MCP Server
Use Rival Radar's competitive intelligence directly in Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, and other AI assistants.
What is MCP?
Overview
Rival Radar's MCP server exposes your competitive intelligence as tools that AI assistants can call. Instead of switching to the Rival Radar app, you can access battle cards, coaching, news, and more directly in Claude Desktop, ChatGPT, Cursor, Windsurf, or any MCP-compatible client.
This means you can be in the middle of writing an email, prepping a proposal, or coding, and ask your AI assistant competitive questions without leaving your workflow.
Available Tools
The MCP server provides 6 tools, gated by your plan:
| Feature | Recon | Overwatch | War Room | Command Center |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| list_competitors | - | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| get_battle_card | - | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| ask_coach | - | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| get_news | - | - | ✓ | ✓ |
| get_positioning | - | - | ✓ | ✓ |
| search_field_intel | - | - | ✓ | ✓ |
list_competitors
Overwatch+List all competitors in your library with their last analysis date.
get_battle_card
Overwatch+Get a full battle card for a competitor - strengths, weaknesses, pricing, objection handlers, talk tracks, and landmine questions.
ask_coach
Overwatch+Ask the Sales Coach a question with optional competitor context. Great for quick objection handling or competitive positioning.
get_news
War Room+Get recent news articles about a competitor with AI-generated summaries and sentiment analysis.
get_positioning
War Room+Get your positioning matrix data - where competitors sit on key dimensions.
search_field_intel
War Room+Search your team's field intelligence - competitive insights gathered from calls and deals.
Generating an API Key
To connect your AI assistant to Rival Radar, you need an API key. API keys are personal - each team member generates their own.
- 1
Go to Settings → API Keys
In Rival Radar, click your avatar in the top right, then Settings, then API Keys.
- 2
Click 'Create API Key'
Give your key a name (e.g., "Claude Desktop" or "Cursor") so you can identify it later.
- 3
Copy your key immediately
Your API key is shown once. Copy it and store it somewhere safe. If you lose it, you'll need to create a new one.
Key security
Setting Up Claude Desktop
Claude Desktop supports MCP natively. Here's how to connect Rival Radar:
- 1
Open Claude Desktop settings
Click the Claude menu → Settings → Developer.
- 2
Edit your MCP config
Click Edit Config to open the configuration file. Add Rival Radar to the
mcpServerssection:
{
"mcpServers": {
"rival-radar": {
"url": "https://userivalradar.com/mcp",
"transport": "streamable-http",
"headers": {
"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"
}
}
}
}Replace YOUR_API_KEY_HERE with your actual API key (starts with rr_live_). Restart Claude Desktop after saving.
Setting Up ChatGPT
ChatGPT's "Actions" feature supports MCP-compatible endpoints. To set up Rival Radar:
- In ChatGPT, go to Explore GPTs → Create a GPT
- Under Configure, scroll to Actions
- Click Add Action and enter the schema URL:
https://userivalradar.com/mcp/openapi.json - Set authentication to API Key, header name
Authorization, valueBearer YOUR_API_KEY
Setting Up Cursor / Windsurf
Cursor and Windsurf support MCP through their configuration files. Add Rival Radar to your MCP config (usually in your project's .cursor/mcp.json or settings):
{
"servers": {
"rival-radar": {
"url": "https://userivalradar.com/mcp",
"auth": {
"type": "bearer",
"token": "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"
}
}
}
}Usage Examples
Once connected, you can ask your AI assistant questions like:
- "What are Salesforce's main weaknesses compared to us?"
- "How do I handle the objection that HubSpot is cheaper?"
- "What's the latest news about Gong?"
- "List all competitors in my library"
- "Give me talk tracks for competing against Klue"
Your AI assistant will call the appropriate Rival Radar tools and incorporate the competitive intelligence into its response.
Troubleshooting
Connection failed
- Check that your API key is correct and hasn't been revoked
- Ensure the Authorization header includes "Bearer " (with a space) before your key
- Verify your plan includes MCP access (Overwatch or higher)
Tool not available
- Some tools (news, positioning, field intel) require War Room or Command Center
- Check your plan in Settings → Billing
Rate limited
- MCP requests count against your plan's analysis and coach quotas
- If you're hitting limits, consider upgrading or spacing out requests