MCP stands for Model Context Protocol. It’s a way to give Claude access to tools and data outside of the conversation. You don’t need to understand how it works — just follow the setup steps below and Claude will handle the rest.
What you can ask Claude
Once connected, ask Claude anything about your WhiteWhale data:- “Which accounts should I reach out to today?”
- “Add these 20 companies to my list: [paste domains]”
- “What signals am I tracking and are they configured well?”
- “How many account credits do I have left?”
- “Find me new target accounts that match my ICP” Claude will pull your live WhiteWhale data and respond in plain English — no dashboards, no exports, no copy-pasting.
Prerequisites
Before you start, you need:- Node.js version 18 or later installed on your computer — download it here
- A WhiteWhale account with an API key (see below)
Get your API key
In WhiteWhale, go to Settings → API & Webhooks → click Generate API Key. Copy the key — you’ll need it in the next step. Your user is the email address you use to log into WhiteWhale.Setup: Claude Desktop
Claude Desktop is the app you download and run on your Mac or Windows computer.Find your Claude Desktop config file
Open this file in any text editor:
- Mac:
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json - Windows:
%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
Add WhiteWhale to the config
Paste the following into the file, replacing the placeholder values with your actual API key and email:
Restart Claude Desktop
Fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop. You should see whitewhale appear in the tools list.
Setup: Claude Code
If you use Claude Code (the command line version), run this command in your terminal:Built-in workflows
Claude comes with a set of pre-built WhiteWhale workflows you can trigger with a single prompt:| Ask Claude | What it does |
|---|---|
| ”Show me my daily priorities” | Your highest-scoring accounts ranked by signal activity |
| ”Add accounts” | Validates and uploads a list of companies |
| ”Review my signals” | Checks your current signal setup and suggests improvements |
| ”Find new accounts” | Runs Account Suggestions to discover new target accounts |
| ”Give me an account overview” | Full summary of your WhiteWhale setup and health |
Troubleshooting
WhiteWhale isn't showing up in Claude's tools list
WhiteWhale isn't showing up in Claude's tools list
Fully quit and restart Claude Desktop or Claude Code after editing the config file. A partial close won’t pick up the changes.
Authentication failed (401 error)
Authentication failed (401 error)
Check that your API key has no extra spaces or line breaks when you pasted it. Make sure
BIRDDOG_USER is the exact email address you use to log into WhiteWhale.Error: Missing credentials
Error: Missing credentials
Make sure
BIRDDOG_API_KEY and BIRDDOG_USER are inside the "env" block in your config file, not in the "args" section.Node version error
Node version error
Run
node --version in your terminal. If it shows lower than v18, download the latest version of Node.js.How to update to the latest version
How to update to the latest version
Run
npx --yes @getbirddog/mcp@latest in your terminal.Optional: faster startup
By default, the MCP downloads fresh each time Claude starts. To make it launch faster, install it globally:"command": "npx" to "command": "birddog-mcp" and remove the "args" line from your config.
GitHub: github.com/BirdDog-Intel/WhiteWhale-MCP
Related
API Reference
Access WhiteWhale data programmatically without Claude.
Using the Why Now Summary
Understand the account data Claude is pulling for you.

