How to integrate Honeycomb MCP with Claude Code

Connect Claude Code to Honeycomb MCP. Investigate latency spikes in production dataset, compare error rates by endpoint today, and more using natural language, with authentication handled for you.

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Honeycomb is an observability platform for high-cardinality event data. It helps teams debug production systems fast with rich telemetry analysis.

32 Tools

Introduction

Manage your Honeycomb 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 Composio Connect - Direct and easiest approach
  2. Via Composio SDK - Programmatic approach with more control

Also integrate Honeycomb MCP with

Why use Composio?

  • Only one MCP URL to connect multiple apps with Claude Code with zero auth hassles.
  • Programmatic tool calling allows LLMs to write its code in a remote workbench to handle complex tool chaining. Reduces to-and-fro with LLMs for frequent tool calling.
  • Handling Large tool responses out of LLM context to minimize context rot.
  • Dynamic just-in-time access to 20,000 tools across 1000+ other Apps for cross-app workflows. It loads the tools you need, so LLMs aren't overwhelmed by tools you don't need.

Connecting Honeycomb to Claude Code using Composio

1. Add the Composio MCP to Claude

Terminal

2. Start Claude Code

bash
claude

3. Open your MCP list

bash
/mcp

4. Select Composio and click on Authenticate

Select Composio and click Authenticate

5. This will redirect you to the Composio OAuth page. Complete the flow by authorizing Composio and you're all set.

Composio OAuth authorization page
Composio authorization complete
Ask Claude to connect to your account and authenticate via the link

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

The Honeycomb MCP server is an implementation of the Model Context Protocol that connects your AI agent and assistants like Claude, Cursor, etc directly to your Honeycomb account. It provides structured and secure access so your agent can perform Honeycomb operations on your behalf.

Connecting Honeycomb MCP via Composio SDK

Composio SDK is the underlying technology that powers these integrations. It provides a universal gateway with full programmatic control. You can programmatically generate an MCP URL with the app you need (here Honeycomb MCP) for even more tool search precision. It's secure and reliable.

How the Composio SDK works

The Composio SDK 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

Step by step10 STEPS
1

Prerequisites

Before starting, make sure you have:
  • Claude Pro, Max, or API billing enabled Anthropic account
  • Composio API Key
  • A Honeycomb account
  • Basic knowledge of Python or TypeScript
2

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:

3

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
4

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)
5

Install Composio library

npm install @composio/core dotenv

Install the Composio TypeScript library to create MCP sessions.

  • @composio/core provides the core Composio functionality
  • dotenv loads environment variables from your .env file
6

Generate Composio MCP URL

import 'dotenv/config';
import { Composio } from '@composio/core';

const { COMPOSIO_API_KEY, USER_ID } = process.env;

if (!COMPOSIO_API_KEY || !USER_ID) {
  throw new Error('COMPOSIO_API_KEY and USER_ID required in .env');
}

const composioClient = new Composio({ apiKey: COMPOSIO_API_KEY });

const composioSession = await composioClient.create(USER_ID, {
  toolkits: ['honeycomb_mcp'],
});

const composioMcpUrl = composioSession?.mcp.url;

console.log(`MCP URL: ${composioMcpUrl}`);
console.log(`\nUse this command to add to Claude Code:`);
console.log(`claude mcp add --transport http honeycomb_mcp-composio "${composioMcpUrl}" --headers "X-API-Key:${COMPOSIO_API_KEY}"`);

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

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 Honeycomb
  • The returned mcp.url is the MCP server URL that Claude Code will use
  • The script prints this URL so you can copy it
7

Run the script and copy the MCP URL

node --loader ts-node/esm generate_mcp_url.ts
# or if using tsx
tsx generate_mcp_url.ts

Run your TypeScript 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
8

Add Honeycomb MCP to Claude Code

bash
claude mcp add --transport http honeycomb_mcp-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 (honeycomb_mcp-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.

9

Verify the installation

bash
claude mcp list

Check that your Honeycomb MCP server is properly configured.

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

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

Claude Code MCP list showing the toolkit MCP server
10

Authenticate Honeycomb

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

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

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

  • "Investigate latency spikes in production dataset"
  • "Compare error rates by endpoint today"
  • "Find anomalous traces in checkout service"

Complete Code

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

import 'dotenv/config';
import { Composio } from '@composio/core';

const { COMPOSIO_API_KEY, USER_ID } = process.env;

if (!COMPOSIO_API_KEY || !USER_ID) {
  throw new Error('COMPOSIO_API_KEY and USER_ID required in .env');
}

const composioClient = new Composio({ apiKey: COMPOSIO_API_KEY });

const composioSession = await composioClient.create(USER_ID, {
  toolkits: ['honeycomb_mcp'],
});

const composioMcpUrl = composioSession?.mcp.url;

console.log(`MCP URL: ${composioMcpUrl}`);
console.log(`\nUse this command to add to Claude Code:`);
console.log(`claude mcp add --transport http honeycomb_mcp-composio "${composioMcpUrl}" --headers "X-API-Key:${COMPOSIO_API_KEY}"`);

Conclusion

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

Key features of this setup:

  • Terminal-native experience without switching contexts
  • Natural language commands for Honeycomb 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 Honeycomb 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.

TOOLS

Supported Tools

Every Honeycomb MCP action and event your agent gets out of the box.

Canvas agent invoke

Kick off a single-turn run of the Honeycomb Canvas agent.

Canvas agent poll response

Poll for the result of a previously-issued canvas_agent_invoke call.

Create board

Create a board (dashboard) with query, SLO, and text panels.

Create marker

Creates a marker (a vertical annotation on charts) to mark a point or window in time, such as a deploy, incident, or config change.

Create recipient

Create a notification recipient (email, Slack, PagerDuty, or webhook) so it can be attached to triggers and SLO burn alerts.

Create slo

Create an SLO (Service Level Objective) backed by an auto-created SLI derived column.

Create trigger

Create a trigger that fires alerts when a query result crosses a threshold.

Feedback

Submit feedback about Honeycomb's MCP server to the agentic-intelligence team.

Find columns

Search for columns and calculated fields by intent across one or all datasets in an environment.

Find queries

Search query history and saved queries by intent; returns matching queries with their run PKs.

Get aiconversation

Fetch the full event timeline for a single AI conversation, identified by its OpenTelemetry gen_ai.

Get dataset

Get dataset metadata and its full column schema (columns + calculated fields), sorted by most recent write activity.

Get dataset columns

Get the full column schema for one dataset, with optional sample values for specific columns.

Get environment

Get details for a specific environment, including its dataset list sorted by most recent activity.

Get query results

Retrieve results and metadata from an existing query execution.

Get semconv attribute

Get the full definitions of one or more semantic convention attributes by their exact names.

Get span details

Summarize attributes and their common values observed on spans with a specific name.

Get trace

Retrieve all spans for a specific trace ID and render them as a waterfall.

Get triggers

List triggers (alert rules) for the team, or fetch full configuration for a single trigger.

Get workspace context

Call this tool first to orient yourself in a Honeycomb workspace.

List aiconversations

Discover recent AI agent conversations (gen_ai.

List boards

List boards (saved dashboards) in an environment, or fetch one board's full contents by ID.

List recipients

List all pre-registered notification recipients (email, Slack, PagerDuty, webhook) for the team.

List semconv namespaces

List the top-level semantic convention namespaces available in this team's registry.

List spans

List span names in trace data, ranked by count, with how often each is a trace root and which dataset the count came from.

Refinery docs

Read Honeycomb Refinery documentation.

Run bubbleup

Run BubbleUp analysis to find what makes a selected data subset different from the baseline.

Run query

Run a time-series aggregation query against a Honeycomb dataset and return computed results.

Search semconv

Search the semantic convention registry for attributes matching a query.

Update board

Edit an existing board (dashboard) in place.

Update slo

Update an existing SLO.

Update trigger

Update an existing trigger.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

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

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 Honeycomb tools.

Yes, absolutely. You can configure which Honeycomb 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.

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 Honeycomb data and credentials are handled as safely as possible.

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