Tulip MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides comprehensive access to the Tulip API, enabling LLMs to interact with the Tulip manufacturing platform functionality including tables, records, machines, stations, interfaces, users, and more.

✨ Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have Node.js installed on your system. This is required to run the server.

🚀 Getting Started

This guide will walk you through running the server and connecting it to an MCP client like Cursor or Claude Desktop.

1. Configure Your Credentials

Create a file named .env in a folder of your choice. Copy and paste the following, replacing the placeholders with your actual Tulip credentials.

• Your TULIP_BASE_URL is the URL you use to access Tulip (e.g., https://my-company.tulip.co).
• Your TULIP_WORKSPACE_ID is in your Tulip URL after /w/ (for most users, this is DEFAULT).

TULIP_API_KEY=your_api_key_here
TULIP_API_SECRET=your_api_secret_here
TULIP_BASE_URL=https://your-instance.tulip.co
TULIP_WORKSPACE_ID=DEFAULT

⚠️ Important: The TULIP_WORKSPACE_ID is required if you are using an Account API key (obtained from Account Settings). With a Workspace API key (obtained from Workspace Settings) you can leave it unset; station and interface tools then use the DEFAULT workspace, so set it if your key belongs to a different workspace.

2. Run the Server

Open your terminal or command prompt, navigate to the folder containing your .env file, and run:

npx @tulip/mcp-server

The server will start and is now ready to be connected to an MCP client.

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🔌 Connecting to an MCP Client

When using a client, the server is run in a different environment where it may not find your .env file automatically. To solve this, you must provide the full path to your .env file using the --env flag.

1. From the Claude Desktop menu bar, select Settings… > Developer > Edit Config.
2. This will open the claude_desktop_config.json file.
3. Add the server configuration inside the mcpServers object. You must replace "C:\\path\\to\\your\\.env" with the actual path you copied.

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "tulip-mcp": {
         "command": "npx",
         "args": [
           "@tulip/mcp-server",
           "--env",
           "C:\\path\\to\\your\\.env"
         ]
       }
     }
   }