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Hex MCP Server

Connect AI assistants to Hex through the Model Context Protocol (MCP).

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  • Available on the Team and Enterprise plans.
  • Hex MCP Server works with Claude Desktop, Claude Code, and Cursor, as well as most standard MCP clients.
  • Users will need the Explorer workspace role or higher to interact with the create_thread and continue_thread tools.
  • Hex MCP server is currently in beta.

Overview

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) allows AI applications to securely connect to external data sources and tools. The Hex MCP server enables AI assistants like Claude to interact directly with your Hex workspace. Through the MCP server, AI assistants can search your projects, create and continue Threads conversations, and help you explore your data through natural language.

The Hex MCP server provides four Tools:

  • search_projects: Find projects in your Hex workspace
  • create_thread: Start a new Thread conversation
  • get_thread: Retrieve messages and results from a Thread
  • continue_thread: Add follow-up questions to an existing Thread

The Hex MCP Server will use the default data connection as a source for any Thread it creates. The Hex MCP Server can only answer text-based prompts; currently it is not possible to upload files to your conversation and pass them along to Hex.

Configure the Hex MCP Server

Connect to Claude

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Claude owners (on Claude Teams or Enterprise plans) or users (on a Claude Individual plan) can configure the Hex Connector for their workspace.

Add the Hex Connector to your Claude Workspace

  1. In Claude, go to Settings > Connectors > Browse Connectors and search for "Hex".
Search for the Hex connector in Claude
  1. Add the connector to your team.
Add the Hex MCP connector to the team in Claude
  1. Set the server URL to https://app.hex.tech/mcp and click "Continue".
tip

For single tenant, EU multi-tenant, or HIPAA multi-tenant customers, replace app.hex.tech with your custom Hex URL (e.g., your-company.hex.tech, eu.hex.tech, hc.hex.tech).

Set the Hex MCP URL in Claude
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If you want to connect to multiple workspaces that have different URLs (e.g. app.hex.tech vs eu.hex.tech), you can configure additional custom Claude connectors.

How to use the Hex Connector in Claude

Once the Hex Connector is added by a Claude workspace owner, users can enable it by navigating to Settings -> Connectors and clicking "Connect" next to the Hex Connector.

User connects the Hex MCP connector in Claude

Once you open a new chat, you should ensure that the Hex Connector is toggled on via the ‘+’ icon in the bottom left:

Toggle on the Claude connector in a new chat

Search for existing projects

You can use the Hex Connector to search for relevant projects in your Hex workspace. Claude will return visual project cards that display the project title, description, and other information and include a link to the project in your Hex workspace.

Threads in the Hex Connector in Claude

You can ask open ended data questions in your Claude chat, and the Hex Connector will kick off a Thread to answer the question. An interactive widget in the Claude chat will appear and show the Hex Threads “thinking” steps, allowing you to follow along with the Thread in realtime without leaving Claude.

The Hex Connector will display a Threads thinking in real time
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You can click into each “thinking” block in the widget to understand what specific actions the Threads agent took to answer your question.

The Hex Connector will continually make get_thread calls without user prompting, checking in on the progress of the Thread and keeping you updated on its analysis. If the Threads agent creates any charts or tables in the course of its analysis, the Hex Connector will surface these as a carousel in an interactive widget in your Claude chat.

The Hex Connector will display charts created by a Thread

Once the Thread has finished its analysis, Claude will summarize its key findings and provide a link to the Thread in your Hex workspace. If you ask a follow up question, the Hex Connector in Claude will use a continue_thread tool call to continue the Thread within the Claude chat.

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Interactive widgets that are created by the Hex Connector in a Claude chat, including thinking blocks and chart carousels, will expire after 24 hours.

Connect to Cursor

In Cursor settings, go to Settings > Cursor Settings > Tools & MCP.

From Tools & MCP Settings, add the Hex MCP server as a remote MCP server URL: https://app.hex.tech/mcp so Hex can connect via OAuth. You can also directly edit your ~/.cursor/mcp.json file to add Hex as an MCP:

{
"mcpServers": {
"hex": {
"url": "https://app.hex.tech/mcp"
}
}
}
tip

For single tenant, EU multi-tenant, or HIPAA multi-tenant customers, replace app.hex.tech with your custom Hex URL (e.g., your-company.hex.tech, eu.hex.tech).

After adding the MCP server, go back to the Settings page and select Connect to start the OAuth flow. You will be redirected back to our external authentication provider to approve the connection (and specify a workspace if you have access to multiple).

Connect to Cursor

When successfully connected, you should see the connected Hex MCP and you can configure tool permissions under Tools & MCP.

Specify tool permissions in Cursor

Connect to other MCP Clients

Hex MCP Server can be used by MCP Clients other than Claude and Cursor. Any tool that supports MCP integrations can be linked to the Hex MCP Server, including internal tools or other tools for which a native integration is not yet available.

To connect to another MCP client, open your configuration file and add the Hex MCP server configuration:

{
"mcpServers": {
"hex": {
"url": "https://app.hex.tech/mcp"
}
}
}

After you've added the MCP server to your application, restart the application to apply the configuration. Then, when you first interact with Hex through the MCP, you'll be prompted to authenticate through our external authentication provider.

tip

The Hex ChatGPT Connector has been temporarily de-listed due to recurring bugs in ChatGPT. We will re-list the Hex ChatGPT Connector here when it's recommended for use.

Available actions

Search for projects in your workspace

Input: Search query to find relevant projects. This action will return both published and unpublished Hex projects.

Output:

  • projects (array): List of matching projects with the following fields:
    • projectId: Unique ID for the project
    • title: Project title
    • description: Project description
    • generated_summary: AI-generated summary of the project (if available)
    • url: Direct link to the project
    • type: Either "project" or "app"
info

The response structure and fields provided by the call output are subject to change.

Create a new Thread

Create a new Hex Thread to ask questions about your data using the Hex Agent.

Input: The question or analysis request for the Hex Agent

Output: Confirmation message with Thread ID and Thread URL

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  • Thread creation requires a default data connection to be configured in your workspace
  • Threads typically take several minutes to complete as the agent analyzes your data

Get an existing Thread

Retrieve messages and results from an existing Hex Thread.

Input: Thread ID

Output: If the Thread has not yet completed, the call will return:

  • Thread ID
  • Thread status
  • Wait time

If the Thread has completed, the call will return:

  • Recent messages in the Thread conversation
  • Any charts, tables, or visualizations generated by the agent
  • Link to view the full Thread in Hex
tip

If the Thread hasn't finished, you can call get_thread again to check for updates. The tool is designed to be called multiple times until the Thread reaches idle status.

Continue an existing Thread

Continue a conversation by providing a new prompt to an existing Hex Thread.

Input: Thread ID, Thread prompt

Output:

  • Recent messages in the Thread conversation
  • Any charts, tables, or visualizations generated by the agent
  • Link to view the full Thread in Hex
warning

You can only continue a Thread once it has finished running. If you try to continue a running Thread, you'll receive an error message asking you to wait for the current operation to complete.

Example workflows

Asking a data question

A typical workflow for asking a data question through the MCP server:

  1. User asks a question:

    What were our top-selling products last quarter?
  2. AI assistant creates a Thread:

    • Uses create_thread with the user's question
    • Receives a Thread ID and URL
  3. AI assistant monitors progress:

    • Calls get_thread periodically
    • Checks if status is complete or still processing
    • Shows the user what the agent is thinking
  4. AI assistant returns results:

    • Presents the agent's analysis, charts, and insights
    • Provides a link to view the full Thread in Hex
  5. User asks a follow-up:

    Can you break that down by sales channel?
  6. AI assistant continues the conversation:

    • Uses continue_thread with the follow-up question
    • Monitors with get_thread until complete
    • Presents the updated analysis

Finding and exploring projects

To help users discover relevant work:

  1. User asks about existing analysis:

    Do we have any projects about customer segmentation?
  2. AI assistant searches:

    • Uses search_projects with query "customer segmentation"
  3. AI assistant presents results:

    • Shows project titles, descriptions, and generated summaries
    • Provides direct links to open projects in Hex
  4. User can create a new Thread:

    • If they want to ask questions about the data in those projects
    • The AI assistant uses create_thread to start the analysis