How to integrate Circleci MCP with Claude Code

Framework Integration Gradient
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Introduction

Manage your Circleci directly from Claude Code with zero worries about OAuth hassles, API-breaking issues, or reliability and security concerns.

You can do this in two different ways:

  1. Via Rube - Direct and easiest approach
  2. Via Composio SDK - Programmatic approach with more control

Why Rube?

Rube is a universal MCP server with access to 850+ SaaS apps. It ensures just-in-time tool loading so Claude can access the tools it needs, a remote workbench for programmatic tool calling and handling large tool responses out of the LLM context window, ensuring the LLM context window remains clean.

Connect Circleci to Claude Code with Rube

1. Get the MCP URL

Copy and paste the below command in Claude Code to add Rube MCP.

Terminal

2. Authenticate Rube

Run /mcp to view Rube

bash
/mcp
Run /mcp to view Rube in Claude Code
Click on Rube to authenticate
Authentication flow complete

3. Ensure it's connected

Run /mcp again to verify the connection. Now, do whatever you want with Claude Code and Circleci.

Rube connected successfully

Supported Tools & Triggers

Tools
Get Job ArtifactsTool to retrieve artifacts produced by a specific job.
Get Job DetailsTool to fetch details of a specific job within a project.
Get Pipeline ConfigTool to fetch pipeline configuration by id.
Get Test MetadataTool to fetch test metadata for a specific job.
Get User InformationTool to retrieve information about a circleci user by their unique id.
List Pipelines for ProjectTool to list all pipelines for a specific project.
List Self-Hosted RunnersTool to list available self-hosted runners.
List Workflows by Pipeline IDTool to list all workflows associated with a specific pipeline.
Trigger PipelineTool to trigger a new pipeline for the specified project.

What is the Circleci MCP server, and what's possible with it?

The Circleci MCP server is an implementation of the Model Context Protocol that connects your AI agent and assistants like Claude, Cursor, etc directly to your Circleci account. It provides structured and secure access to your Circleci projects and pipelines, so your agent can trigger builds, fetch job artifacts, monitor workflows, and analyze test results on your behalf.

  • Automated pipeline triggering and management: Let your agent start new builds for specific branches or tags, enabling continuous integration workflows without manual intervention.
  • Workflow and job status monitoring: Ask your agent to fetch detailed information about jobs and workflows, including status, timing, and execution environment, to stay on top of your CI/CD processes.
  • Artifact and test result retrieval: Have the agent collect job artifacts or extract comprehensive test metadata and failure messages for easier debugging and reporting.
  • Pipeline and runner insights: Get your agent to list all pipelines for a project or enumerate available self-hosted runners, making it simple to manage and audit your Circleci resources.
  • User and configuration access: Retrieve user profile details or fetch pipeline YAML configurations as needed for documentation, troubleshooting, or workflow optimization.

Connecting Circleci via Tool Router

Tool Router is the underlying tech that powers Rube. It's a universal gateway that does everything Rube does but with much more programmatic control. You can programmatically generate an MCP URL with the app you need (here Circleci) for even more tool search precision. It's secure and reliable.

How the Tool Router works

The Tool Router follows a three-phase workflow:

  1. Discovery: Searches for tools matching your task and returns relevant toolkits with their details.
  2. Authentication: Checks for active connections. If missing, creates an auth config and returns a connection URL via Auth Link.
  3. Execution: Executes the action using the authenticated connection.

Step-by-step Guide

Prerequisites

Before starting, make sure you have:
  • Claude Pro, Max, or API billing enabled Anthropic account
  • Composio API Key
  • A Circleci account
  • Basic knowledge of Python or TypeScript

Install Claude Code

bash
# macOS, Linux, WSL
curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

# Windows PowerShell
irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex

# Windows CMD
curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.cmd -o install.cmd && install.cmd && del install.cmd

To install Claude Code, use one of the following methods based on your operating system:

Set up Claude Code

bash
cd your-project-folder
claude

Open a terminal, go to your project folder, and start Claude Code:

  • Claude Code will open in your terminal
  • Follow the prompts to sign in with your Anthropic account
  • Complete the authentication flow
  • Once authenticated, you can start using Claude Code
Claude Code initial setup showing sign-in prompt
Claude Code terminal after successful login

Set up environment variables

bash
COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_composio_api_key_here
USER_ID=your_user_id_here

Create a .env file in your project root with the following variables:

  • COMPOSIO_API_KEY authenticates with Composio (get it from Composio dashboard)
  • USER_ID identifies the user for session management (use any unique identifier)

Install Composio library

pip install composio-core python-dotenv

Install the Composio Python library to create MCP sessions.

  • composio-core provides the core Composio functionality
  • python-dotenv loads environment variables from your .env file

Generate Composio MCP URL

import os
from composio import Composio
from dotenv import load_dotenv

load_dotenv()

COMPOSIO_API_KEY = os.getenv("COMPOSIO_API_KEY")
USER_ID = os.getenv("USER_ID")

composio_client = Composio(api_key=COMPOSIO_API_KEY)

composio_session = composio_client.create(
    user_id=USER_ID,
    toolkits=["circleci"],
)

COMPOSIO_MCP_URL = composio_session.mcp.url

print(f"MCP URL: {COMPOSIO_MCP_URL}")
print(f"\nUse this command to add to Claude Code:")
print(f'claude mcp add --transport http circleci-composio "{COMPOSIO_MCP_URL}" --headers "X-API-Key:{COMPOSIO_API_KEY}"')

Create a script to generate a Composio MCP URL for Circleci. This URL will be used to connect Claude Code to Circleci.

What's happening:

  • We import the Composio client and load environment variables
  • Create a Composio instance with your API key
  • Call create() to create a Tool Router session for Circleci
  • The returned mcp.url is the MCP server URL that Claude Code will use
  • The script prints this URL so you can copy it

Run the script and copy the MCP URL

python generate_mcp_url.py

Run your Python script to generate the MCP URL.

  • The script connects to Composio and creates a Tool Router session
  • It prints the MCP URL and the exact command you need to run
  • Copy the entire claude mcp add command from the output

Add Circleci MCP to Claude Code

bash
claude mcp add --transport http circleci-composio "YOUR_MCP_URL_HERE" --headers "X-API-Key:YOUR_COMPOSIO_API_KEY"

# Then restart Claude Code
exit
claude

In your terminal, add the MCP server using the command from the previous step. The command format is:

  • claude mcp add registers a new MCP server with Claude Code
  • --transport http specifies that this is an HTTP-based MCP server
  • The server name (circleci-composio) is how you'll reference it
  • The URL points to your Composio Tool Router session
  • --headers includes your Composio API key for authentication

After running the command, close the current Claude Code session and start a new one for the changes to take effect.

Verify the installation

bash
claude mcp list

Check that your Circleci MCP server is properly configured.

  • This command lists all MCP servers registered with Claude Code
  • You should see your circleci-composio entry in the list
  • This confirms that Claude Code can now access Circleci tools

If everything is wired up, you should see your circleci-composio entry listed:

Claude Code MCP list showing the toolkit MCP server

Authenticate Circleci

The first time you try to use Circleci tools, you'll be prompted to authenticate.

  • Claude Code will detect that you need to authenticate with Circleci
  • It will show you an authentication link
  • Open the link in your browser (or copy/paste it)
  • Complete the Circleci authorization flow
  • Return to the terminal and start using Circleci through Claude Code

Once authenticated, you can ask Claude Code to perform Circleci operations in natural language. For example:

  • "Trigger a new pipeline on main branch"
  • "List all pipelines for backend service"
  • "Get test results from last successful build"

Complete Code

Here's the complete code to get you started with Circleci and Claude Code:

import os
from composio import Composio
from dotenv import load_dotenv

load_dotenv()

COMPOSIO_API_KEY = os.getenv("COMPOSIO_API_KEY")
USER_ID = os.getenv("USER_ID")

composio_client = Composio(api_key=COMPOSIO_API_KEY)

composio_session = composio_client.create(
    user_id=USER_ID,
    toolkits=["circleci"],
)

COMPOSIO_MCP_URL = composio_session.mcp.url

print(f"MCP URL: {COMPOSIO_MCP_URL}")
print(f"\nUse this command to add to Claude Code:")
print(f'claude mcp add --transport http circleci-composio "{COMPOSIO_MCP_URL}" --headers "X-API-Key:{COMPOSIO_API_KEY}"')

Conclusion

You've successfully integrated Circleci with Claude Code using Composio's MCP server. Now you can interact with Circleci directly from your terminal using natural language commands.

Key features of this setup:

  • Terminal-native experience without switching contexts
  • Natural language commands for Circleci operations
  • Secure authentication through Composio's managed MCP
  • Tool Router for dynamic tool discovery and execution

Next steps:

  • Try asking Claude Code to perform various Circleci operations
  • Add more toolkits to your Tool Router session for multi-app workflows
  • Integrate this setup into your development workflow for increased productivity

You can extend this by adding more toolkits, implementing custom workflows, or building automation scripts that leverage Claude Code's capabilities.

How to build Circleci MCP Agent with another framework

FAQ

What are the differences in Tool Router MCP and Circleci MCP?

With a standalone Circleci MCP server, the agents and LLMs can only access a fixed set of Circleci tools tied to that server. However, with the Composio Tool Router, agents can dynamically load tools from Circleci and many other apps based on the task at hand, all through a single MCP endpoint.

Can I use Tool Router MCP with Claude Code?

Yes, you can. Claude Code fully supports MCP integration. You get structured tool calling, message history handling, and model orchestration while Tool Router takes care of discovering and serving the right Circleci tools.

Can I manage the permissions and scopes for Circleci while using Tool Router?

Yes, absolutely. You can configure which Circleci scopes and actions are allowed when connecting your account to Composio. You can also bring your own OAuth credentials or API configuration so you keep full control over what the agent can do.

How safe is my data with Composio Tool Router?

All sensitive data such as tokens, keys, and configuration is fully encrypted at rest and in transit. Composio is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and follows strict security practices so your Circleci data and credentials are handled as safely as possible.

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