Do I need an API key?

No! edX's Discovery API is completely free and open for public course catalog data. No authentication required.

Can I search courses by university?

Yes! Use search_courses with the org parameter to filter by organization (e.g. "HarvardX", "MITx", "BerkeleyX"). You can also search by topic, level, language and subject simultaneously.

What types of programs are available?

edX offers MicroMasters (graduate-level), Professional Certificates (industry-recognized), XSeries (multi-course), and Bootcamps (intensive). Use search_programs with type parameter to filter.

edX MCP Server for Claude Desktop 8 tools — connect in under 2 minutes

Name: edX
Availability: InStock
Author: Vinkius

modelcontextprotocol.io/quickstart/user

Built by Vinkius GDPR 8 Tools IDE

Claude Desktop is Anthropic's native application for interacting with Claude AI models on macOS and Windows. It was the first consumer application to ship with built-in MCP support, making it the reference implementation for the Model Context Protocol standard.

Get MCP Server for AI Agents

ASK AI ABOUT THIS MCP SERVER

Open in ChatGPT Open in Claude Open in Perplexity

Vinkius supports streamable HTTP and SSE.

RecommendedModern Approach — Zero Configuration

Vinkius Desktop App

The modern way to manage MCP Servers — no config files, no terminal commands. Install edX and 2,500+ MCP Servers from a single visual interface.

Download Free Open SourceNo signup required

Classic Setup·json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "edx": {
      // Your Vinkius token. get it at cloud.vinkius.com
      "url": "https://edge.vinkius.com/[YOUR_TOKEN_HERE]/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Fully ManagedVinkius Servers

60%Token savings

High SecurityEnterprise-grade

IAMAccess control

EU AI ActCompliant

DLPData protection

V8 IsolateSandboxed

Ed25519Audit chain

<40msKill switch

Stream every event to Splunk, Datadog, or your own webhook in real-time

* Every MCP server runs on Vinkius-managed infrastructure inside AWS - a purpose-built runtime with per-request V8 isolates, Ed25519 signed audit chains, and sub-40ms cold starts optimized for native MCP execution. See our infrastructure

About edX MCP Server

Connect to edX and explore the world's largest online learning platform through natural conversation — no API key needed.

Claude Desktop is the definitive way to connect edX to your AI workflow. Add Vinkius Edge URL to your config, restart the app, and Claude immediately exposes all 8 tools in the chat interface. ask a question, Claude calls the right tool, and you see the answer. Zero code, zero context switching.

What you can do

Course Search — Search thousands of courses by topic, university, level and language
Course Details — Get full course info including descriptions, prerequisites and effort estimates
Course Runs — Find upcoming and current course offerings with start dates and enrollment links
Programs — Browse MicroMasters, Professional Certificates, XSeries and Bootcamps
Organizations — Explore all partner universities and institutions (Harvard, MIT, Google, IBM)
Subjects — Discover all subject categories available on the platform

The edX MCP Server exposes 8 tools through the Vinkius. Connect it to Claude Desktop in under two minutes — no API keys to rotate, no infrastructure to provision, no vendor lock-in. Your configuration, your data, your control.

How to Connect edX to Claude Desktop via MCP

Follow these steps to integrate the edX MCP Server with Claude Desktop.

Open Claude Desktop Settings

Go to Settings → Developer → Edit Config to open claude_desktop_config.json

Add the MCP Server

Paste the configuration above into the mcpServers section

Restart Claude Desktop

Close and reopen Claude Desktop to load the new server

Start using edX

Look for the 🔌 icon in the chat. your 8 tools are now available

Why Use Claude Desktop with the edX MCP Server

Claude Desktop by Anthropic provides unique advantages when paired with edX through the Model Context Protocol.

Claude Desktop is the reference MCP client. it was designed alongside the protocol itself, ensuring the most complete and stable MCP implementation available

Zero-code configuration: add a server URL to a JSON file and Claude instantly discovers and exposes all available tools in the chat interface

Claude's extended thinking capability lets it reason through multi-step tool usage, chaining multiple API calls to answer complex questions

Enterprise-grade security with local config storage. your tokens never leave your machine, and connections go directly to Vinkius Edge network

edX + Claude Desktop Use Cases

Practical scenarios where Claude Desktop combined with the edX MCP Server delivers measurable value.

Interactive data exploration: ask Claude to query DNS records, look up WHOIS data, and cross-reference results in a single conversation

Ad-hoc security audits: type a domain name and let Claude enumerate subdomains, check DNS history, and flag configuration anomalies. all through natural language

Executive briefings: generate comprehensive domain intelligence reports by asking Claude to compile findings into a formatted summary

Learning and training: new team members can explore API capabilities conversationally without needing to read documentation

edX MCP Tools for Claude Desktop (8)

These 8 tools become available when you connect edX to Claude Desktop via MCP:

get_course

Returns title, description, organization, level, subjects, pacing, estimated effort, prerequisites and available course runs. Get detailed info for a specific edX course

get_course_run

Get details for a specific course run

get_course_runs

Optionally filter by course key and status (upcoming, current, archived). Get course runs (scheduled offerings) for courses

get_organizations

Returns organization names, descriptions, logos and course counts. Includes Harvard, MIT, Berkeley, Google, IBM and many more. Get partner organizations that offer courses on edX

get_program

Get details for a specific edX program

get_subjects

Returns subject names, descriptions and course counts. Useful for discovering what topics are covered on the platform. Get course subject categories

search_courses

Supports free-text search, filtering by organization, level (beginner/intermediate/advanced), language, subject. Returns course titles, descriptions, organizations, levels, subjects and enrollment links. Search for online courses on edX

search_programs

Includes MicroMasters, Professional Certificates, XSeries and Bootcamps. Returns program titles, descriptions, course counts and type. Search for edX programs (MicroMasters, Professional Certificates, XSeries)

Example Prompts for edX in Claude Desktop

Ready-to-use prompts you can give your Claude Desktop agent to start working with edX immediately.

"Find machine learning courses from Harvard."

"Show me all MicroMasters programs in Data Science."

"What organizations offer courses on edX?"

Troubleshooting edX MCP Server with Claude Desktop

Common issues when connecting edX to Claude Desktop through the Vinkius, and how to resolve them.

Server not appearing after restart

Ensure the JSON is valid (no trailing commas). Check the file path: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\\Claude\\ (Windows).

Authentication error

Verify your Vinkius token is correct. Go to cloud.vinkius.com to regenerate it if needed.

Tools not showing in chat

Click the 🔌 icon at the bottom of the chat input. If it shows 0 tools, the server may still be connecting. wait a few seconds.

edX + Claude Desktop FAQ

Common questions about integrating edX MCP Server with Claude Desktop.

How does Claude Desktop discover MCP tools?

When Claude Desktop starts, it reads the claude_desktop_config.json file and connects to each configured MCP server. It calls the tools/list endpoint to fetch the schema for every available tool, then surfaces them as clickable options in the chat interface via the 🔌 icon.

What happens if the MCP server is temporarily unavailable?

Claude Desktop handles disconnections gracefully. if the server is unreachable at startup, the tools simply won't appear. Once the server becomes available again, restarting Claude Desktop will re-establish the connection. There is no timeout penalty or error loop.

Can I connect multiple MCP servers simultaneously?

Yes. You can add as many servers as you need in the mcpServers section of the config file. Each server appears as a separate tool provider, and Claude can use tools from multiple servers in a single conversation turn.

Is there a limit on the number of tools per server?

Claude Desktop can handle hundreds of tools per server. However, for optimal LLM performance, Vinkius servers are designed to expose focused, well-documented tool sets rather than overwhelming the model with too many options.

Does Claude Desktop support Streamable HTTP transport?

Yes. Claude Desktop supports both SSE (Server-Sent Events) and the newer Streamable HTTP transport that Vinkius uses. Simply provide the server URL. Claude auto-negotiates the transport protocol.