Getting Started

Everything below is for connecting Apogee to your own AI assistant.

Apogee connects to your AI assistant via the Model Context Protocol (MCP). Paste one URL into your client's connector settings and sign in with an Apogee account to unlock 50+ policy intelligence capabilities - legislation, hearings, lobbying, campaign finance, regulatory filings, news, and a 200K+ entity knowledge graph. Most clients need nothing else: no API key, no config file, no restart.

You don't call individual tools. You ask questions in plain language, and the research agent figures out which capabilities to use, queries across data sources, and returns synthesized intelligence with citations.

Step 1: Add Apogee to your AI client

Using Claude

Use the one-click link: Add Apogee to Claude. It opens Claude with the connector already filled in - click Add, then Connect, and sign in with your Apogee account.

This works in both Claude Desktop and claude.ai, on every plan including Free.

Using ChatGPT

ChatGPT connects to custom MCP servers through Developer mode (beta):

1. Open Settings > Connectors > Advanced, and toggle on Developer mode (on some accounts this is under Settings > Apps > Advanced settings)
2. Back in the Connectors tab, add a new connector and paste:

   https://mcp.apog.ai/mcp
   

3. Sign in with your Apogee account when prompted

Developer mode requires a Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, or Education plan (not available on the Free tier), and is currently web only. On a Business or Enterprise workspace, a workspace admin may need to enable Developer mode before it appears in your settings.

Using Gemini

Gemini connects custom MCP servers through Connected Apps:

1. In gemini.google.com, open Settings & help > Connected Apps
2. Under Custom apps for Spark, click Add a custom app
3. Paste the server URL:

   https://mcp.apog.ai/mcp
   

4. Click Next and sign in with your Apogee account when prompted

This requires a personal Google Account (not a work or school account) with access to Gemini Spark.

Using Copilot

Microsoft Copilot handles custom MCP servers differently from the clients above: an end user can't add one directly. A Microsoft 365 admin first registers Apogee as a federated connector for the organization (Microsoft 365 admin center > Copilot connectors > Create a new connector > Connect to MCP server, using the URL above). Once it's registered, each user connects individually from Copilot Chat > Settings > Sources, finds Apogee in the list, and signs in with their Apogee account.

If your organization doesn't have Apogee set up as a connector yet, ask your Microsoft 365 admin to add it, or contact us and we'll walk them through it.

Using Cursor and other MCP clients

Cursor and most other MCP-capable clients follow the same shape: open the client's MCP or connector settings, add a server by URL, and paste:

https://mcp.apog.ai/mcp

In Cursor, this is under Settings > MCP Servers. Naming varies by client, but the pattern is the same. Where the client supports OAuth, it handles the exchange automatically - sign in with your Apogee account when prompted, and there is nothing else to copy or paste.

Step 2: Ask a question

Once connected, try a test question:

"What bills about AI regulation were introduced this Congress?"

If configured correctly, your assistant will use Apogee to search legislation and return results with citations. There is no restart needed - the OAuth connection is live as soon as you sign in.

Advanced: Connect with an API key

Get your API key

1. Sign in at apog.ai
2. Open the Connect page
3. Click Generate New Key
4. Copy the key (starts with apk_)

Store your API key securely. It won't be shown again after you leave the page.

Claude Code (CLI)

claude mcp add apogee --transport streamable-http https://mcp.apog.ai/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Scripts and other non-interactive clients

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apogee": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apog.ai/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

• Transport: Streamable HTTP
• Authentication: Bearer token in the Authorization header

After saving a config file, fully quit and relaunch the client for it to take effect - this restart is only needed for the config-file path, not the OAuth sign-in path above.

Troubleshooting

Sign-in problems (OAuth path)

• If sign-in redirects fail, confirm you're using the same Apogee account as apog.ai
• Check that https://mcp.apog.ai/health returns {"status":"ok"} in your browser
• Try removing and re-adding the connector if the client shows it as connected but tool calls fail

Connection not working (API key path)

• Verify your API key starts with apk_ and has no extra spaces
• Make sure you fully restarted your AI assistant after saving the config
• Check that https://mcp.apog.ai/health returns {"status":"ok"} in your browser

Authentication errors

• Confirm your account is active on the Connect page
• Regenerate your API key if needed

Need help?

Contact us or ask in the chat client.

Guides by role

Next steps

• Briefings - Get automated briefings in your inbox
• Intelligence Capabilities - See all 50+ capabilities with example queries
• Data Sources - What data powers the platform
• Example Queries - See what you can ask