Finance & Accounting · Finlight + Claude
Finlight MCP with Claude: Faster Financial News Research for Your Team
The short answer
Claude works with Finlight through the Model Context Protocol, an open standard that lets Claude securely use other software. Once connected with an API key, Claude can search financial news, retrieve articles by URL, list source details and monitor market keywords, all from a plain-English request. Your organisation controls what Claude can access.
What is Finlight?
Finlight is a financial news API. It indexes market and company articles and serves them to other software, with full-text access and rich source metadata. Finance teams, analysts, research desks, investor relations teams and software builders use it to get timely, searchable financial news into their own tools and workflows, rather than checking many news sites by hand.
How Claude connects to Finlight through MCP
The Model Context Protocol, or MCP, is an open standard that acts like a universal adapter between Claude and other software. It lets Claude use a tool in a controlled way, reading information and taking actions the organisation allows. With Finlight, the connection uses your Finlight API key, so Claude only reaches the news data your key permits.
Once connected, Claude can search financial news by topic or company, retrieve full articles when you provide a URL, list details about the sources behind articles, and watch market keywords you care about. Staff simply ask in everyday language, for example asking for recent coverage of a sector and a summary of the key stories.
Permissions and approvals keep people in charge. Access is limited to what the API key allows and to the actions you approve during setup. Where a step could influence a decision or send information outside the team, we design a human check before anything is acted on, so your people review the output before it matters.
What you can automate
Morning market briefing
Each morning, Claude searches Finlight for overnight coverage of the sectors and companies your team tracks. It groups the stories by theme and produces a short briefing. Analysts start the day with a summary of what changed, rather than spending the first hour scanning headlines across many sources.
Company news monitoring
Investor relations and corporate communications teams can ask Claude to watch news about their own company and its competitors. Claude retrieves relevant articles and flags coverage that needs a response. The team decides what to act on, so nothing is published or escalated automatically.
Keyword alerts for risk teams
Risk and compliance staff can define market keywords, such as a regulator name or a commodity. Claude checks Finlight for new matching articles and lists them with their sources. Reviewers see fast, organised leads to investigate, while the final judgement stays with them.
Research note preparation
Analysts writing a research note can ask Claude to gather recent articles on a company, retrieve the full text of the most relevant ones and list the sources. This cuts the time spent on background collection, leaving more time for analysis and original thinking.
Source checking
Before a claim is repeated in a report, a team member can ask Claude to list the source details for the articles that mention it. The metadata helps the reviewer judge how reliable and recent each source is, supporting a more careful editorial process.
Product features for finance apps
Software teams building finance tools can use Claude with Finlight to power a chatbot that answers questions about recent market news. Users ask in plain language and receive relevant articles, while the team controls which data the bot can reach.
An end-to-end workflow: Daily sector briefing to the investment committee
TriggerEvery weekday at 7:00 am, a scheduled request starts the workflow.
Claude searches Finlight for overnight articles on the sectors listed in the team's watchlist.
Claude retrieves the full text of the most relevant articles and lists their source details.
Claude drafts a short briefing grouped by sector, noting the source of each key point.
The draft is placed in a shared Microsoft 365 document for the research lead to review.
After approval, the briefing is posted to the committee's Microsoft Teams channel and the summary is logged in the CRM against the relevant client accounts.
OutcomeThe committee receives a consistent, sourced briefing each morning. Research staff spend less time gathering news and more time reviewing and advising, with a clear record of what was shared and when.
How we set it up
Free automation audit
We review how your team currently gathers and uses financial news, and identify the workflows most worth automating. There is no cost and no obligation.
Connect Finlight with an API key
We set up the connection to Finlight using your API key, which you keep under your control. Claude is granted only the access that key allows, following least-privilege principles.
Design the end-to-end workflow
We map the workflow across Finlight and your other systems, such as Microsoft 365, your CRM or your ticketing tool, and agree where people approve actions.
Test and launch with monitoring
We test the workflow against real past news and questions from your team, then launch with monitoring and audit logs so you can see what Claude retrieved and produced.
Team training and handover
We train your staff to ask good questions, check sources and use the approval steps, and we hand over clear documentation so the workflow can be maintained confidently.
Who benefits
- Equity research analyst
- Faster background gathering and sourced summaries for notes and client updates.
- Investor relations manager
- Earlier visibility of coverage about the company and its competitors.
- Risk and compliance officer
- Organised alerts on keywords that matter, with source details for review.
- Head of IT or product lead
- A controlled, permission-based connection that can be built into internal tools or client-facing apps.
Security and control
- Access is limited to what your Finlight API key allows, and the key stays under your control.
- People approve any step that could influence a decision, publish content or share information outside the team.
- Audit logs record what Claude retrieved and produced, supporting review and accountability.
- Claude's outputs are checked against the original article sources before they are relied upon.
- Staff are trained on the limits of automated summaries and on verifying important claims.
For teams in the US, UK, India and the Middle East
Organisations in the United States and the United Kingdom can host their Claude workflows in the region that meets their data requirements. In India, we design workflows to support the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. For organisations in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, we align the setup with local data protection laws. Hosting region is chosen during design to meet your specific requirements.
Learn more about Claude and MCP
Anthropic's AI model and assistant.
Secure links between Claude and business tools.
How engineers build and change software with Claude.
Hosted agents that run multi-step work.
The open standard Claude uses to connect to tools.
Frequently asked questions
What does the Finlight MCP server do?
The Finlight MCP server lets Claude use Finlight in a controlled way. It can help Claude search financial news, retrieve articles by URL, list source metadata and monitor market keywords. The server acts as the bridge, so Claude can work with Finlight data using natural language instead of technical queries.
Is connecting Finlight to Claude secure?
Security depends on how the connection is set up. The connection uses your Finlight API key, and access is limited to what that key permits. We apply least-privilege principles, keep the key under your control, and add audit logs so you can review activity. We also agree approval steps for any consequential action.
What can Claude do with Finlight once connected?
Once connected, Claude can search financial news by topic or company, retrieve full articles from a URL, list details about their sources and monitor market keywords. Staff can ask for these things in everyday language and receive summaries or lists they can review and use.
How long does setup take?
Timelines vary with the number of workflows and systems involved. A focused setup with one or two workflows is often quick to launch, while broader projects across several systems take longer. Your free automation audit gives you a clearer estimate once we understand your needs.
What access or plan do I need?
Finlight is accessed with an API key, so you need an active Finlight account that can issue one. The exact access your key provides depends on your Finlight arrangement. We confirm what your key allows during the audit, so the design fits what you have.