nsmbl-mcp 0.1.dev13

MCP server for NSMBL API - enables LLMs to create systematic investment strategies and run backtests

NSMBL MCP Server

Model Context Protocol server for NSMBL API - enables LLMs to create systematic investment strategies and run backtests

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Prerequisites
• Installation
• MCP Client Setup
• Quick Start
• Available Tools
• Usage Examples
• Configuration
• Troubleshooting
• Billing Notes
• Links

Overview

The NSMBL MCP Server provides LLM access to the NSMBL API for creating systematic investment strategies and running sophisticated backtests. It implements the Model Context Protocol (MCP), enabling AI assistants like Claude to interact with NSMBL's investment platform.

Key Features

• 14 Tools covering assets, strategies, and backtests
• Asset Management: Browse and search stocks and ETFs
• Strategy Creation: Build basket, tactical, ensemble, and portfolio strategies
• Backtesting: Run historical simulations with automatic polling
• Async Support: Built for MCP's async-first architecture
• Convenience Tools: Auto-polling tools for better UX with long-running backtests

Prerequisites

For Users:

• Homebrew (macOS only) - Install from brew.sh if not already installed
• uv Package Manager - Fast Python package installer (see installation below)
• NSMBL API Account - Sign up at app.nsmbl.io
• NSMBL API Key - Get your key from the NSMBL dashboard
• MCP-Compatible Client - Claude Desktop, Cursor, Cline, or other MCP clients

For Developers:

• Python 3.10+ (Python 3.11 or 3.12 recommended)
• Git - For cloning the repository
• All of the above

Installation

📖 Detailed guide: See INSTALLATION.md for comprehensive platform-specific instructions and troubleshooting.

For Users (Recommended - Zero Setup!)

The easiest way to use NSMBL MCP is through uvx, which automatically handles installation and updates:

Step 1: Install uv (one-time setup)

macOS (Recommended):

brew install uv

Using Homebrew ensures uvx is in the system PATH and works with GUI applications like Claude Desktop.

Linux:

curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

After installation, add ~/.local/bin to your PATH if needed.

Windows:

powershell -c "irm https://astral.sh/uv/install.ps1 | iex"

Step 2: Configure your MCP client

That's it! Just add the configuration below to your MCP client, and the server will auto-install when first used.

For Developers

If you want to contribute or modify the code:

git clone https://github.com/nsmbl/nsmbl-mcp.git
cd nsmbl-mcp
pip install -e .

Note: The -e flag installs in editable mode, which means changes to the source code are immediately active without reinstalling.

API Key Setup

Get your NSMBL API key from app.nsmbl.io - you'll add it to your MCP client configuration below.

MCP Client Setup

Claude Desktop

1. Open your Claude Desktop configuration file:

   • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
   • Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add the NSMBL MCP server configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nsmbl": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["nsmbl-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "NSMBL_API_KEY": "your_api_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace: your_api_key_here with your actual NSMBL API key from app.nsmbl.io

3. Restart Claude Desktop - the server will auto-install on first use!

For Developers: If you're developing locally with pip install -e ., use this config instead:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nsmbl": {
      "command": "/path/to/nsmbl-mcp/venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["-m", "nsmbl_mcp.server"],
      "env": {"NSMBL_API_KEY": "your_api_key_here"}
    }
  }
}

Verification

After setup, ask Claude: "What NSMBL tools do you have available?"

You should see 14 tools listed (2 asset tools, 5 strategy tools, 6 backtest tools).

Quick Start

Example 1: List Available Assets

User: Show me some available ETFs to invest in

Claude will use: list_assets(asset_type="etf")

Example 2: Create a Simple Basket Strategy

User: Create a risk parity basket strategy with VTI and VEA, 
      rebalanced monthly, called "Global Diversified"

Claude will use: create_strategy with appropriate configuration

Example 3: Run a Backtest

User: Backtest the VTI asset from 2020 to 2023 with $100,000 initial capital

Claude will use: create_backtest_and_wait for automatic completion

Available Tools

Asset Tools (2)

Tool	Description	Cost
list_assets	List all tradeable stocks/ETFs with pagination and optional filtering	1¢
get_asset	Get details for a specific asset by symbol or ID	1¢

Strategy Tools (5)

Tool	Description	Cost
create_strategy	Create systematic investment strategies (basket/tactical/ensemble/portfolio)	1¢
list_strategies	List all your strategies with optional type filtering	Free
get_strategy	Get complete strategy details by ID or symbol	Free
update_strategy	Update strategy name or configuration	1¢
delete_strategy	Delete a strategy permanently	Free

Backtest Tools (6)

Raw API Tools:

Tool	Description	Cost
create_backtest	Queue a backtest (returns immediately)	1¢ + usage
get_backtest	Get backtest status and results	Free
list_backtests	List all backtests with filtering	Free

Convenience Tools:

Tool	Description	Notes
create_backtest_and_wait	Create and auto-poll until complete	Better UX
wait_for_backtest	Poll existing backtest until done	Use after create
check_backtest_status	Quick status check	Lightweight

Usage Examples

Creating Different Strategy Types

Basket Strategy (Risk Parity)

Create a risk parity basket with VTI, VEA, and AGG, 
monthly rebalancing, 252-day lookback

Tactical Strategy (Momentum)

Create a momentum tactical strategy that selects top 3 
performers from VTI, VEA, VWO, EEM with 60-day momentum, 
equal weight allocation, monthly rebalancing

Ensemble Strategy

Create an ensemble combining my "Global Diversified" and 
"Tech Momentum" strategies with equal weight allocation

Working with Backtests

Immediate Return (Manual Polling)

User: Create a backtest for VTI from 2020-01-01 to 2023-12-31
Claude: Uses create_backtest, returns backtest_id immediately

User: Check status of that backtest
Claude: Uses get_backtest to poll status

Auto-Wait (Better UX)

User: Run a complete backtest for my "Global Diversified" strategy
Claude: Uses create_backtest_and_wait, waits up to 5 minutes for completion

Handling Errors

The MCP server provides clear, actionable error messages:

• 401 Errors: Check your API key in .env
• 402 Errors: Add credits at app.nsmbl.io
• 422 Errors: Validation failed - check parameters
• 429 Errors: Rate limit - wait before retrying
• Timeouts: Use wait_for_backtest with longer timeout

Updating

For Users (uvx)

Updates are automatic! Every time you restart your MCP client (like Claude Desktop), uvx checks for the latest version and updates if needed.

To force an immediate update:

uvx --force nsmbl-mcp --version

For Developers (editable install)

When you pull updates from GitHub, the changes are immediately active thanks to editable mode:

# Pull latest changes
git pull origin main

# That's it! Just restart your MCP client to reload

For Claude Desktop:

1. Quit Claude Desktop completely (Cmd+Q on Mac)
2. Reopen Claude Desktop
3. Your updated MCP server is now active

Why this works: The -e flag in pip install -e . creates a symbolic link to your source code rather than copying files. Any changes to the source are automatically picked up - no reinstallation needed!

How Auto-Publishing Works

• Every commit to main is automatically published to PyPI via GitHub Actions
• Users with uvx get updates automatically on next MCP client restart
• Version numbers are derived from git history (e.g., 0.1.0.dev123+abc1234)
• Tagged releases get clean version numbers (e.g., 0.1.0)

Configuration

Environment Variables

Variable	Required	Default	Description
NSMBL_API_KEY	Yes	-	Your NSMBL API key
NSMBL_API_BASE_URL	No	https://api.nsmbl.io/api/v1	API endpoint
NSMBL_REQUEST_TIMEOUT	No	30	Request timeout (seconds)
NSMBL_BACKTEST_POLL_INTERVAL	No	5	Polling interval (seconds)
NSMBL_BACKTEST_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT	No	300	Max wait time for backtests (seconds)

Optional JSON Config

Create ~/.nsmbl/mcp-config.json for additional preferences:

{
  "request_timeout": 60,
  "backtest_poll_interval": 3,
  "backtest_default_timeout": 600
}

Troubleshooting

"Missing required environment variable: NSMBL_API_KEY"

Solution: Ensure your .env file exists and contains your API key:

NSMBL_API_KEY=your_actual_key_here

"Authentication failed"

Solution: Verify your API key is correct at app.nsmbl.io

"Insufficient funds"

Solution: Add credits to your NSMBL account at app.nsmbl.io

"Rate limit exceeded"

Solution: Wait 60 seconds before retrying. Backtest endpoint has a 10/minute rate limit.

"Backtest timeout"

Solution: Complex strategies take longer. Use wait_for_backtest with a longer timeout:

• Asset backtests: usually < 30 seconds
• Basket strategies: usually < 60 seconds
• Tactical/Ensemble/Portfolio: may take 2-5 minutes

Network or connection errors

Solution: Check your internet connection and verify NSMBL_API_BASE_URL is correct.

Changes not reflected after git pull

Solution:

1. Verify you installed with -e flag: pip show nsmbl-mcp should show your source directory location
2. If not installed in editable mode, reinstall: pip install -e .
3. Always restart your MCP client (e.g., Claude Desktop) after pulling changes

"spawn uvx ENOENT" or "uvx not found" in Claude Desktop

Problem: Claude Desktop can't find the uvx command even though it works in your terminal.

Solution:

• macOS: Reinstall uv via Homebrew (recommended):

  brew install uv
  

  Homebrew installs to /opt/homebrew/bin which is in Claude Desktop's PATH.

• If you installed via curl script: Create a symlink to a system PATH location:

  sudo ln -s ~/.local/bin/uvx /usr/local/bin/uvx
  

• Alternative: Use the full path in your config:

  {
    "command": "/Users/YOUR_USERNAME/.local/bin/uvx",
    "args": ["nsmbl-mcp"]
  }
  

Billing Notes

Charged Operations (1¢ each)

• list_assets - Market data lookup
• get_asset - Market data lookup
• create_strategy - Strategy creation
• update_strategy - Strategy modification
• create_backtest - Backtest creation (+ projected usage based on complexity)

Free Operations

• list_strategies - Read your own data
• get_strategy - Read your own data
• delete_strategy - Resource cleanup
• get_backtest - Read results (designed for polling)
• list_backtests - Read your own data
• All convenience tools use free polling internally

Projected Usage for Backtests

When you create a backtest, NSMBL pre-charges projected usage based on complexity:

• Asset backtests: 60¢
• Basket strategies: $1.20
• Tactical strategies: $1.80
• Ensemble strategies: $2.40
• Portfolio strategies: $3.00

Actual usage is charged when the backtest completes. If it costs less, you're refunded the difference.

Links

• NSMBL Dashboard: app.nsmbl.io
• NSMBL API Documentation: docs.nsmbl.io
• MCP Protocol: modelcontextprotocol.io
• Get Support: [e-mail]

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details

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