Claude Desktop

Add LUU as an MCP server in Claude Desktop's config. About 2 minutes from get-key to first tool call.

What you'll get

Claude Desktop will have access to 27 strategic-judgment tools — forecasts, briefs, signals, risk assessment, scenario analysis, ACH-style alternatives, decision-frame composition, and more. You'll be able to type things like:

"Summarize today's brief and highlight any high-priority signals about the EU AI Act."

… and Claude calls the LUU MCP server directly.

Prerequisites

Claude Desktop installed (any version released since Oct 2025; MCP support is built in)
An LUU API key — sign up (free tier, no card)

Step 1 — open the Claude Desktop config

Platform	Path
macOS	`~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`
Windows	`%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json`
Linux	`~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`

If the file doesn't exist, create it.

Step 2 — paste this config

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "luu": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://api.leadershipunderuncertainty.org/api/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_LUU_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

If you already have other servers in mcpServers, just add the luu entry alongside them.

Step 3 — restart Claude Desktop

Quit completely (not just close the window) and reopen.

Step 4 — verify

In a new chat, type:

What MCP tools do you have access to?

You should see entries beginning with luu_ — luu_brief, luu_signals, luu_forecast, etc. There are 27 total.

Then test a real call:

Use the LUU brief tool to summarize today's intelligence brief.

Step 5 (optional) — install LUU Skills

Skills are pre-built workflow shortcuts. With Skills installed, you can type /morning-briefing and Claude invokes the right combination of LUU tools automatically.

mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills
git clone https://github.com/cberzins1973/luu-skills.git
cp -r luu-skills/skills/* ~/.claude/skills/

Restart Claude Desktop once more. Now you have 28 named workflows (/morning-briefing, /risk-dashboard, /swot-analysis, …) callable by name.

Troubleshooting

"I don't see luu_ tools in the list":

Check the JSON file is valid (paste into jsonlint.com if unsure)
Confirm the Authorization header has the literal word Bearer before your key
Check the Claude Desktop logs: ~/Library/Logs/Claude/ (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\logs\ (Windows)
Try the URL directly: curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY" https://api.leadershipunderuncertainty.org/api/mcp/health

"Tool calls fail with 401": Your key is wrong, expired, or from a different environment. Generate a fresh key.

"Tool calls fail with 429": You've hit the per-key rate limit. Wait 60 seconds.

"Tool calls fail with 402": Free-tier daily/monthly cap exceeded. Top up credits at /api/mcp/pay or upgrade.

Next steps

Install LUU Skills (above) for one-command workflows
Try Claude Code if you want to build custom workflows in code
See the substrate primitives doc to understand what each tool emits