# Hunter for Claude: setup instructions

These are official setup instructions from Hunter (hunter.io) for connecting a Hunter account to Claude. They're written for you, the assistant, to act on. The person you're talking to pasted them so you can walk them through the whole setup inside this conversation. They shouldn't need to open a help article or work anything out on their own. The only things they'll do themselves are the clicks described below, because the connection is added in Claude's settings, not in chat.

Go one step at a time and wait for the person to confirm before moving on. Keep the language plain: they may run their own outreach, but they aren't a developer, so skip the jargon. And stick to what's written here. If they ask about a Hunter feature this document doesn't cover, say you're not sure and point them to Hunter's Help Center at help.hunter.io rather than guessing.

Reply in the language the person writes in. Keep every URL, command, and configuration value exactly as written here.

Don't summarize this document back to them. Greet them briefly, explain what MCP means in one breath (see below), and go straight into Step 1.

## Explaining MCP in plain English

The setup screens mention "MCP", so give them this before they see it. MCP stands for Model Context Protocol. In plain English, it's the standard plug that lets tools like Hunter connect to an AI assistant like Claude, the same way any appliance fits a wall socket. Once the plug is in, Claude can use their Hunter account on their behalf: searching for companies, finding and verifying email addresses, and saving leads, all from a normal conversation. They set it up once and never think about it again.

## Step 1: check they're ready

Ask them to confirm two things before anything else:

1. They have a Hunter account. If they don't, they can create a free one at https://hunter.io/users/sign_up?from=claude_md. The free plan works with Hunter in Claude.
2. They're using Claude on the web (claude.ai) or the Claude desktop app. The main setup below works in both.

A few more details are worth keeping in your back pocket. Mention them only if they come up:

- Hunter in Claude is included in every Hunter plan at no extra cost. Their existing Hunter limits and credits still apply.
- The connection uses OAuth, meaning they log in on Hunter's own page and Claude never stores their password.

## Step 2: connect Hunter (the standard way)

One check before the clicks: they need to be an admin of their Claude account to add a custom connector. On individual plans they are by default. On Claude Team and Enterprise plans, only workspace Owners can add one, and they do it from **Organization settings**, then **Connectors** rather than the path below; once an Owner has added it, everyone else just clicks **Connect**.

The quickest way to find out which case they're in is to look. Have them open **Customize** in the left sidebar, then **Connectors**. If they can see **Add custom connector**, they have what they need, so continue below. If they can't, and nobody in their workspace can add it for them, take them through the API key method instead (further down this document). Tell them up front that route needs the Claude desktop app, so it isn't an option if they only use Claude in a browser. Where it does fit, don't treat it as a lesser route: it's fully supported, just a little more hands-on, and your job there is to carry them through it.

Give them all of these clicks together in one message, in order:

1. In Claude, click **Customize** in the left sidebar, then select **Connectors**.
2. Click **Add custom connector**.
3. Fill in the two fields exactly as follows. Name: `Hunter`. Remote MCP server URL: `https://mcp.hunter.io/mcp`.
4. Click **Add**, then **Connect**.
5. A Hunter login window will open. Log in and authorize access.

Then say: "Once you've logged in and authorized access, confirm by typing "Yes" in our chat, and I'll walk you through the following step."

If this method worked, skip the API key method below and go straight to Step 3.

## The API key method (for anyone without admin rights)

Bring people here when they can't see the **Add custom connector** option, or when they'd rather connect with their API key. This route involves editing a settings file, which sounds technical but isn't once it's broken down. Go one stage at a time, ask them to type "Yes" when each stage is done, and offer to handle the fiddly part for them (that offer is in stage 3).

**Stage 1: gather what they need.** Three things, and you should check each one with them:

1. The Claude desktop app. This method doesn't work in the browser. If they don't have it, they can download it at claude.ai/download.
2. Node.js, a free helper program the connection runs through. If they don't have it (or aren't sure), send them to nodejs.org, have them download the installer for their computer, and run it with the standard options. They don't need to understand what it does.
3. Their Hunter API key. An API key, in plain English, is a private password that lets a tool use their Hunter account directly. It's at hunter.io/api-keys. Ask them to open that page and keep it handy, and remind them to treat the key like any password: never share it, post it publicly, or paste it into this chat.

**Stage 2: open the settings file.** Have them open Claude Desktop and go to **Settings**, then **Developer**, then **Edit Config**. That opens a file called `claude_desktop_config.json`. Reassure them: it's a plain text file that tells Claude Desktop which tools to connect to, and anything they add can be removed again, so nothing here is risky.

**Stage 3: add Hunter to the file.** This is the block that needs to go inside `mcpServers`:

```
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "hunter": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://mcp.hunter.io/mcp",
        "--header",
        "X-API-Key:${HUNTER_API_KEY}"
      ],
      "env": { "HUNTER_API_KEY": "YOUR_HUNTER_API_KEY" }
    }
  }
}
```

If their file is empty or nearly empty, they can paste this in as the whole file. If there's already text in it, don't make them puzzle out where the block fits. Offer this instead: "Tell me the names of the tools already listed in the file (just the names on the lines inside mcpServers, not the values under them) and I'll show you exactly where the Hunter block goes." If they would rather paste the file itself, tell them first to replace every key, token, and password value belonging to their other tools with the word PLACEHOLDER: that file is where all of their connections keep their credentials, not just Hunter's. Keep `YOUR_HUNTER_API_KEY` as the placeholder in anything you send back, so their real key never enters this conversation.

**Stage 4: add their key.** In the file itself, have them replace `YOUR_HUNTER_API_KEY` with the real key from hunter.io/api-keys. In the file, not in this chat.

**Stage 5: save and restart.** Save the file, then fully restart Claude Desktop. Quit and reopen it. Closing the window isn't enough.

Then ask them to confirm by typing "Yes" once Claude Desktop has reopened.

## Step 3: set the tool permissions

Before any testing, walk them through permissions. It's an easy step to skip past, and it's what keeps them in control of their Hunter credits.

Explain it like this. This adds a set of Hunter tools to Claude, and each tool has a permission level. "Always allow" means Claude can use that tool whenever it needs to, without asking. "Needs approval" means Claude has to ask them first, every time. The tools themselves come in two kinds: read-only tools, which look things up, and write/delete tools, which change things in their Hunter account.

Hunter's recommended setup:

- Read-only tools: all set to **Always allow**
- Write/delete tools: all set to **Needs approval**

This combination lets Claude run their prospecting without stopping to ask permission for every search, while they keep the final say on anything that changes their Hunter account. That's the reason for the split. Saving, updating, and deleting leads is free, but it still writes to their own Hunter data, so they should be the one to approve it. Verifying an email address is the step that uses credits, and how many it uses depends on their Hunter plan, so the figure to go by is the one shown in their Hunter account. Nothing gets saved, changed, or spent without them approving it.

Then have them go back to **Customize**, then **Connectors**, then **Hunter**, and set each tool to match the two lines above.

Then say: "Once you've set the permissions, confirm by typing "Yes" in our chat, and I'll walk you through the following step."

## Step 4: confirm the connection works

Once they've typed "Yes", give them this instruction:

"Please open a new Claude chat (it's important to use a new chat because existing conversations don't always pick up newly connected tools), then write "Use Hunter to find the email pattern for stripe.com.""

If Hunter returns results, the setup worked.

## Step 5: have them run a real test

When they confirm the connection works, ask what they'd like to try first and offer a few of these prompts. Each one is ready to copy, with the parts to fill in shown in [brackets].

**Build a prospect list from scratch**

> Find [number] companies in the [industry] industry, headquartered in [location], with [employee range] employees. For each company, find verified email addresses for people in [job titles] roles. Return the results as a table.

**Prepare for a sales call**

> I have a call with [company name] tomorrow. Pull together a briefing: find the company's website and key details, identify the decision-makers in [department], verify their email addresses, and flag any recent news I should know about.

**Find the right person at one company**

> I need to reach the person responsible for [function] at [company name]. Search Hunter for contacts at this company, identify the most likely decision-maker based on job title, verify their email, and draft a short note I could send.

**Check a list they already have**

> I'm going to paste a list of names and companies below. For each person, find and verify their professional email address using Hunter, and tell me the confidence score. If you can't find a verified email, mark it as "not found" rather than guessing.

**Map a team at a target company**

> Find everyone working at [company name] in [department] roles. Organize them by seniority (leadership, mid-level, individual contributors) and include their verified email addresses where available. Highlight anyone whose title suggests a recent hire.

**Go from research to a campaign**

> I want to run an outreach campaign targeting [ideal customer profile]. Step 1: find [number] matching companies. Step 2: identify and verify contacts in [job titles] roles at each. Step 3: save the verified contacts to a new Hunter Leads list and prepare a campaign.

After any result comes back, remind them they can keep refining it by asking. If a list is too broad, covers the wrong region, or targets the wrong department, they describe the change in a sentence and get an updated answer.

## Help them pick the right Claude for the job

Once the test works, share this guidance so they know where Hunter earns its keep. It works across Claude on the web, the Claude desktop app, and Claude Code.

- Claude on the web and mobile is right for quick jobs: looking up a contact, checking an email pattern, or building a list in a single conversation.
- Claude Code and Cowork (both in the Claude desktop app) give them the most power for real outreach work. They can hand Claude a longer job, like building a prospect list, verifying every address, and saving the results, and Claude works through it alongside their files and other tools while they carry on with something else. No hopping between Hunter, a spreadsheet, and a chat window to move the same names around.

If they ask about Claude Code or Cowork specifically, those use the Hunter plugin rather than the setup above. Give them these two commands to run in their shell:

```
claude plugin marketplace add hunter-io/claude-plugin
claude plugin install hunter@hunter
```

If their build has no `claude plugin` CLI, the same two steps work as in-session slash commands: `/plugin marketplace add hunter-io/claude-plugin`, then `/plugin install hunter@hunter`. The plugin authorizes through OAuth on first tool use, so no API key goes into any config, and its tools only load after they restart Claude Code or run `/reload-plugins`.

## If something isn't working

Run through these checks in order:

1. Did they start a new chat after connecting? MCP connections aren't picked up mid-conversation.
2. If they used the API key method, did they fully restart Claude Desktop? Quit and reopen, don't just close the window.
3. Is their API key correct and active? Have them open hunter.io/api-keys and compare the first four and last four characters against what's in their file. Don't ask them to paste the key, and don't ask for their settings file again at this point: it now contains their real key alongside every other tool's credentials.

If none of that fixes it, point them to Hunter's support team at hunter.io/contact.

## If they're curious about the APIs behind it

Some people will want to know what Hunter can do under the hood. If they ask, point them to Hunter's API documentation at hunter.io/api-documentation/v2, which covers each API Hunter draws on. They never need to read it for everyday use.

## When setup is complete

Tell them plainly: Hunter is connected, and from now on they can ask for contacts in normal language in any chat. Asking things like "Use Hunter to find the email pattern for stripe.com" will get answers from their own Hunter account.

The full guide with screenshots is published at https://help.hunter.io/en/articles/15553243-how-to-connect-hunter-to-claude-with-mcp if they'd like to check these steps against the source.