How to Connect Claude Code to dfin.pro MCP

1.0 Before you start

You will need:

• A dfin.pro account. If you signed up with an email address rather than Google, verify your email first.
• Claude Code, installed and reasonably up to date. Run claude --version to check your version, and claude update to get the latest.
• Permission from your organization, if it manages Claude Code plugins or connections. Ask your admin if plugin options are missing.

You may not need to install anything. If you already installed the dfin.pro plugin in Claude on the web or the desktop app, Claude Code can pick it up from your account. This works when you sign in to Claude Code with your Claude subscription, not with an API key or a cloud provider login. Claude Code checks your account for plugins when it starts, and running /login makes it check sooner. See Claude's plugin help page for the requirements. Check for the plugin before you add a second copy.

If you already have a working dfin.pro connection that uses an API key, it keeps working. You can switch to the plugin later.

2.0 Ask Claude Code to set it up

Open the Claude Code session you want to set up and paste this prompt:

Read https://www.dfin.pro/agents/claude-code.md and set up the dfin.pro MCP for Claude Code. Use curl if needed to access the site.  Guide me for any required authorization or client actions, and verify completion.

Claude Code will check what is already installed, install the plugin if it is missing, and then run a live dfin.pro query to confirm everything works. It will ask you to:

• approve the commands it wants to run,
• sign in and approve access on dfin.pro in your browser, and
• start a new session if it needs to, in which case it gives you a short prompt to continue.

If Claude Code can't load the instructions, or a step fails, follow the manual steps in sections 3.0 and 4.0 instead.

3.0 Install the plugin manually

Use this section if the prompt in section 2.0 didn't work, or if you prefer to do it yourself. If the plugin is already installed and turned on, skip ahead to Activate and authenticate.

Step 1: Check what is already installed. Run these commands in your terminal:

claude --version
claude plugin --help
claude plugin marketplace list
claude plugin list
claude mcp list

They show your Claude Code version, the plugin commands it supports, and the marketplaces, plugins and connections you already have. Look for dfin-financial-mcp in the plugin list. If it is there but turned off, turn it on from the /plugin menu inside Claude Code, unless your organization blocks that.

Step 2: Add the marketplace and install the plugin. A marketplace is a source Claude Code installs plugins from. Run:

claude plugin marketplace add dfin-pro/dfin-financial-mcp
claude plugin install dfin-financial-mcp@dfin --scope user

The plugin is installed for your user, so it is available in all your projects. It is installed on the computer that runs Claude Code, and this does not add it to your Claude account.

Install from inside Claude Code

If your version can't install from the shell, or you can't run those commands, open Claude Code and enter these commands instead:

/plugin marketplace add dfin-pro/dfin-financial-mcp
/plugin install dfin-financial-mcp@dfin

When Claude Code asks where to install the plugin, choose user scope. If your organization manages the plugin, use its approved installation instead.

4.0 Activate and authenticate

Once the plugin is installed, you need to load it and sign in.

Step 1: Load the plugin. In an open Claude Code session, run:

/reload-plugins

If Claude Code warns that reloading would make it read the conversation again, start a new session instead. Sessions that don't support reloading also need a new one.

Step 2: Sign in. Open the connection list:

/mcp

Find the connection that came with dfin-financial-mcp. It may be listed under the plugin's name rather than plain dfin. Select it and sign in. A dfin.pro page opens in your browser: review the access it asks for and approve it. If you are already signed in to dfin.pro in that browser, this goes faster.

If you started a new session, paste this prompt there to pick up where you left off:

Read https://www.dfin.pro/agents/claude-code.md and resume my Claude Code setup. Confirm the existing host/account/profile, inspect the connection, preserve its method, resume authentication if needed, and verify completion without reinstalling.

5.0 Try a research question

First, check the connection. Run /mcp and confirm the dfin connection shows as connected. Then type / and check that dfin-research is in the list of skills. Claude Code may show the plugin name first, for example dfin-financial-mcp:dfin-research.

Then try a question that needs financial data:

/dfin-research Which are the key reporting metrics used by Shift4 Payments?

Claude Code should show that it is using dfin.pro tools, then answer with figures, dates, and links to its sources. If it answers without using dfin.pro, or the tools or skills are missing, see Troubleshooting.

The first time Claude Code uses a dfin.pro tool, it asks for your permission. You can allow each request as it comes up, or choose to always allow the read-only tools, which only look up data. Write and delete tools let Claude Code create, edit, and archive your dfin.pro notes, so you only need to allow those if you want it to manage notes for you. Each question can use part of your dfin.pro allowance or credits.

To have Claude Code run the check for you, paste this prompt:

Read https://www.dfin.pro/agents/claude-code.md#verification and verify my existing Claude Code connection to dfin.pro without installing or changing configuration. Preserve its connection method, check the applicable installation components, and confirm access with live data.

6.0 Using skills

Skills are ready-made workflows that show Claude Code how to approach a task: what evidence to look for and how to present the result. The plugin installs the dfin.pro skills for you.

To use the research skill, start your message with /dfin-research, as in the example above. Type /dfin to see the exact names in your version.

The plugin includes five skills in total: research, stock screens, semantic screens, saving notes, and monitoring recent filings. The plugin repository describes each one.

Each skill is a folder with a SKILL.md text file in it, so you can write your own or adapt one. A good approach is to ask Claude Code to make the first edits, then fine-tune them by hand. To customize a dfin.pro skill, copy its folder into ~/.claude/skills/ under a different name. Plugin updates replace the plugin's own files, so a copy under your own name is safe.

7.0 Other connection methods

Most people should use the plugin. Use a direct connection if your organization doesn't allow plugins, or if you only want the dfin.pro tools without the research skills. Use OAuth unless you can't; an API key is the fallback. If the plugin connection already works, don't add a direct one as well.

Direct MCP with OAuth

Run this command in your terminal. It adds a connection named dfin that is available in all your projects. If you already have a connection with that name, check it with claude mcp list first, so you don't overwrite one that works.

claude mcp add --transport http dfin https://www.dfin.pro/mcp --scope user

Then open Claude Code, run /mcp, select dfin, and approve access on the dfin.pro page that opens in your browser. Don't add an Authorization header to this connection; it is only for the API-key method below.

API-key compatibility

Use this only if you can't sign in with OAuth. An API key is a private code that identifies your account, so keep it to yourself. Create one on your dfin.pro Account page.

Claude Code reads the key from an environment variable called DFIN_API_KEY, so the key itself never goes into the connection settings. Set the variable first:

Set DFIN_API_KEY yourself in the environment that launches the intended client. Never paste the key into a conversation. If it is already configured, reuse it without appending another setting.

For macOS Zsh:

echo 'export DFIN_API_KEY="paste-your-api-key-here"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

For Linux Bash:

echo 'export DFIN_API_KEY="paste-your-api-key-here"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

For Windows PowerShell:

[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("DFIN_API_KEY", "paste-your-api-key-here", "User")

For Windows Command Prompt:

setx DFIN_API_KEY "paste-your-api-key-here"

Reopen the terminal after setting a Windows user environment variable. Desktop apps may require the variable in their launch environment too; follow the client's guidance. Keep credentials private and out of version control.

Then add the connection. On macOS, Linux, and Windows PowerShell, keep the single quotes so the variable name is stored as written:

claude mcp add --transport http dfin https://www.dfin.pro/mcp -H 'Authorization: Bearer ${DFIN_API_KEY}' --scope user

On Windows Command Prompt, use double quotes instead:

claude mcp add --transport http dfin https://www.dfin.pro/mcp -H "Authorization: Bearer ${DFIN_API_KEY}" --scope user

The saved connection should contain ${DFIN_API_KEY}, not your key. Claude Code fills in the value from the environment. If dfin.pro rejects the key, check the variable rather than signing in with OAuth again. You can switch a working API-key connection to OAuth later, once you are ready to.

8.0 Troubleshooting

The plugin or tools are missing

• Run /plugin and /mcp in the Claude Code session you are using. Check that the plugin is turned on and the dfin connection is listed.
• If you just installed the plugin, run /reload-plugins or start a new session.
• If you use a direct connection instead of the plugin, you will see the tools but not the research skills, which is expected.
• If your organization manages Claude Code, the plugin may need an admin's approval.

claude isn't found, or the plugin commands don't work

Run claude update to get the latest version, then try again. If the shell commands still aren't available, use the commands inside Claude Code that are listed in section 3.0.

The plugin from my Claude account doesn't show up

Account plugins only sync when you sign in to Claude Code with your Claude subscription, not with an API key or a cloud provider login. Update Claude Code, restart it, and run /login to make it check your account again. Syncing can also be switched off with the syncClaudeAiPlugins setting, so check that it isn't set to false. If it still doesn't appear, install the plugin directly with section 3.0.

Sign-in was cancelled or expired

Run /mcp, select the dfin connection, and sign in again. Approve access in the browser. If you are working on a remote machine and the browser can't reach Claude Code, follow the instructions Claude Code shows on screen, and enter any code only where it asks for it. If the error says your account isn't eligible or your organization needs to approve access, signing in again won't help. Ask your account owner or admin.

Two dfin connections conflict

You may have both the plugin's connection and a direct one. Decide which you want to keep before removing either, and leave the one that works in place until the other is set up. Use claude mcp list to see your connections and claude mcp remove to delete the extra one.

Claude Code is connected but the answer has no data

Being connected doesn't guarantee that every question returns data. Read the message Claude Code shows: if it mentions your credits, a rate limit, or missing data for a company, follow the next step it suggests. Signing in again won't fix those.

Still stuck?

Email [email protected] with your Claude Code version (from claude --version) and the step where things went wrong. Please leave out API keys and private authorization links.

9.0 Updating the plugin

We recommend updating the plugin from time to time to get new skills and improvements to existing ones. If you installed it with the steps in this guide, run:

claude plugin update dfin-financial-mcp@dfin --scope user

Then run /reload-plugins or start a new session to use the update. If your version doesn't support this command, use the update options in the /plugin menu.

If the plugin came from your Claude account, update it in Claude instead (see Updating the plugin in the Claude guide). If your organization manages the plugin, follow its update process.

You usually stay signed in after an update. If Claude Code asks you to reconnect, run /mcp and sign in again. If you remove and reinstall the plugin instead of updating it, expect to sign in again.