How to Set Up the MCP Server

This feature requires administrator or workspace owner permissions. Changes made here affect all users in your workspace.

PlaneConnection’s MCP server is a standalone service that implements the Model Context Protocol, exposing a comprehensive set of aviation tools across all platform modules. AI agents connect to the server over HTTP and interact with your flight operations, safety management, and FBO data using structured tool calls. By the end of this guide you will have generated a service API key, configured your AI agent to connect to the MCP server, verified the connection, and scoped the agent’s access to a specific workspace.

Who should read this: Workspace administrators who want to connect AI assistants (Claude Desktop, VS Code with Copilot, custom MCP clients) to their PlaneConnection data. You need the Admin role and access to your workspace’s Settings > Integrations page.

Prerequisites

An active PlaneConnection workspace with the Admin role.
An MCP-compatible AI client (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, VS Code with Copilot, or any client supporting the MCP specification).

Generate a service API key

Connect your AI client

Claude Desktop
Claude Code
Custom MCP Client

Add the following to your Claude Desktop MCP configuration file (~/.claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS/Linux, or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json on Windows):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "planeconnection": {
      "url": "https://mcp.planeconnection.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "X-API-Key": "your-api-key-here",
        "X-Workspace-ID": "your-workspace-id"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop to activate the connection.

Add the MCP server to your project’s .claude/settings.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "planeconnection": {
      "url": "https://mcp.planeconnection.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "X-API-Key": "your-api-key-here",
        "X-Workspace-ID": "your-workspace-id"
      }
    }
  }
}

Point your MCP client to the server endpoint and include the authentication headers on every request:

Endpoint: https://mcp.planeconnection.com/mcp
Headers:
  X-API-Key: your-api-key-here
  X-Workspace-ID: your-workspace-id (optional, scopes to a workspace)

The server implements the full MCP specification including tool listing, tool invocation, and persistent session management.

Find your workspace ID

Your workspace ID is displayed on the Settings > General page in PlaneConnection. It is also visible in the URL when you are logged in:

https://app.planeconnection.com/{workspace-id}/ops/trips
                                 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The X-Workspace-ID header is optional. If omitted, the MCP server uses the default workspace associated with the API key. If your organization has multiple workspaces, include the header to scope queries to the correct one.

Verify the connection

After configuring your client, verify the connection by asking your AI agent to list aircraft:

"Show me all aircraft in my fleet."

The agent should invoke the list_aircraft tool and return your fleet data. If you receive an authentication error, verify that:

The API key is correct and has not been revoked.
The X-Workspace-ID header matches a workspace your key has access to.
The endpoint URL includes the /mcp path suffix.

Server endpoint

The production MCP server endpoint is:

https://mcp.planeconnection.com/mcp

Contact PlaneConnection support if you need access to a non-production environment for testing and integration.

Manage API keys

Rotate a key

Revoke a key

Navigate to Settings > Integrations > API Keys, find the key, and click Revoke. The key is immediately invalidated. Any AI agent using that key will receive 401 Unauthorized responses.

Security considerations

API keys grant the same access as the user who created them. The MCP server inherits the creator’s role and permissions for all tool invocations.
Never commit API keys to version control. Use environment variables or secret managers.
Monitor usage. The audit log under Settings > Activity tracks all MCP tool invocations with the API key name, tool invoked, and timestamp.
Destructive tools require confirmation. Well-behaved MCP clients respect the destructiveHint annotation and prompt the user before invoking tools that create, modify, or delete data.

Troubleshooting

Connection refused or timeout

Verify the endpoint URL is correct and includes /mcp. Check that your network allows outbound HTTPS connections to mcp.planeconnection.com.

401 Unauthorized

The API key is missing, invalid, or revoked. Generate a new key from Settings > Integrations > API Keys.

403 Forbidden

The API key does not have access to the requested workspace. Check the X-Workspace-ID header value.

Tools not appearing in the agent

Restart your AI client after updating the configuration. Some clients cache the tool list and require a restart to pick up new tools.

Destructive tools blocked

If you created a read-only API key, destructive tools (create, update, cancel) will return an error. Generate a read-write key to enable full access.

MCP Tool Catalog

Complete reference for all 88 tools across 26 domain modules.

Manage Users and Roles

Role assignments that determine which tools an agent can invoke.

Set Up Integrations

Other integration options including QuickBooks and Stripe.

AI in Aviation Safety

How AI tools support SMS and flight operations compliance.

Last modified on April 11, 2026

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Safety Management

Flight Operations

FBO Management

Maintenance

Customer Portal

Administration

Prerequisites

Generate a service API key

Connect your AI client

Find your workspace ID

Verify the connection

Server endpoint

Manage API keys

Rotate a key

Revoke a key

Security considerations

Troubleshooting

MCP Tool Catalog

Manage Users and Roles

Set Up Integrations

AI in Aviation Safety

​Prerequisites

​Generate a service API key

​Connect your AI client

​Find your workspace ID

​Verify the connection

​Server endpoint

​Manage API keys

​Rotate a key

​Revoke a key

​Security considerations

​Troubleshooting

​Related

MCP Tool Catalog

Manage Users and Roles

Set Up Integrations

AI in Aviation Safety

Prerequisites

Generate a service API key

Connect your AI client

Find your workspace ID

Verify the connection

Server endpoint

Manage API keys

Rotate a key

Revoke a key

Security considerations

Troubleshooting

Related