MCP stands for Model Context Protocol. It’s a way to give Claude access to tools and data outside of the conversation. You don’t need to understand how it works — just follow the setup steps below and Claude will handle the rest.
What you can ask Claude
Once connected, ask Claude anything about your WhiteWhale data:- “Which accounts should I reach out to today?”
- “Add these 20 companies to my list: [paste domains]”
- “What signals am I tracking and are they configured well?”
- “How many account credits do I have left?”
- “Find me new target accounts that match my ICP” Claude will pull your live WhiteWhale data and respond in plain English — no dashboards, no exports, no copy-pasting.
Prerequisites
You need a WhiteWhale account with an API key.Get your API key
In WhiteWhale, go to Settings → API & Webhooks → click Generate API Key. Copy the key — you’ll need it in the next step. Your user is the email address you use to log into WhiteWhale.Setup: Claude Connector (Easiest)
This is the fastest way to connect — no downloads, no config files, no terminal.1
Open Claude and go to Connectors
In Claude, go to Settings → Connectors → Custom Connectors.
2
Add the WhiteWhale connector
Paste this URL:
https://app.getwhitewhale.com/mcpPress connect and in Claude you will be prompted to login to your account and authorize to complete the Claude connection.3
Start a new chat with Claude
Open a new chat and tell Claude who you are and what you want. Example prompt:
4
You're connected
Claude will respond with your actual WhiteWhale data. From here, keep asking questions in plain English — “Show me signals on [company]”, “What’s my score on [account]”, “Add these domains to my list.”
Setup: MCP (Advanced)
If you use the Claude Code or ChatGPT, you can connect via a config file instead. Requires: Node.js 18 or later1
Find your Claude Desktop config file
Open this file in any text editor:
- Mac:
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json - Windows:
%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
2
Add WhiteWhale to the config
Paste the following into the file, replacing the placeholder values with your actual API key and email:
3
Restart Claude Desktop
Fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop. You should see whitewhale appear in the tools list.
Setup: Claude Code
If you use Claude Code (the command line version), run this command in your terminal:Built-in workflows
Claude comes with a set of pre-built WhiteWhale workflows you can trigger with a single prompt:Troubleshooting
WhiteWhale isn't showing up in Claude's tools list
WhiteWhale isn't showing up in Claude's tools list
Fully quit and restart Claude Desktop or Claude Code after editing the config file. A partial close won’t pick up the changes.
Authentication failed (401 error)
Authentication failed (401 error)
Check that your API key has no extra spaces or line breaks when you pasted it. Make sure
BIRDDOG_USER is the exact email address you use to log into WhiteWhale.Error: Missing credentials
Error: Missing credentials
Make sure
BIRDDOG_API_KEY and BIRDDOG_USER are inside the "env" block in your config file, not in the "args" section.Node version error
Node version error
Run
node --version in your terminal. If it shows lower than v18, download the latest version of Node.js.How to update to the latest version
How to update to the latest version
Run
npx --yes @getbirddog/mcp@latest in your terminal.Optional: faster startup
By default, the MCP downloads fresh each time Claude starts. To make it launch faster, install it globally:"command": "npx" to "command": "birddog-mcp" and remove the "args" line from your config.
GitHub: github.com/BirdDog-Intel/WhiteWhale-MCP
Related
API Reference
Access WhiteWhale data programmatically without Claude.
Using the Why Now Summary
Understand the account data Claude is pulling for you.

