CoinDesk Data MCP Server

Official

Institutional-grade crypto prices, derivatives and indices, queried in plain English

Remote serverstreamable-http

What is the CoinDesk Data MCP server?

Most search and retrieval work still happens through a UI a human drives. CoinDesk Data MCP server moves it into the conversation instead. Hosted MCP endpoint for CoinDesk Data: spot and index prices, futures and options analytics, order books, on-chain supply and CoinDesk news feeds.

The short version

Hosted MCP endpoint for CoinDesk Data: spot and index prices, futures and options analytics, order books, on-chain supply and CoinDesk news feeds.

The tools it exposes

The server publishes 39 tools. What each one is for:

  • fetch_spot_instruments — List the spot instruments CoinDesk covers on a given exchange, with mapping status
  • fetch_spot_instrument_details — Return metadata for a specific spot instrument — base and quote assets, first trade, mapping history
  • fetch_spot_tick — Latest spot tick for one or more instruments on a chosen market
  • fetch_spot_ohlcv — Historical spot OHLCV candles for an instrument at minute, hour or day resolution
  • fetch_spot_orderbook_metrics — Derived order book statistics such as depth and imbalance for a spot instrument
  • fetch_spot_orderbook_snapshot — Point-in-time bid/ask snapshot of a spot order book
  • fetch_spot_trades — Individual trade prints for a spot instrument over a time window
  • fetch_spot_toplist — Rank instruments or assets by volume or other metrics over a period
  • fetch_index_tick — Latest value for a CoinDesk index or benchmark
  • fetch_index_ohlcv — Historical OHLCV series for a CoinDesk index
  • fetch_futures_instruments — List futures and perpetual instruments available on a derivatives venue
  • fetch_futures_instrument_details — Contract metadata for a specific futures instrument

What it needs from you

A CoinDesk Data account and API key. Coverage, history depth and rate limits follow your subscription tier.

Getting it running

Because this one is hosted, setup is mostly authentication — you point your client at the endpoint and approve access. Nothing runs on your machine, so there is no runtime to keep patched.

How it compares

Plenty of search and retrieval servers cover similar ground. The differences that matter in practice are scope of access and how much setup stands between you and a working tool call. CoinDesk Data's toolset — fetch_spot_instruments, fetch_spot_instrument_details, fetch_spot_tick and 36 more — is a fair guide to whether it matches your workflow. It is maintained by CoinDesk Data rather than a third party, which usually means auth handling and breaking changes are dealt with faster.

SyncDev reviews every entry in this directory against the project's own documentation before publishing, and revisits them as servers change.

Things to watch

  • Your data travels to the provider's service, so the usual questions apply about what you send and what they retain.
  • With 39 tools registered it takes up a noticeable share of the context window; turn it off in projects that never touch CoinDesk Data.
  • Keep per-call confirmation enabled while you learn its behaviour; it is the cheapest safeguard you have.

What you can do with it

Cross-venue derivatives comparison

Pull funding rates and open interest for the same perpetual across several exchanges and have the assistant lay out where carry is cheapest and positioning is heaviest.

Backtest data assembly

Request hourly OHLCV over a defined range for a basket of pairs and get a clean, aligned series back without writing pagination or retry logic.

Expiry-week options review

Ask for open interest by strike and expiry on a major underlying to see where the gamma is clustered before a settlement date.

Research briefs with citations

Combine index levels, spot moves and CoinDesk news retrieval so a market note references the actual reporting rather than paraphrasing from memory.

Available tools

ToolWhat it does
fetch_spot_instrumentsList the spot instruments CoinDesk covers on a given exchange, with mapping status.
fetch_spot_instrument_detailsReturn metadata for a specific spot instrument — base and quote assets, first trade, mapping history.
fetch_spot_tickLatest spot tick for one or more instruments on a chosen market.
fetch_spot_ohlcvHistorical spot OHLCV candles for an instrument at minute, hour or day resolution.
fetch_spot_orderbook_metricsDerived order book statistics such as depth and imbalance for a spot instrument.
fetch_spot_orderbook_snapshotPoint-in-time bid/ask snapshot of a spot order book.
fetch_spot_tradesIndividual trade prints for a spot instrument over a time window.
fetch_spot_toplistRank instruments or assets by volume or other metrics over a period.
fetch_index_tickLatest value for a CoinDesk index or benchmark.
fetch_index_ohlcvHistorical OHLCV series for a CoinDesk index.
fetch_futures_instrumentsList futures and perpetual instruments available on a derivatives venue.
fetch_futures_instrument_detailsContract metadata for a specific futures instrument.
fetch_futures_tickLatest futures tick data for selected contracts.
fetch_futures_ohlcvHistorical futures OHLCV candles.
fetch_futures_oi_tickLatest open interest reading for a futures contract.
fetch_futures_oi_ohlcvOpen interest history as an OHLCV-style series.
fetch_futures_oi_by_hourHourly open interest aggregates for a futures contract.
fetch_futures_fr_tickLatest funding rate for a perpetual contract.
fetch_futures_fr_ohlcvFunding rate history as a time series.
fetch_futures_fr_by_hourHourly funding rate aggregates.
fetch_futures_orderbook_metricsDerived order book statistics for a futures instrument.
fetch_futures_orderbook_snapshotPoint-in-time futures order book snapshot.
fetch_futures_tradesTrade prints for a futures instrument.
fetch_options_instrumentsList listed options contracts for a venue or underlying.
fetch_options_instrument_detailsContract metadata for a specific option — strike, expiry, type.
fetch_options_tickLatest tick data for options contracts.
fetch_options_ohlcvHistorical options OHLCV candles.
fetch_options_oi_tickLatest open interest for an options contract.
fetch_options_oi_ohlcvOptions open interest history.
fetch_options_oi_by_hourHourly options open interest aggregates.
fetch_options_orderbook_metricsDerived order book statistics for options.
fetch_options_orderbook_snapshotPoint-in-time options order book snapshot.
fetch_options_tradesOptions trade prints over a window.
fetch_newsRetrieve CoinDesk news articles, filterable by source, category and time.
fetch_onchain_dex_instrumentsList decentralised exchange trading pairs covered on-chain.
fetch_onchain_dex_instrument_detailsMetadata for a specific DEX pair.
fetch_onchain_dex_tickLatest on-chain DEX price tick.
fetch_onchain_dex_ohlcvHistorical OHLCV candles for a DEX pair.
fetch_onchain_historical_supplyHistorical supply series for an asset, separating circulating from staked supply.

How to install the CoinDesk Data MCP server

claude mcp add coindesk --transport http https://mcp.coindesk.com/mcp

Configuration

A CoinDesk Data account and API key. Coverage, history depth and rate limits follow your subscription tier.

Example prompts to try

  • Give me hourly BTC-USD OHLCV on Coinbase for the last 14 days and highlight the three largest hourly ranges.
  • Compare current funding rates for BTC perpetuals across the venues CoinDesk covers.
  • Where is options open interest concentrated for ETH ahead of the next monthly expiry?
  • Rank the top 20 spot pairs by 24-hour volume and pull the latest CoinDesk headlines for the top three assets.

Frequently asked questions

You need a CoinDesk Data account at minimum. Authentication runs over OAuth 2.0 with PKCE and prompts you for a CoinDesk API key on first connection. Which markets, how far back the history goes and how many calls you can make are all governed by your plan, so a tool call can return an empty or restricted result if your tier does not include that venue or that depth of history.