Connect AI agents (MCP)

Volly exposes a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, so AI agents like Claude can create, deploy, and manage your Volly apps directly — no browser uploads. Build a tool with Claude, then say “publish this to Volly” and it happens in the same conversation.

The server lives at:

https://app.volly.so/mcp

It uses Streamable HTTP and signs you in with OAuth — there are no API keys to create or paste. When a client connects for the first time, it opens your browser to sign in to Volly and approve access. The agent then acts as you: it can only see and change what your Volly account can, and the same workspace roles and app visibility rules apply.

Claude.ai

1. Open Settings → Connectors.
2. Choose Add custom connector and enter https://app.volly.so/mcp.
3. A browser window opens to sign in to Volly and approve access. Approve, and you’re connected.

Volly’s tools are then available in any chat — ask Claude to list your apps or publish what it just built.

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http volly https://app.volly.so/mcp

Then run /mcp inside Claude Code to complete the sign-in flow in your browser.

Cursor and other MCP clients

Any client that supports remote MCP servers with OAuth works. For Cursor, add this to your mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "volly": {
      "url": "https://app.volly.so/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Note

You must have finished Volly onboarding (created or joined a workspace) before the tools will work — otherwise every call returns a “finish onboarding” error.

What agents can do

Tool	What it does
list_apps	List the apps you can see in your workspace
get_app	Fetch one app’s details
create_app	Create a new app (name, slug, visibility)
update_app	Edit an app’s name, visibility, or README
delete_app	Delete an app
list_deployments	List an app’s deployment history, newest first
list_app_files	List the files in an app’s current deployment
get_app_file	Read a deployed file (text inline, binary via a download link)
request_upload	Get a short-lived URL to upload a bundle to
deploy_app	Publish an uploaded bundle — live, or as a private draft
deploy_app_inline	Deploy small files passed inline (for agents that can’t upload)
publish_draft	Make an app’s pending draft build live
discard_draft	Drop an app’s pending draft without publishing it
list_resources	See the data resources an app can use
list_comments	Read the comments viewers left on an app

Access is scoped to two permissions you approve at connect time: read your apps (apps:read) and create and update apps (apps:write).

How a deploy works

When you ask an agent to publish something, it runs the same flow you’d do in the browser:

1. create_app — registers the app in your workspace (first deploy only).
2. request_upload — Volly returns a short-lived upload URL (valid for 15 minutes).
3. The agent uploads your .zip bundle, single .html file, or single .jsx/.tsx React component to that URL.
4. deploy_app — Volly validates the bundle and publishes it, returning the live URL.

Bundles follow the same rules as browser uploads — see Publish an app for what a bundle needs and the size limits. deploy_app_inline exists only for web-based agents that can’t make their own HTTP uploads; everything else should use the upload flow.

Ask the agent to “deploy it as a draft” and it passes the draft option instead — the build lands on a private preview URL and the live app is untouched until you (or the agent) publish it. See Test updates with drafts.

Updating an existing app

Agents don’t need the original source files to change an app that’s already live. list_app_files shows everything in the current deployment — paths, sizes, and a content hash per file, so an agent can tell what changed — and get_app_file returns a file’s contents: small text files come back directly, larger or binary files as a short-lived download link. The agent edits what it fetched and redeploys; every deploy fully replaces the previous build at the same URL.

So “fix the typo on my dashboard’s homepage” works in one conversation: the agent reads the deployed index.html, makes the edit, and publishes it back.

Troubleshooting

Claude.ai: make uploads faster and cheaper

By default, Claude.ai limits which websites Claude is allowed to reach while it works. Volly’s upload location isn’t on that list, so when you ask Claude to publish an app it can’t hand the file over directly. Instead it copies the whole file into your conversation to send it — which is slower and uses up noticeably more of your AI usage, especially for larger apps.

You can let Claude send files to Volly directly, which makes publishing faster and uses far fewer tokens. It’s a one-time change:

1. In Claude.ai, open Settings → Capabilities (open it here).
2. Find Allow network egress, and under Domain allowlist either:
   • add *.r2.cloudflarestorage.com to the allowed domains, or
   • switch the setting to All domains.

That’s it — the next time you publish, uploads take the fast path automatically.

Note

This only applies to Claude.ai in the browser. Claude Code and other desktop tools already upload directly, so there’s nothing to change.

Disconnecting

Remove the connector from your MCP client (for example, delete it under Settings → Connectors in Claude.ai) and the client discards its access.