Connect an AI assistant

Connect ChatGPT, Claude, grok.com, Claude Code, Cursor, Codex and other MCP clients to BounceOwl with an API key.

BounceOwl runs an MCP server, so AI assistants and coding agents can check addresses for you while you work. You ask in plain words, for example to check a handful of addresses or start a list, and the assistant uses your BounceOwl credits to do it.

Which assistants work

Chat apps with custom connectors: ChatGPT, Claude.ai and Claude Desktop, and grok.com. These connect with a URL that has your key in it.

Coding tools and agents: Claude Code, OpenAI Codex (CLI and IDE), Cursor, VS Code with GitHub Copilot, Zed, Cline, Hermes Agent, Grok Build CLI and the xAI API. These send your key in a header.

Connect ChatGPT, Claude.ai or grok.com

Create a new API key on the API & MCP page, named after the app (for example ChatGPT), and copy it.
In the app, add a custom connector with this URL, putting your key at the end: https://api.bounceowl.com/mcp?key=YOUR_API_KEY
Choose no authentication (or no sign-in) and save.

The URL contains your key, so treat it like a password. Using a separate key for each app means you can revoke one connection without affecting the others.

Connect a coding tool

Create an API key on the API & MCP page and copy it. See API keys.
Add the BounceOwl server to your assistant. The server address is https://api.bounceowl.com/mcp. It uses streamable HTTP, with your API key sent as a Bearer token in the Authorization header.
Ask your assistant to check an address to confirm it works.

The API & MCP page has ready-to-copy setup for Claude Code and for clients that use an mcp.json file, such as Cursor. Right after you create a key, those snippets include it. For step-by-step setup in each assistant, see the MCP setup page.

For Claude Code, the command looks like this:

claude mcp add --transport http bounceowl https://api.bounceowl.com/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

What the assistant can do

Tool	What it does
`verify_email`	Check one address.
`verify_emails`	Check up to 20 addresses at once.
`start_list`	Start a list of up to 50,000 addresses.
`list_status`	See how far a list has got.
`list_results`	Get the results of a list.
`catchall_check`	Run a catch-all check.
`get_credits`	See your credit balance.

Credits and history

Checks through MCP cost the same as anywhere else in BounceOwl, and the same free cases apply. Every check shows up in History with MCP in the From column, so you can see exactly what your assistant checked and what it cost.

To cut off an assistant's access, revoke its key on the API & MCP page. It stops working right away.

Last updated November 6, 2026