MCP server · Finance and crypto

Substrate MCP server

Lets your AI look up balances, blocks and events on a Substrate blockchain, and send signed transactions.

This is a small helper program that connects your AI assistant to a Substrate blockchain. Substrate is the software behind chains like Polkadot, and this server lets your AI read what is happening on one and even send signed transactions. It is handy for developers and analysts who work with these chains and want to ask questions in plain language instead of writing code.

What is an MCP server? The 30-second version

On its own, your AI can only chat with you using what it already knows. An MCP server is a small helper program that gives your AI a new skill or a connection to an outside service. This one connects your AI to a Substrate blockchain, so it can look up balances, blocks and events there, or send a transaction, when you ask it to. You run it on your own computer, and it talks to the chain for you.

What this MCP server does

You ask your AI something about a Substrate chain, like the balance of an account or the events in the latest block. The AI passes your request to this helper program. The helper talks to the blockchain node you pointed it at, using the connection details you set up. It brings the answer back, and the AI shows it to you in the chat. If you ask it to send a transaction, it builds, signs and sends it using the key you provided.

Flow diagram: you ask your AI “What is the balance of this account?”, on your own computer the Substrate MCP server works with substrate blockchain, and you get back answer in chat.

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What you can do with it

Check the balance of any account on the chain
List the pallets (the built-in modules) in the runtime
Look at the storage entries inside a pallet
See the events from the latest block, or search for a specific one
Find extrinsics (the actions) in the latest block
Get details about the latest block or a block by its hash
Send a signed transaction to the chain
Make a custom RPC call to the node

Try asking your AI

“What is the balance of this account on the chain?”
“Show me the events from the latest block.”
“List the pallets in this runtime.”
“Find any transfer events in the latest block.”

What it gives back to you

You get answers in the chat: a balance as a number, a list of pallets or storage entries, the details of a block, or a list of events and extrinsics. When you ask it to send a transaction, it tells you the result of that action. Everything shows up as normal text you can read, not as code you have to run yourself.

Before you start

What you need

Rust installed on your computer, to build the program
The web address of a Substrate node (a WebSocket URL)
A signing keypair in hex, which is like a password that lets the server sign transactions
A runtime metadata file for your chain, saved as artifacts/metadata.scale before you build

Good to know

It can send real signed transactions to the chain using your key, so anything it submits is permanent and may cost money or change on-chain data.

Install it with your AI

Add Substrate MCP server to your AI, no technical skills needed

You don't install anything by hand. You copy one prompt, paste it into an AI that can work on your computer, and it checks, installs and connects the server for you, asking you when it needs something.

Sign in to get the install prompt

Members get a ready-made prompt that lets the Claude desktop app check Substrate MCP server, install it and connect it for them, step by step. You don't need any technical skills: you copy, paste and answer a few questions. Your connected AI can also find and install any of the 4,066 MCP servers here for you.