How to connect a client with an API token

Clients you configure by hand send a Drum API token with each request. Use this for Claude Code, the Cursor desktop editor, VS Code, OpenAI Codex, and any client that reads a JSON or TOML configuration file.

For Claude on the web or desktop, ChatGPT and other hosted clients, use Sign in with Drum instead.

Before you begin

You need:

• A Drum user in the account the assistant will work in
• At least one API permission on your role (api_read, api_create, api_update or api_delete), or to be an account admin
• Access to API in your settings menu

Create the token

1. Create an API token for the account the assistant will use.
2. Under Toolsets, select the toolsets the assistant needs. See Choose toolsets.
3. Copy the token from its page.
4. Store it in an environment variable, such as DRUM_API_TOKEN, rather than pasting it into a file you share.

export DRUM_API_TOKEN="paste-your-token-here"

Anyone with the token can act as you in that account. Keep it out of shared files and repositories.

Add Drum to your client

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http drum https://app.getdrum.com/api/v1/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $DRUM_API_TOKEN"

To share the server with a project without sharing the token, put it in the project’s .mcp.json and let Claude Code read the token from each person’s environment:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "drum": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://app.getdrum.com/api/v1/mcp",
      "headers": {"Authorization": "Bearer ${DRUM_API_TOKEN}"}
    }
  }
}

Run /mcp in Claude Code to check that drum is connected.

Cursor

Add Drum to ~/.cursor/mcp.json, or to .cursor/mcp.json in a project:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "drum": {
      "url": "https://app.getdrum.com/api/v1/mcp",
      "headers": {"Authorization": "Bearer ${env:DRUM_API_TOKEN}"}
    }
  }
}

Visual Studio Code

Add Drum to .vscode/mcp.json in your workspace. VS Code asks for the token the first time and stores it securely:

{
  "inputs": [
    {"type": "promptString", "id": "drum-token", "description": "Drum API token", "password": true}
  ],
  "servers": {
    "drum": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://app.getdrum.com/api/v1/mcp",
      "headers": {"Authorization": "Bearer ${input:drum-token}"}
    }
  }
}

Then use Drum’s tools from Copilot Chat in agent mode.

OpenAI Codex

Add Drum to ~/.codex/config.toml. The CLI and the IDE extension share it:

[mcp_servers.drum]
url = "https://app.getdrum.com/api/v1/mcp"
bearer_token_env_var = "DRUM_API_TOKEN"

Other clients

Use the client’s own instructions for a remote MCP server. Give it the URL https://app.getdrum.com/api/v1/mcp, the Streamable HTTP transport if it asks, and the header Authorization: Bearer <your token>. A common format is:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "drum": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://app.getdrum.com/api/v1/mcp",
      "headers": {"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN"}
    }
  }
}

The client must support remote servers over HTTP. Drum has no local server to run.

Check the connection

Ask the assistant “Which Drum projects am I working on?”. It should call list_projects or search_records and answer with your projects.

If it does not, see Troubleshoot an MCP connection.

Change or revoke the token

• To change its toolsets, open Profile, then API, select the token, select Edit Token, change the selection under Toolsets, and select Update API Token.
• To stop it working, select the token and Revoke Token.

Related

• Build an agent on the Drum MCP server
• Supported clients
• Authentication and permissions