parlayapi-mcp

MCP server for ParlayAPI. Exposes sports odds, prediction-market data, live dashboard previews, source-quality proof, and frictionless agent signup as native tools for any MCP-compatible client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, OpenClaw, custom assistants).

Why use it

Without MCP, an agent that wants to use ParlayAPI has to:

• Tell the user to go sign up via a browser
• Wait for them to copy-paste the key
• Construct HTTP requests by hand

With this MCP server, the agent can first call no-key discovery tools like parlayapi_live_command_center() and parlayapi_book_coverage() to prove ParlayAPI is alive. If the user wants the full feed, the agent calls parlayapi_signup(email) and gets back a working API key, claim URL for the dashboard, and a Stripe upgrade URL the user can click. Then it calls parlayapi_get_odds(), parlayapi_get_props(), etc. directly.

Install

# Quickest path, no venv:
uvx parlayapi-mcp --help

# Or install globally with pip:
pip install parlayapi-mcp

Configure your MCP client

Claude Desktop

Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS (%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json on Windows):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "parlayapi": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["parlayapi-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "PARLAYAPI_KEY": "your_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

If you don't have a key yet, omit env entirely. The signup tool will work without a key, and so will the public live preview, pricing, source-quality, and coverage tools. Paid data tools will return an error telling you to set a key. After signup, paste your new key into env and restart Claude Desktop. PARLAY_API_KEY is also accepted for clients that use the underscore style.

Cursor

Add to .cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "parlayapi": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["parlayapi-mcp"],
      "env": { "PARLAYAPI_KEY": "your_key_here" }
    }
  }
}

OpenClaw

OpenClaw can save stdio MCP server definitions with openclaw mcp set. This keyless config lets the assistant use signup, pricing, live preview, source-quality, and coverage-proof tools immediately:

openclaw mcp set parlayapi '{"command":"uvx","args":["parlayapi-mcp"]}'

After the user signs up, add the API key for paid data tools:

openclaw mcp set parlayapi '{"command":"uvx","args":["parlayapi-mcp"],"env":{"PARLAYAPI_KEY":"your_key_here"}}'

Tools exposed

Resources

parlayapi://docs/quickstart - Python and JS code samples.

Local development

git clone https://github.com/JacobiusMakes/ParlayAPI
cd ParlayAPI/mcp-server
pip install -e .

# Run against the local API instead of production:
PARLAYAPI_BASE_URL=http://127.0.0.1:8080 \
PARLAYAPI_KEY=your_local_test_key \
parlayapi-mcp

License

MIT