ACCESS-CI now offers public Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers that let AI assistants interact directly with ACCESS services. If you use Claude or another MCP-compatible AI tool, you can connect it to query compute resources, check system status, search software, explore allocations, and more — all through natural conversation.
What Can You Do?
With ACCESS MCP servers connected, you can ask your AI questions like:
- "What GPU resources are available on ACCESS-CI and what machine learning software do they have?"
- "Are there any current outages or upcoming maintenance on Delta?"
- "Show me upcoming workshops on parallel computing"
- "What research projects are using allocations on Anvil?"
- "What NSF-funded projects are doing work in quantum computing?"
Your AI assistant queries the relevant ACCESS services and gives you a synthesized answer — no need to navigate multiple websites or APIs.
What's Available
Nine servers are publicly available at mcp.access-ci.org. Most work without authentication for browsing and searching:
| Server | What It Provides |
|---|---|
| Compute Resources | Hardware specs, GPU availability, system capabilities |
| System Status | Current outages, maintenance schedules, incidents |
| Software Discovery | Software packages available across ACCESS resources |
| XDMoD | Usage statistics, visualizations, resource utilization |
| Allocations | Research projects, allocation trends, collaboration discovery |
| NSF Awards | NSF funding data and cross-referencing |
| Events | Workshops, webinars, training sessions |
| Announcements | Community news and updates |
| Affinity Groups | Community groups, events, and knowledge base |
A tenth server, XDMoD Data Analytics, provides per-user job and usage data and requires a personal API token. It works with Claude Code and other CLI MCP clients but isn't currently compatible with Claude.ai connectors. See the setup guide for details.
How to Set It Up
These servers use the Model Context Protocol (MCP), an open standard supported by Claude and a growing number of AI tools.
Most tools work without logging in (see Logging In in the documentation for which servers require authentication and how to authenticate).
Claude Desktop or claude.ai:
- In Claude, open Customize (palette/settings icon) > Connectors
- Click "Add custom connector"
- Paste
https://mcp.access-ci.org/compute-resources/sseinto the Server URL box - Save and authorize when prompted
You can add as many servers as you like — start with one, then add more later as needed. See the setup guide for all server URLs.
Claude automatically uses the ACCESS tools whenever they can help answer your questions, so just ask naturally: "What GPU resources are available?" or "Show me upcoming Python workshops." You'll see Claude reference the relevant tools as it answers.
Claude Code and other MCP clients: See the setup guide for CLI commands and configuration.
The Model Context Protocol is supported by a growing number of AI tools beyond Claude. The ACCESS MCP servers should work with any client that supports remote MCP servers, but we've focused our testing on Claude. If you successfully connect another client — or run into trouble — please open a support ticket so we can improve the docs and expand support.
Full documentation: mcp.access-ci.org/docs/
What's Ahead
These servers are actively maintained and we're continuing to expand what's available. Feedback is welcome — let us know what would be most useful for your research workflow.