Simple Functions
GLOSSARY/INFRASTRUCTURE

MCP Server

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server exposes SimpleFunctions' prediction market data and analysis tools as structured endpoints that AI agents (like Claude, GPT, or custom agents) can call directly.

CLI:sf mcp serve

What is MCP?

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard that lets AI agents call external tools in a structured way. Instead of an agent scraping a website or parsing unstructured text, it calls typed functions with parameters and receives structured responses.

SimpleFunctions as an MCP Server

SimpleFunctions runs as an MCP server that exposes tools like:

  • scan_markets: Find markets matching criteria with live prices
  • get_edges: Get current edge calculations for a thesis
  • evaluate_thesis: Trigger a thesis evaluation with new information
  • get_orderbook: Get live orderbook depth for a specific market

Why This Matters

Any AI agent that supports MCP can now:

  1. Research prediction markets by calling scan_markets
  2. Build and evaluate theses by calling evaluate_thesis
  3. Find trading opportunities by calling get_edges
  4. Monitor positions by calling the relevant tools

This turns prediction market analysis from a human-only activity into something any agent can do.

Setting Up the MCP Server

The SimpleFunctions CLI includes a built-in MCP server:

sf mcp serve

This starts a local MCP server that Claude Desktop, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible agent can connect to. The server handles authentication, rate limiting, and data formatting automatically.

Common Use Case

Connect SimpleFunctions MCP server to Claude Desktop. Then ask Claude: "What prediction markets have the biggest edge on recession right now?" Claude calls scan_markets and get_edges under the hood, returning a structured analysis.

Example

# Start the MCP server
sf mcp serve --port 3847

# In Claude Desktop settings, add:
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "simplefunctions": {
      "command": "sf",
      "args": ["mcp", "serve"],
      "env": {
        "SF_API_KEY": "sf_live_abc123..."
      }
    }
  }
}

# Then in Claude Desktop:
"Find prediction markets where recession probability exceeds 40%"

Claude calls: scan_markets({ category: "economics", minProb: 0.4 })
Returns: Structured list of matching markets with prices, volume, edge

Related Terms

Command-Line Interface (CLI)

The SimpleFunctions CLI is a terminal-based tool for interacting with prediction markets — scanning for edge, managing theses, viewing orderbooks, and executing strategies from the command line.

API Key

An API key is a secret token that authenticates your requests to SimpleFunctions and to prediction market venues (Kalshi, Polymarket). Each key has permissions and rate limits.

Delta API

The Delta API is a lightweight polling endpoint that returns only data that has changed since your last request. It minimizes bandwidth and processing by sending incremental updates rather than full snapshots.

Streaming Responses

Streaming responses deliver data incrementally as it becomes available, rather than waiting for the complete response. SimpleFunctions uses streaming for real-time thesis evaluations and agent conversations.

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