Connect the MCP server

Jump to: Claude · ChatGPT · Claude Code · Cursor · VS Code · Gemini CLI · Other clients · Check it works · Troubleshooting

Claude (web and desktop app)

1. Open Settings → Connectors and choose Add custom connector.
2. Name it DeepDNA and paste https://deepdna.ai/mcp as the URL. Leave the OAuth fields empty: there is nothing to sign in to.
3. Click Add. In a chat, turn the connector on from the + menu, under Connectors.

Which plans can add custom connectors, and the exact labels, are set by Anthropic and can change; its help center has the current list. In a Team or Enterprise organization, an owner adds the connector first and members then turn it on.

ChatGPT

1. Open Settings → Apps (called Apps & Connectors in some versions), then Advanced settings, and turn on Developer mode.
2. Choose Create. Name it DeepDNA, paste https://deepdna.ai/mcp as the server URL and set authentication to No authentication.
3. Confirm the notice about custom connectors and create it. In a chat, pick DeepDNA from the tools menu or mention it.

Developer mode is available on the plans OpenAI lists in its help center, and in a workspace an admin may need to allow it. The menu names have changed more than once.

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http deepdna https://deepdna.ai/mcp

Run claude mcp list to see it, or /mcp inside a session.

Cursor

Add the server to ~/.cursor/mcp.json (all projects) or .cursor/mcp.json (one project):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "deepdna": { "type": "http", "url": "https://deepdna.ai/mcp" }
  }
}

VS Code

Add it to .vscode/mcp.json. VS Code uses "servers" instead of "mcpServers":

{
  "servers": {
    "deepdna": { "type": "http", "url": "https://deepdna.ai/mcp" }
  }
}

The tools then appear in Chat, in agent mode.

Gemini CLI

gemini extensions install https://github.com/alfonsoguv/deepdna-mcp

This installs the same remote, read-only server as an extension.

Other clients

Any client that supports remote MCP servers over Streamable HTTP can use the same URL with no authentication. The server is stateless and listed in the official MCP registry as ai.deepdna/knowledge. Clients that cannot speak MCP can generate tools from the OpenAPI spec of the REST API, which serves the same records.

Check that it works

Ask: “Use DeepDNA to list the genes it covers.” The model should call list_genes and answer with 12 genes. Without a client:

curl -s https://deepdna.ai/mcp \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Accept: application/json, text/event-stream" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/list"}'

The answer lists the five tools: list_genes, lookup_gene, lookup_variant, lookup_drug_gene and check_medications.

What to ask

• “What do pharmacogenomic guidelines say about CYP2C19 and clopidogrel?” → lookup_drug_gene {"gene": "CYP2C19", "drug": "clopidogrel"}
• “Do any of these have a curated drug–gene record: simvastatin, codeine, omeprazole, metformin?” → check_medications {"medications": [...]}, which says, for each drug, whether the record rests on a CPIC or DPWG guideline, a drug label or the literature, and which drugs are not covered. Not covered does not mean no interaction.
• “What is rs4244285?” → lookup_variant {"rsid": "rs4244285"}

Every answer carries its sources and a notice that it is educational information only. Decisions about a medication stay with the prescriber.

If it does not work

• The client asks you to sign in. Choose no authentication. DeepDNA has no accounts.
• The tools do not appear in a chat. Most clients need the connector turned on for each conversation.
• The model answers from memory. Name the tool or the server in the question: “Use DeepDNA to…”.
• A tool refuses an argument. The tools take gene symbols, rsIDs and generic drug names only. An argument they do not declare, such as a genotype, is refused.

Have a raw DNA file?

The remote server never reads DNA files. The open-source package deepdna-mcp reads a 23andMe, AncestryDNA or MyHeritage export on your own computer and sends nothing from the file to DeepDNA; what it reports becomes part of your conversation with the AI model. How to install it.

What a request records

Requests are counted without IP addresses or request bodies. The privacy policy says exactly what each request records. Please do not type a personal genetic result into a question. Full reference: MCP server docs. A worked example with real outputs: a pharmacogenomics MCP server for Claude, Cursor and VS Code.