Avocado Legal MCP — Setup Guide

Overview

Connect your AI client to Avocado Legal

Avocado Legal is a private South African legal retrieval system. Your AI client connects through the MCP connector below — not through Dify uploads or direct database access.

https://avocado-mcp.scholtz.dpdns.org/sse

The connector uses Google sign-in. You must be on the operator allow-list before OAuth will succeed. If you are not yet approved, use the request access section below first.

Access

Request test-user access

Avocado Legal MCP is in private testing. To connect, an operator must add your Google account in two places:

The VM allowed-emails list for MCP OAuth
Google OAuth test users (while the consent app remains in testing mode)

OAuth will fail with an allow-list error until both steps are complete. Request access before spending time on client configuration.

Send a request with:

Your full name
The Google email you will sign in with
Which AI client you plan to use (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, etc.)
A one-line note on your intended use (e.g. litigation research, firm pilot)

Email access request

Typical turnaround is manual — you will receive confirmation once your email is added.

Prerequisites

Before you install

Your Google email is approved (see above)
You have a supported MCP-capable AI client installed
Node.js is available if your client needs the mcp-remote bridge

Visiting the MCP URL directly in a browser should return 401 Unauthorized. That is expected — your AI client performs OAuth discovery and token exchange.

Claude Desktop

Connector UI (recommended)

1. Open Settings → Connectors Add a custom connector with name Avocado Legal MCP and the SSE URL above.

2. Connect and sign in Complete Google OAuth with your approved email.

3. Verify Start a chat and ask: Use the Avocado Legal MCP connector and run legal_vector_stats.

Claude Code

CLI setup

Run in your terminal (or paste into Claude Code as a setup prompt):

claude mcp remove avocado-legal -s local
claude mcp add --transport sse --scope local avocado-legal https://avocado-mcp.scholtz.dpdns.org/sse
claude mcp get avocado-legal

If Claude reports Needs authentication, complete the browser OAuth prompt when it appears.

Codex / Cursor / local agents

`mcp-remote` bridge

Use this when the client shows Auth unsupported for remote MCP OAuth. The bridge opens browser sign-in and exposes a local stdio MCP server.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "avocado-legal": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://avocado-mcp.scholtz.dpdns.org/sse"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Codex users: add the same bridge to ~/.codex/config.toml:

[mcp_servers.avocado-legal]
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "mcp-remote", "https://avocado-mcp.scholtz.dpdns.org/sse"]
startup_timeout_sec = 60
tool_timeout_sec = 120

After connection

First verification prompts

Health check

Ask your AI: Use the Avocado Legal MCP connector and run legal_vector_stats.

Search test

Ask your AI: Search rules and procedures for urgent application requirements. Quote exact MCP-CHUNK passages before summarising.

Treat MCP-CHUNK blocks as the only retrieved evidence. Answers without quoted chunks are not grounded in the corpus.

Troubleshooting

Common issues

OAuth denied / not on allow-list — request access above; wait for confirmation.
Auth unsupported — switch to the mcp-remote bridge config.
401 in browser — normal for direct URL visits; test through your AI client instead.
Tools not listed — restart the client after config changes; re-run OAuth.