How to connect Claude, Cursor and VS Code to the TurboMax MCP server

This guide gets an MCP client talking to TurboMax in a few minutes. You need a TurboMax account and, for anything beyond browsing, an API key.

1. Create a key

Sign in, open MCP in the sidebar and choose Create key.

• Pick Read only if you only want to browse models, check the wallet or follow jobs. It is free.
• Pick Can generate if the client should create media or chat. This spends credits from your wallet and requires an account that has made a paid top-up.
• Choose an expiry: 30 days, 90 days or one year.

The key (it starts with tmx_) is displayed once. Copy it somewhere safe; TurboMax stores only a hash and cannot show it again. If it leaks, revoke it from the same page and the key stops working immediately.

2. Add the server to your client

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http turbomax https://turbomaxai.com/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer tmx_YOUR_KEY"

Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf and other JSON-configured clients

Add this to the client's MCP configuration (the file name differs by client):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "turbomax": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://turbomaxai.com/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer tmx_YOUR_KEY" }
    }
  }
}

Some clients call the field serverUrl or omit type; use whichever your client documents for a remote Streamable HTTP server.

Clients that only run local processes

Use a bridge that runs locally and forwards to the remote server. With mcp-remote:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "turbomax": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["mcp-remote", "https://turbomaxai.com/mcp", "--header", "Authorization:${AUTH_HEADER}"],
      "env": { "AUTH_HEADER": "Bearer tmx_YOUR_KEY" }
    }
  }
}

Plain HTTP, no client at all

Any program can call the endpoint directly:

curl -s https://turbomaxai.com/mcp \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer tmx_YOUR_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"get_wallet","arguments":{}}}'

3. Check it works

Ask your assistant to list the TurboMax image models. That uses list_models, which needs no key, so it also confirms the connection itself. Then ask for your wallet balance, which uses get_wallet and confirms the key.

4. Make something

A good first request, in plain language:

Using TurboMax, find the cheapest text-to-image model, tell me what one image costs, then generate "a lighthouse on a cliff at dusk" with a limit of 20 credits.

A well-behaved client will call list_models, estimate_cost, then generate_media with maxCredits, then get_task until the job is completed, and hand you the resultUrl. Result links are time-limited, so download the file promptly.

Common errors

For what the server offers and how it is secured, read the MCP server overview.