility

Answers the questions leadership keeps asking — about who’s actually using Parabola and what the team has built.

Are we on track on credit usage this billing period?
How many of our users are actually building?
Our three-way match flow saves 1 hour per run at $25/hour — calculate the total dollar savings since it started running, and break it down by month if you can.

2. Operational health monitoring

Surfaces failing, paused, or at-risk flows across your workspace without clicking through each one.

Give me a health check on our Parabola workspace — anything I should be worried about?
Which flows have failed at least once in the last 30 days, and what’s the failure rate on each?
What’s our overall flow creation rate month-over-month? Are we building more or less than we did six months ago?

3. Coverage planning and single-point-of-failure detection

Identifies what’s at risk when someone is out, and where manual processes create fragility.

Sarah is out next week. Pull up the flows she owns and flag any that don’t have an automated trigger, but has run in the last 14 days.
Which flows in our team do not have an automated schedule?
Joanna is leaving the company at the end of the month. Show me her flows that have an active trigger and have run in the last 30 days — these are her production automations we need to find a new owner for before she leaves.

4. Discoverability and reuse before building something new

Finds existing flows and patterns before duplicating work.

We’re building a new reconciliation flow for a new entity — do we already have reconciliation logic I should look at?
Show me all flows owned by the finance/billing people (Paul, Andrew, Emory, me) with “billing” or “invoice” in the name.
Show me Ana’s most recently created flows — they’re probably working on something adjacent to what I’m building.

Server details


Server URL	`https://parabola.io/api/mcp`
Authentication	OAuth 2.0. Actions run on behalf of the authenticated user and are scoped to that user’s Parabola permissions.
Transport	Streamable HTTP
Rate limits	Applied per tool, per user

Before you connect

These prerequisites apply regardless of which AI tool you’re connecting from:

A Parabola account with access to the flows and data you want the AI to work with.
Permission (or admin approval) in your AI tool to add custom MCP connectors. Most enterprise plans gate this to admins.
Network reachability from the AI provider’s servers to https://parabola.io/api/mcp. Claude, ChatGPT, and Glean all broker the connection from their own cloud — not from your machine — so review your networking and firewall settings if you have strict egress policies.

Connect from Claude

Applies to: Claude.ai (web), Claude Desktop, Claude mobile, Cowork

One-time initial setup

(Likely needs to be done by an owner of the Claude account.)

Click Customize → Connectors and click +
Scroll down to Custom connectors and click + to add a new custom connector
Name this custom connector “Parabola”
Enter https://parabola.io/api/mcp and save
After this, individual members can enable Parabola from their own settings.

Enabling the Parabola MCP

Click Customize → Connectors
Search “Parabola”
Click to connect and complete the Parabola OAuth sign-in.

That’s it! Now you can use the Parabola MCP in Claude. 📄 Official Claude docs

Connect from Claude Code

Applies to: Claude Code (CLI) Unlike Claude.ai and Claude Desktop, Claude Code connects from your own machine rather than brokering through Anthropic’s cloud. There’s no one-time admin setup — each person adds the server and authenticates individually from their terminal. OAuth is always per-user; one teammate connecting does not connect it for anyone else.

Network note: Because Claude Code reaches https://parabola.io/api/mcp directly from your machine, the cloud-egress consideration in Before you connect doesn’t apply — but your local network does need to reach that URL.

Adding and authenticating

Add the Parabola server to Claude Code:
```
claude mcp add --transport http parabola https://parabola.io/api/mcp
```
By default this registers the server for the current project directory only. Add --scope user to make it available across all your projects:
```
claude mcp add --transport http --scope user parabola https://parabola.io/api/mcp
```
Start a Claude Code session:
```
claude
```
Authenticate by running /mcp, selecting parabola, and completing the Parabola OAuth sign-in in the browser window that opens. Then return to the terminal.
Confirm the connection with claude mcp list (in the terminal) or /mcp (in a session). You should see parabola listed. That’s it! 🎉

For teammates

Each person needs to run both steps above — adding the server and authenticating — on their own machine, since server definitions and OAuth tokens are stored locally per user.

If you want teammates to skip the add step, run the command with --scope project instead. This writes the server definition to a .mcp.json file in the project directory that you can commit to your repo. Teammates who pull the repo inherit the server automatically and only need to run /mcp to authenticate with their own account.

A note on connectors vs. CLI

If you’ve already connected Parabola as a custom connector in Claude.ai, it may appear in your /mcp list inside Claude Code with a claude.ai prefix. That connector is managed in the Claude app’s settings, not the CLI — claude mcp remove won’t affect it. The steps above add a separate, CLI-managed connection.

Connect from Gemini CLI

Applies to: Gemini CLI (gemini), Google’s terminal AI agent. As of June 18, 2026, Gemini CLI is only available to organizations with a Gemini Code Assist Standard or Enterprise license, or paid Gemini / Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform API keys. If you’re on a personal Google account (free, Google AI Pro, or Ultra), Gemini CLI stopped serving requests around that time — use Antigravity CLI instead. Like Claude Code, Gemini CLI connects to Parabola directly from your machine rather than brokering through Google’s cloud. There’s no one-time admin setup on the Parabola side — each person adds the server and authenticates individually from their terminal. OAuth is always per-user; one teammate connecting does not connect it for anyone else.

Adding and authenticating

You’ll do everything in this section from your computer’s Terminal app. On Mac, open Spotlight (⌘+Space), type “Terminal”, and press Enter. On Windows, open Windows Terminal from the Start menu. Before you start: you’ll need to be signed in to a Google account that your organization has assigned a Gemini Code Assist Standard or Enterprise license. If your team has already set up a Gemini API key or Vertex AI access for you to use with Gemini CLI, those work too — but Code Assist is the path most Parabola customers will take.

Install Node.js if you don't have it.

Gemini CLI needs Node.js version 20 or higher. Check by pasting this into Terminal and pressing Enter:

node --version

If you see v20.11.0 or higher, skip to the next step. Otherwise, download the LTS version from nodejs.org, install it, then close and reopen Terminal.

Install Gemini CLI.

Paste and press Enter:

npm install -g @google/gemini-cli

Takes about 30 seconds.

Paste and press Enter:

gemini

You’ll see a Get started screen asking how to authenticate. Select Sign in with Google (arrow keys + Enter) and complete sign-in in the browser window that opens. Return to Terminal — you should land on the Gemini CLI welcome screen. Type /quit and press Enter; we’ll come back in a later step.If you see “Your current account is not eligible for Gemini Code Assist for individuals,” your Google account doesn’t have a Code Assist license. See the troubleshooting note at the bottom of this section.

Create the config file.

Paste and press Enter:

mkdir -p ~/.gemini && touch ~/.gemini/settings.json

This creates a hidden folder called .gemini in your home directory and an empty settings.json file inside it. Nothing visible happens — that’s expected.

Add the Parabola server to the config file.

Paste this whole block into Terminal and press Enter:

cat > ~/.gemini/settings.json << 'EOF'
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "parabola": {
      "httpUrl": "https://parabola.io/api/mcp"
    }
  }
}
EOF

To confirm it saved correctly, paste this and press Enter:

cat ~/.gemini/settings.json

You should see the same JSON printed back to you.

Start Gemini CLI and authenticate with Parabola.

Paste and press Enter:

gemini

Inside Gemini CLI, type /mcp and press Enter. You’ll see parabola listed. Select it with arrow keys, press Enter, and choose Authenticate. A browser window opens for the Parabola sign-in — complete it and come back to Terminal.

Confirm it worked.

Type /mcp again. Parabola should now show as 🟢 Ready with a list of tools underneath. 🎉Try asking “List my Parabola flows”. The first time it uses a Parabola tool, you’ll be asked to approve.

For teammates

Each person needs to run these steps — installing Gemini CLI, editing their own ~/.gemini/settings.json, and authenticating — on their own machine, since MCP configs and OAuth tokens are stored locally per user.

Troubleshooting

Failed to sign in. Your current account is not eligible for Gemini Code Assist for individuals — your Google account doesn’t have a Gemini Code Assist Standard/Enterprise license. Two options:
- If your organization uses Gemini API keys or Vertex AI, restart gemini and pick that auth method instead.
- Otherwise, use Antigravity CLI — it’s Google’s replacement for personal-account users and takes about 5 minutes to set up.
command not found: gemini — the install didn’t complete or your Terminal doesn’t know about the new command yet. Close Terminal completely and reopen it. If that doesn’t fix it, ask IT for help with the install.
EACCES or permission denied during npm install — your laptop is blocking the install. Ask IT to install @google/gemini-cli globally.
“This app is blocked” during Google sign-in — your Google Workspace admin hasn’t approved Gemini CLI. Ask them to allow it in the admin console.
No MCP servers configured — Gemini CLI didn’t find your config. Run cat ~/.gemini/settings.json and verify the file exists and matches the JSON above.
Unauthorized [Auth Needed] on the parabola row — the server is reachable but you haven’t completed OAuth yet. Type /mcp, select parabola, and choose Authenticate.
Server doesn’t show up at all — verify you used httpUrl, not url or serverUrl.

📄 Official Gemini CLI docs

Connect from Antigravity CLI

Applies to: Antigravity CLI (agy), Google’s replacement for Gemini CLI on personal Google accounts (free, Google AI Pro, and Ultra). If your organization has a Gemini Code Assist Standard or Enterprise license, use Gemini CLI above instead. Antigravity CLI works the same way as Gemini CLI — it connects to Parabola directly from your machine and OAuth is per-user — but the config file lives in a different location and uses a different key name.

Adding and authenticating

Install Antigravity CLI.

Paste this into Terminal and press Enter:

curl -fsSL https://antigravity.google/cli/install.sh | bash

Takes about a minute. If Terminal says agy: command not found after installation, close Terminal completely and reopen it, then continue.

Paste and press Enter:

agy auth login

A browser window opens. Sign in with your Google account, then return to Terminal.

Create the config file.

Paste and press Enter:

mkdir -p ~/.gemini/config && touch ~/.gemini/config/mcp_config.json

This creates the folder ~/.gemini/config and an empty mcp_config.json file inside it. Nothing visible happens — that’s expected.

Add the Parabola server to the config file.

Paste this whole block into Terminal and press Enter:

cat > ~/.gemini/config/mcp_config.json << 'EOF'
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "parabola": {
      "serverUrl": "https://parabola.io/api/mcp"
    }
  }
}
EOF

Antigravity CLI uses serverUrl — not url or httpUrl like other MCP clients. Copy-pasting a config from Gemini CLI, Cursor, or VS Code won’t work.

To confirm it saved correctly, paste this and press Enter:

cat ~/.gemini/config/mcp_config.json

You should see the same JSON printed back to you.

Start Antigravity CLI.

Paste and press Enter:

agy

Authenticate with Parabola.

Inside Antigravity CLI, type /mcp and press Enter. You’ll see parabola listed (likely with an “Unauthorized [Auth Needed]” note — that’s expected). Select it with arrow keys, press Enter, and choose Authenticate. A browser window opens for the Parabola sign-in — complete it and come back to Terminal.

Confirm it worked.

Type /mcp again. Parabola should now show as connected with a list of tools underneath. 🎉 Try asking “List my Parabola flows” to see it in action. The first time it uses a Parabola tool, you’ll be asked to approve.

For teammates

Each person needs to run these steps on their own machine, since MCP configs and OAuth tokens are stored locally per user.

Troubleshooting

agy: command not found — the installer finished but your Terminal doesn’t know about it yet. Close Terminal completely and reopen it, then try again.
Installer fails with a permissions error — your laptop is blocking the install. Ask IT to install Antigravity CLI on your machine.
“This app is blocked” during Google sign-in — your Google Workspace admin hasn’t approved Antigravity CLI. Ask them to allow it in the admin console.
No MCP servers configured — the config file is empty or malformed. Run cat ~/.gemini/config/mcp_config.json and verify it matches the JSON above.
Unauthorized [Auth Needed] on the parabola row — the server is reachable but you haven’t completed OAuth yet. Type /mcp, select parabola, press Enter, and choose Authenticate.
Server doesn’t show up at all — check that you used serverUrl (not url or httpUrl) and that the file lives at ~/.gemini/config/mcp_config.json (not ~/.gemini/settings.json).

📄 Official Antigravity CLI docs

Connect from Cursor

Cursor connects to https://parabola.io/api/mcp directly from your machine over Streamable HTTP, and authenticates each user individually via OAuth. There’s no one-time admin setup — every person adds the server and signs in on their own machine.

Adding the server

Open Cursor and navigate to Settings.
Go to Tools & MCP and click New MCP Server. This opens your mcp.json file.

Add the Parabola server:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "parabola": {
      "url": "https://parabola.io/api/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Save the file (Cmd/Ctrl + S). Cursor picks up the change immediately — there’s no separate save button in the settings panel.

Authenticating

Return to Settings → Tools & Integrations. The parabola entry appears with a status indicator and a Connect button, since the server requires OAuth.
Click Connect and complete the Parabola OAuth sign-in in the browser window that opens, then return to Cursor.
Confirm the entry shows a green status indicator and that Parabola’s tools are listed. If they don’t appear, check Developer: Show Logs in the Command Palette.

Cursor enforces a limit of roughly 40 tools across all enabled MCP servers combined. If Parabola’s tools don’t all load, disable other MCP servers you’re not actively using.

For teammates

Each person adds the server and authenticates on their own machine — server definitions and OAuth tokens are stored locally per user. To let teammates skip the manual add, commit an mcp.json with the Parabola entry to your project; teammates who pull it inherit the server and only need to complete the OAuth sign-in.

Connect from ChatGPT

Applies to: ChatGPT web (and mobile, once connected on web) Plans: Business, Enterprise, Edu. Custom MCP connectors with full tool support aren’t available on Free or Plus.

One-time initial setup

(Likely needs to be done by an owner of the ChatGPT account.)

Go to Workspace Settings
Go to Apps and hit Create
Enable developer mode
Click New app form and hit Create
- Name: Parabola
- Description: Run and inspect Parabola flows from ChatGPT
- MCP Server URL: https://parabola.io/api/mcp
- Authentication: OAuth
The app should now appear in your “Drafts”
Publish this draft step so the others can use it.

Enabling the Parabola MCP for your ChatGPT account

In ChatGPT, go to Settings → Apps
Search “Parabola”
Click Connect and complete the Parabola OAuth sign-in.

Using the Parabola MCP in chats

Start a new conversation, click +, then More, then enable the Parabola connector for this conversation. You’ll need to re-enable it in each new chat. 📄 Official OpenAI docs

Connect from Glean

Please contact help@parabola.io if you’d like to connect the Parabola MCP to Glean.

Connect from other MCP-compatible tools

Parabola’s MCP server follows the open MCP spec, so it works with any compliant client. You need three things:

The server URL: https://parabola.io/api/mcp
OAuth 2.0
Support for Streamable HTTP

We want to hear from you

The Parabola MCP keeps getting better thanks to feedback from people using it. Share thoughts, questions, and ideas at help@parabola.io.

​What you can do with the Parabola MCP

​1. Adoption, cost, and ROI visibility

​2. Operational health monitoring

​3. Coverage planning and single-point-of-failure detection

​4. Discoverability and reuse before building something new

​Server details

​Before you connect

​Connect from Claude

​One-time initial setup

​Enabling the Parabola MCP

​Connect from Claude Code

​Adding and authenticating

​For teammates

​A note on connectors vs. CLI

​Connect from Gemini CLI

​Adding and authenticating

​For teammates

​Troubleshooting

​Connect from Antigravity CLI

​Adding and authenticating

​For teammates

​Troubleshooting

​Connect from Cursor

​Adding the server

​Authenticating

​For teammates

​Connect from ChatGPT

​One-time initial setup

​Enabling the Parabola MCP for your ChatGPT account

​Using the Parabola MCP in chats

​Connect from Glean

​Connect from other MCP-compatible tools

​We want to hear from you

What you can do with the Parabola MCP

1. Adoption, cost, and ROI visibility

2. Operational health monitoring

3. Coverage planning and single-point-of-failure detection

4. Discoverability and reuse before building something new

Server details

Before you connect

Connect from Claude

One-time initial setup

Enabling the Parabola MCP

Connect from Claude Code

Adding and authenticating

For teammates

A note on connectors vs. CLI

Connect from Gemini CLI

Adding and authenticating

For teammates

Troubleshooting

Connect from Antigravity CLI

Adding and authenticating

For teammates

Troubleshooting

Connect from Cursor

Adding the server

Authenticating

For teammates

Connect from ChatGPT

One-time initial setup

Enabling the Parabola MCP for your ChatGPT account

Using the Parabola MCP in chats

Connect from Glean

Connect from other MCP-compatible tools

We want to hear from you