MCP connection issues

Most MCP connection problems trace back to the config shape, not the server. Before assuming something's down, re-check against Connecting via MCP.

Agent doesn't see the tools at all

• Config points at https://api.dike.it.com/mcp with "type": "http" — not "type": "stdio" or a local command. Dike's MCP server is remote-only; there's no npm package to install.
• The Authorization header is set on the MCP server entry itself, not passed some other way (env var, separate auth block) — different clients name this field differently, but it must end up as an actual Authorization: Bearer ... header on the connection.
• Restart/reload the client after editing its MCP config — most clients (including Claude Desktop) only read MCP server config on startup, not live.

Agent sees the tools but calls fail

• Same failure modes as REST apply here, since the four MCP tools (dike_search, dike_reason, dike_cite, dike_graph_traverse) are thin wrappers over the matching endpoints — check Common errors for what a failing call's underlying code means.
• dike_reason (as /v1/reason) requires a Pay As You Go plan. If it's failing specifically for that tool and not the other three, that's very likely plan_required, not a connection issue.

Agent picks the wrong tool, or never calls Dike at all

This isn't a Dike-side connection problem — it's the agent's own tool-selection behavior. Try asking a question that's unambiguously about MENA legal content (an Egyptian statute number, an Arabic legal term) rather than something generic; a vague question gives the agent no strong signal to reach for a legal-search tool over its other tools or general knowledge.

Still stuck

Verify the server itself is reachable independent of any MCP client:

curl -X POST https://api.dike.it.com/mcp \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DIKE_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/list"}'

A working response listing the four tools means the issue is client-side config, not the server.