Bitpanda Developer API → MCP Server (FastAPI)

Thin FastAPI wrapper around Bitpanda Developer API that exposes endpoints as MCP tools using fastmcp.

MCP endpoint: http://localhost:8000/mcp

Disclaimer: This project has been partially vibe coded. While functional, some parts may not follow conventional best practices or may have been developed in a more experimental manner.

Requirements

Python: 3.11.x
Poetry

Install

Using Poetry (skips private dev extras):

poetry install

Configure authentication

Bitpanda Public API key is required for all upstream calls.

Generate them from here.

Preferred: send Authorization: Bearer <API_KEY> header
Alternative: send X-Api-Key: <API_KEY> header
Fallback: set environment variable BITPANDA_API_KEY --> LOCAL ONLY

Environment configuration (.env)

This project automatically loads variables from a local .env file using python-dotenv.

Copy the example file and edit it:

cp .env.example .env
# then edit .env

Required variables:

BITPANDA_BASE_URL - Base URL for Bitpanda Public API (e.g., https://api.bitpanda.com/v1)
SERVER_HOST - Host address to bind the server (default: 0.0.0.0)
SERVER_PORT - Port to bind the server (default: 8000)

Optional variables:

BITPANDA_API_KEY - API key for local development only (not recommended for production)

Run the server

Run the module entrypoint to start the MCP server:

# Using Poetry
poetry run python -m bp_mcp.bitpanda_mcp_server

# Or with plain Python (after pip install / editable install)
python -m bp_mcp.bitpanda_mcp_server

This starts the API on http://localhost:8000/mcp.

MCP usage

The server exposes an MCP endpoint at http://localhost:8000/mcp. Most MCP clients can pass HTTP headers for auth.

Adding to Claude Desktop

claude mcp add bitpanda-developer-api http://localhost:8000/mcp --transport http --header "Authorization: Bearer xxxxxxxxxxxxxx"

Manual configuration

Example JSON config snippet for an http-based MCP client:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "bitpanda-developer-api": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://localhost:8000/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer xxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
      }
    }
  }
}

Development

Lint and type-check:

poetry run pre-commit run --all

Project layout

bp_mcp/bitpanda_mcp_server.py — FastAPI app + MCP mounting with Developer API v1.1 endpoints
bp_mcp/schemas/ — Pydantic models for requests/responses
bp_mcp/auth.py — Authentication dependency (supports Bearer token and X-Api-Key)
bp_mcp/utils.py — HTTP client helper for Bitpanda API requests
bp_mcp/exception_handlers.py — Error handling with Developer API error format
tests/ — Test suite
pyproject.toml — dependencies and tooling
ruff.toml, mypy.ini — linting and typing config

Bitpanda Developer API MCP Server