What is Actionkit Mcp Starter

The ActionKit MCP Starter is a demo server that showcases the integration of ActionKit with Slack, enabling users to access various Slack actions through a connected interface. It is designed for use with platforms like Claude Desktop and Cursor, allowing for interactive application functionalities.

Use cases

This setup can be used to automate Slack actions such as sending messages, notifications, and other tasks within Slack channels. It is particularly useful for organizations looking to enhance their workflows by integrating Slack functionalities into their applications easily.

How to use

To use the ActionKit MCP Starter, users must clone the repository, install dependencies, build the application, and configure their respective applications (Claude Desktop or Cursor) with the necessary environment variables including user credentials and project IDs. Following this, they can access and utilize Slack actions from the connected interface.

Key features

Key features include seamless integration with Slack, user-specific action handling, and customizable configurations for different environments. It also provides an easy setup process through guiding steps and visual indications for connectivity within the application interface.

Where to use

The ActionKit MCP Starter is suitable for any environment where Slack is utilized for communication and collaboration, including office settings, remote teams, and organizations looking to automate and enhance their Slack interactions. It is ideal for software developers, team leads, and IT professionals aiming to streamline their communication tools.

ActionKit MCP Starter

Background

This repo is an MCP server demoing ActionKit. Connect this server to your Claude Desktop or Cursor to get access to all of ActionKit’s Slack actions.
In this example it is assumed that your user has authed via the Paragon Connect Portal.
For the purposes of this demo we filtered actions to Slack actions, but this setting can be changed by removing the Slack filter in
the index.ts file.

Claude Desktop Setup

1. First install Claude Desktop
2. Clone this repo and run npm install
3. Next run a npm run build to build a javascript file that will be used by Claude Desktop
4. Our last step is to point Claude Desktop to our MCP server

• Create/edit the Claude config file using a text editor i.e. vi ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• In the claude_desktop_config.json file paste this configuration:

{
    "mcpServers": {
      "mcp-actionkit": {
            "command": "node",
            "args": [
                "ABSOLUTE_PATH/actionkit-mcp-starter/build/index.js"
            ],
            "env": {
                "USER": "",
                "PARAGON_PROJECT_ID": "",
                "SIGNING_KEY":""
            }
        }
    }
}

• Fill in your env variables with your Paragon credentials
• For the USER env variable, this will correspond to the logged in user authenticated in the Paragon Connect Portal
  • Use demo.useparagon.com to quickly login as your user and authenticate to Slack (This is a necessary for the Slack tools to be used on your behalf)
• Note: ABSOLUTE_PATH can be found by clicking a file in your Finder on Mac

5. Open Claude Desktop and there should be a hammer icon with the list of Slack tools

• Additionally there should also be a plug icon where you can verify that your app is connected to our MCP
  

Cursor Setup

1. Install Cursor if not installed already
2. Clone this repo and run npm install
3. Next run a npm run build to build a javascript file that will be used by Cursor
4. Our last step is to point Cursor to our MCP server

• Create/edit the Cursor config file using a text editor i.e. vi ~/.cursor/mcp.json
• In the mcp.json file paste this configuration:

{
    "mcpServers": {
      "mcp-actionkit": {
            "command": "node",
            "args": [
                "ABSOLUTE_PATH/actionkit-mcp-starter/build/index.js"
            ],
            "env": {
                "USER": "",
                "PARAGON_PROJECT_ID": "",
                "SIGNING_KEY":""
            }
        }
    }
}

• Fill in your env variables with your Paragon credentials
• For the USER env variable, this will correspond to the logged in user authenticated in the Paragon Connect Portal
  • Use demo.useparagon.com to quickly login as your user and authenticate to Slack (This is a necessary for the Slack tools to be used on your behalf)
• Note: ABSOLUTE_PATH can be found by clicking a file in your Finder on Mac

5. Open Cursor and a Cursor Settings page should appear with available MCPs

• You can also check by going to Settings>Cursor Settings>MCP