CoinMarketCap MCP Skill#

Use this skill to run CoinMarketCap MCP operations through uxc.

Reuse the uxc skill for shared protocol discovery, output parsing, and generic auth/binding flows.

Prerequisites#

• uxc is installed and available in PATH.
• Network access to https://mcp.coinmarketcap.com/mcp.
• A CoinMarketCap MCP API key is available.

Core Workflow#

1. Confirm endpoint and protocol with help-first probing:
   • uxc https://mcp.coinmarketcap.com/mcp -h
   • expected unauthenticated behavior today: 401 Unauthorized with Token not found
2. Configure credential/binding for repeatable auth:
   • uxc auth credential set coinmarketcap-mcp --auth-type api_key --header "X-CMC-MCP-API-KEY={{secret}}" --secret-env COINMARKETCAP_MCP_API_KEY
   • uxc auth credential set coinmarketcap-mcp --auth-type api_key --header "X-CMC-MCP-API-KEY={{secret}}" --secret-op op://Engineering/coinmarketcap/mcp-api-key
   • uxc auth binding add --id coinmarketcap-mcp --host mcp.coinmarketcap.com --path-prefix /mcp --scheme https --credential coinmarketcap-mcp --priority 100
3. Use fixed link command by default:
   • command -v coinmarketcap-mcp-cli
   • If missing, create it: uxc link coinmarketcap-mcp-cli https://mcp.coinmarketcap.com/mcp
   • coinmarketcap-mcp-cli -h
4. Inspect operation schema before execution:
   • coinmarketcap-mcp-cli get_crypto_quotes_latest -h
   • coinmarketcap-mcp-cli get_global_metrics_latest -h
   • coinmarketcap-mcp-cli trending_crypto_narratives -h
   • coinmarketcap-mcp-cli get_crypto_latest_news -h
5. Prefer read-only discovery first, then expand into higher-cost or plan-gated endpoints.

Capability Map#

• Market data and discovery:
  • get_crypto_quotes_latest
  • search_cryptos
  • get_crypto_info
• Technical analysis:
  • get_crypto_technical_analysis
  • get_crypto_marketcap_technical_analysis
• On-chain and macro metrics:
  • get_crypto_metrics
  • get_global_metrics_latest
  • get_global_crypto_derivatives_metrics
  • get_upcoming_macro_events
• Themes, news, and search:
  • trending_crypto_narratives
  • get_crypto_latest_news
  • search_crypto_info

Inspect coinmarketcap-mcp-cli -h after auth setup for the current full tool list. CoinMarketCap can revise or expand its MCP tool surface independently of this wrapper skill.

Recommended Usage Pattern#

1. Start with one focused read goal:
   • current quote and market cap for a coin
   • trend or narrative scan for a sector
   • global market and derivatives snapshot
   • latest news or semantic lookup on a project/topic
2. Run -h on the specific tool before the first real call.
3. Prefer id-, slug-, or keyword-scoped reads before broad market sweeps.
4. Parse the JSON envelope first, then inspect data.

Guardrails#

• Keep automation on JSON output envelope; do not rely on --text.

• Parse stable fields first: ok, kind, protocol, data, error.

• Use coinmarketcap-mcp-cli as default command path.

• coinmarketcap-mcp-cli <operation> ... is equivalent to uxc https://mcp.coinmarketcap.com/mcp <operation> ....

• If unauthenticated probe or runtime call returns 401 Unauthorized or Token not found:

  • confirm auth binding matches endpoint with uxc auth binding match https://mcp.coinmarketcap.com/mcp
  • confirm credential shape with uxc auth credential info coinmarketcap-mcp
  • reset credential as API-key header if needed: uxc auth credential set coinmarketcap-mcp --auth-type api_key --header "X-CMC-MCP-API-KEY={{secret}}" --secret-env COINMARKETCAP_MCP_API_KEY

• CoinMarketCap documents an x402 pay-per-call path, but uxc does not implement x402 payment handling today. This skill documents only the API-key route.

• Higher CoinMarketCap plans unlock additional datasets or request rates. If a tool returns a plan or quota error, verify the current account tier before retrying.

• CoinMarketCap MCP is read-only. Do not present it as a trading or order-routing integration.

• Use key=value only for simple scalar inputs.

• Prefer positional JSON when an operation accepts nested objects, arrays, or optional filters that may evolve.

• Do not assume tool argument names from memory; inspect <operation> -h first because CoinMarketCap may revise MCP schemas independently of this skill.

References#

• Invocation patterns:
  • references/usage-patterns.md