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title: Introduction
description: 'Overview of Alephant MCP, its core capabilities, and value proposition'
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**Alephant MCP Server** is a developer-centric infrastructure tool designed to integrate AI cost management directly into your AI workflow (such as Cursor, Claude Desktop, Windsurf, VS Code Copilot, and ChatGPT).

By implementing the **Model Context Protocol (MCP)**—an open standard created by Anthropic—it transforms your AI assistant from a simple "code generator" into a "financially-aware architect".

## What is MCP and Why Alephant?

Think of MCP as a **universal plugin system for AI**. Just as USB-C allows you to connect any device to a computer with one cable, MCP allows any AI tool to connect to Alephant's FinOps services through a standard protocol.

For Alephant, this means developers can interact with their Alephant dashboard using natural language directly within their IDE. There is **no need to switch tabs and no need to log into a web backend**.

**Real-World Scenario:**

> A developer is coding in Cursor and wants to check their AI spending. They type: *"How much did I spend on GPT-4 this week?"*
>
> Cursor calls the Alephant MCP server, which queries the Alephant API and responds: *"You spent \$47.23 on GPT-4 this week across 1,247 requests, a 12% decrease from last week."* — Instant answers directly within your workflow.

## Core Capabilities & MCP Features

The Alephant MCP server exposes three main types of features to the AI Host:

1. **Tools (Actions & Queries)**: Functions the AI can execute, such as fetching usage data, creating API keys, or setting alerts.
2. **Resources (Read-only Data)**: Contextual data presented to the client, such as pricing lists or model catalogs.
3. **Prompts (Templates)**: Pre-written templates, such as the "Cost Audit Report" prompt, which automatically pulls all relevant data.

### 🛠️ Key Tool Categories

Our MCP Server provides a comprehensive suite of tools categorized into four main areas:

* **Cost & Usage Tools**: Get usage summaries (`get_usage_summary`), daily costs (`get_daily_costs`), costs by model (`get_cost_by_model`), and retrieve request logs.
* **Key Management Tools**: Manage virtual keys seamlessly. Includes listing keys (`list_virtual_keys`), creating keys with budgets (`create_virtual_key`), updating budgets (`update_key_budget`), and revoking keys (`revoke_virtual_key`).
* **Model & Routing Tools**: Leverage Alephant's smart routing. List available models (`list_available_models`), check model status, and update fallback configurations.
* **Alerts & Settings**: Proactively set budget alerts when spending reaches specific thresholds.

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**The Big Picture**: The MCP server is not just a feature; it is a **distribution channel**. It brings the core value of Alephant—AI FinOps and governance—directly to where developers spend most of their time, eliminating friction and maximizing productivity.