Connect to Banyan — MCP Setup

Claude.ai (web) and Claude Desktop both use the same connector screen. The setup below works for either one.

Open Settings → Connectors in Claude.ai or Claude Desktop, then click Add custom connector.

Name it Banyan and enter the URL:

https://api.banyan.vamitra.com/mcp/auth

You'll be redirected to sign in to Banyan (Google, Apple, or email). After signing in, all Banyan tools are available in the conversation.

What to say:

"Check in with Banyan and show me what's there"

"I want to research [topic] — create a knowledge tree for it"

"What ideas are on my idea board?"

Two ways to connect. The plugin (recommended) gets you tools + slash commands + session hooks + the operating-principles skill in one install. Manual MCP gets you just the tools.

Recommended: install the plugin

In Claude Code, add the Banyan plugin marketplace:

/plugin marketplace add badriram/banyan-claude-plugin

Install the plugin:

/plugin install banyan@banyan-plugins

You'll be prompted to sign in to Banyan via OAuth on first use.

What you get:

All Banyan MCP tools, auto-registered — no claude mcp add needed
Slash commands: /banyan:checkin, /banyan:capture, /banyan:status, /banyan:goal
Session hooks — startup reminds you to check in on a trunk; on stop, prompts you to write a handoff note for the next session
Operating-principles skill loaded automatically — agents learn Banyan nomenclature (trunks, branches, leaves, forests, groves, intents) and conventions (collaborate-then-change, the three primitives, per-session rituals) without you having to explain them

Manual: just the MCP server

Run this command in your terminal:

claude mcp add --transport http banyan https://api.banyan.vamitra.com/mcp/auth

Start Claude Code. You'll be prompted to sign in via OAuth on first use. Manual setup gets you the tools but not the slash commands, hooks, or skill.

What to say:

"Check in with Banyan, look at the idea board for open tasks"

"What shipped in the last two days?"

"Add this design decision to the architecture docs"

Banyan supports any MCP client via OAuth 2.1 or API key authentication.

OAuth 2.1 (recommended)

MCP endpoint: https://api.banyan.vamitra.com/mcp/auth

Discovery: https://api.banyan.vamitra.com/.well-known/oauth-authorization-server

API Key

MCP endpoint: https://api.banyan.vamitra.com/mcp

Header: x-api-key: YOUR_KEY

Contact banyan-support@vamitra.com for an API key.

Admin surface (operators)

A second MCP endpoint exposes operator tools — forest / grove creation, member management, list_forests / list_groves, prune, lint, discard_capture. Most clients don't need it; only attach when you're running org-level admin actions.

MCP endpoint: https://api.banyan.vamitra.com/mcp/admin

Auth: OAuth 2.1 (Cognito-only — no API key). Discovery URL same as above.

Once connected, just talk naturally

You don't need to know tool names. Just describe what you want — your AI assistant figures out which Banyan tools to use.

Research

"I want to explore whether GLP-1 drugs improve heart outcomes — set up a research tree with branches for literature, mechanisms, and trials"

Product planning

"Create a product planning trunk for Q3. I need branches for feature ideas, design decisions, and shipped work"

Capture & recall

"That insight about caching strategies is good — save it to Banyan so I can find it later"

Team collaboration

"Invite jordan@acme.com to my research forest as a reviewer. Set the trunk so contributions need human approval"

Cross-session memory

"Pull up my architecture notes from last week — I need to pick up where I left off"

Agent coordination

"Check in as researcher on the AI comparison trunk, see what tasks are assigned to me"

Banyan stores your knowledge as trees — trunks (ideas), branches (angles), leaves (content), and connections between them. Read the full guide to learn more.