Gemini CLI
One `gemini mcp add --transport http` command adds the Vike data server with an X-API-KEY header.
Add the server
gemini mcp add --transport http \
--header "X-API-KEY: $VIKE_API_KEY" \
vike https://data.vike.io/mcpThe argument order is options, then the name (vike), then the URL. --transport http is
required — the default transport is stdio, which expects a local command rather than a URL.
The trader server is the same subcommand without `--transport`
vike-cli mcp is a local command, so it is added on the default stdio transport and joins the
same server list under a different name — a second vike would replace this one. See
Trader / Gemini CLI.
Verify
gemini mcp listThen, in a session:
Search for PEPE token using Vike
token_search costs 0 credits, so a failed attempt costs nothing.
Troubleshooting
The command is rejected as malformed. Check the argument order: options, then the server name, then the URL. A header containing spaces must be quoted as one argument, exactly as above.
The server is added but every call errors. Test the credential outside the CLI:
curl -s https://data.vike.io/mcp \
-H "X-API-KEY: $VIKE_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/list"}' | head -c 400A working key returns a result carrying the tool list. A bad key returns a JSON-RPC error at
HTTP 401 — see Raw HTTP for the exact shapes.
$VIKE_API_KEY expanded to nothing. The command then registers an empty header and every
call fails authentication. Echo the variable before running the add, or paste the key literally
into a shell you trust.
Calls start returning "Hourly rate limit exceeded". That counter is shared across MCP and the REST API; archive downloads are recorded against the key but no longer count toward it (since 2026-09-02). See Rate limits.