Using the Pilea API and MCP

Want to push feedback in from your own product, build custom automations, or pull backlog items straight into your code editor? That’s what the Pilea API and MCP server are for.

The Pilea API

The public API lives at:

https://api.getpilea.com/v1

It’s a full API with TypeScript support, covering five resources: workspaces, mentions, backlog items, customers, and tags - with read and, per resource, write access. Common uses:

• Push feedback directly from your product
• Create custom workflows and automations

Creating an API key

API keys are created at the organization level.

1. In Pilea, go to Settings → API & MCP.
2. Create a new key and give it a name.
3. Choose its access level: Full access, or Custom access with specific scopes - workspaces:read, mentions:read/mentions:write, backlog-items:read/backlog-items:write, customers:read/customers:write, tags:read/tags:write.
4. Copy your key now - you won’t be able to see it again.

💡 Tip: Use Custom access with the narrowest scopes that do the job. A script that only pushes feedback needs mentions:write, not full access.

Targeting a workspace

API keys belong to your organization, but most work happens inside a workspace. Pass the X-Workspace-Id header on your requests to target a specific workspace.

The MCP server

Pilea ships an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server, so AI editors can work with your Pilea data directly. Install it with:

npx @pilea/mcp

It works with Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf, and Claude.

With MCP connected, your AI editor can access backlog items, insights, and customer feedback - and pull dev-ready backlog items with full context, including the attached mentions and customer quotes, straight into the IDE. Instead of pasting a ticket description into your editor, your coding agent reads the item plus the actual customer evidence behind it.

The MCP server authenticates with the same API keys - create one in Settings → API & MCP as described above.

ℹ️ Note: MCP is rolling out gradually. If the install command isn’t live for your organization yet, email us and we’ll switch it on.

ℹ️ Note: Since the key is only shown once at creation, store it somewhere safe (like your team’s secrets manager) before closing the dialog. If you lose it, create a new key.

API or MCP - which one?

• API - You’re writing code: pushing feedback from your product, syncing data into internal tools, building automations.
• MCP - You’re working in an AI editor and want backlog items with full customer context available to your coding agent.

They’re complementary, and both are governed by the same organization-level keys and scopes.

Next: How integration syncing works