Use the local MCP server to connect an AI assistant, such as Claude Desktop, to Tomba from your own computer. MCP is a standard way for AI assistants to use other tools. Once it's set up, you can ask your assistant to find and verify emails for you.

💡 Tip: Most people should use the remote MCP server instead. There's nothing to install, and most assistants just ask you to sign in.

Local or remote?

	Local	Remote
Where it runs	Your computer	Tomba's servers
What you install	Node.js	Nothing
How you connect	API key and secret	Sign in, or API key and secret

Both give your assistant the same 28 tools.

Before you start

You need two things:

Your Tomba API key and secret. See How to find my API key?.
Node.js 18.20 or later. Node.js is the software that runs the server on your computer.

Set up the server

Step 1. Open Integrations and find the MCP group. On the Local MCP Server card, select Connect to open the setup guide.

The MCP group on the Integrations page, with the Local MCP Server, Remote MCP Server and Composio card titles outlined

Step 2. Open API Keys. Copy your key and your Account secret from the API Key & Secret column.

The API Keys page with an arrow on the API Key & Secret column, where each blurred value has a show icon and a copy icon

Step 3. Open your assistant's settings file. In Claude Desktop, go to Settings > Developer and select Edit Config.

Step 4. Add Tomba to that file with the values below. The setup guide has a version to copy for each assistant.

Setting	Value
Server name	`tomba`
Command	`npx`
Arguments	`-y` and `@tomba-io/tomba-mcp-server`
`TOMBA_API_KEY`	Your API key, which starts with `ta_`
`TOMBA_SECRET_KEY`	Your secret, which starts with `ts_`

⚠️ Important: This file holds your secret. Don't share it or add it to a code repository.

Step 5. Quit your assistant and open it again. It starts the server for you.

Step 6. Ask your assistant to run the list_flags tool. A list, even an empty one, means the connection works.

What your assistant can do

The main tools are:

Find emails: Domain Search, Email Finder, Author Finder and LinkedIn Finder
Check emails: Email Verifier
Add details: enrichment for people and companies
Find phones: Phone Finder and Phone Validator
Research companies: company search, similar companies and the technology a website uses
Manage contacts: list your leads and add new ones

💳 Credits: Most searches your assistant runs use credits, the same as in the app. Listing your leads or flags is free.

For developers: see the local MCP server docs.

Common questions

The server stops as soon as it starts. What's wrong?

Your Node.js version is probably too old. Update it to 18.20 or later. If you see a message that TOMBA_API_KEY and TOMBA_SECRET_KEY are required, one of them is missing from the settings file.

The tools appear, but every search fails. Why?

Your key or secret is wrong, or your key has expired. The server only checks them when a tool runs, so it can look connected when it isn't. Check both values on API Keys.

A search failed because of a limit. What do I do?

Wait a moment and ask again. Most plans limit how many searches you can run per second, per minute and per day. The local server doesn't retry for you.

How to set up the Tomba local MCP server