HG Insights MCP server
HG Insights provides company technology-intelligence data for sales, marketing, and revenue teams. An AI agent with this MCP server can look up and enrich companies with firmographics, technographics (installed products and vendors), IT spend, AI maturity, and technology contracts; discover companies by tech stack, industry, size, or buyer intent; enrich contacts with business email and phone; and pull corporate hierarchy, Functional Area Intelligence, and intent signals.
Setting up an MCP server
This article covers the standard steps for creating an MCP server in AI Gateway and connecting it to an AI client. The steps are the same for every integration — application-specific details (API credentials, OAuth endpoints, and scopes) are covered in the individual application pages.
Before you begin
You'll need:
- Access to AI Gateway with permission to create MCP servers
- API credentials for the application you're connecting (see the relevant application page for what to collect)
Create an MCP server
Find the API in the catalog
- Sign in to AI Gateway and select MCP Servers from the left navigation.
- Select New MCP Server.
- Search for the application you want to connect, then select it from the catalog.
Configure the server
- Enter a Name for your server — something descriptive that identifies both the application and its purpose.
- Enter a Description so your team knows what the server is for.
- Set the Timeout value. 30 seconds works for most APIs; increase to 60 seconds for APIs that return large payloads.
- Toggle Production mode on if this server will be used in a live workflow.
- Select Next.
Configure authentication
Enter the authentication details for the application. This varies by service — see the Authentication section of the relevant application page for the specific credentials, OAuth URLs, and scopes to use.
Configure security
- Set any Rate limits appropriate for your use case and the API's own limits.
- Enable Logging if you want AI Gateway to record requests and responses for auditing.
- Select Next.
Deploy
Review the summary, then select Deploy. AI Gateway provisions the server and provides a server URL you'll use when configuring your AI client.
Connect to an AI client
Once your server is deployed, you'll need to add it to the AI client your team uses. Select your client for setup instructions:
Tips
- You can create multiple MCP servers for the same application — for example, a read-only server for reporting agents and a read-write server for automation workflows.
- If you're unsure which OAuth scopes to request, start with the minimum read-only set and add write scopes only when needed. Most application pages include scope recommendations.
- You can edit a server's name, description, timeout, and security settings after deployment without redeploying.
Authentication
HG Insights uses API key authentication via a Bearer token in the Authorization header. Keys begin with the hg_v2_ prefix and are generated by an account admin at admin.hginsights.com under Settings > API Keys.
| Value | Setting |
|---|---|
| Auth type | API key (Bearer token) |
| API key header | Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY |
| Base URL | https://api.hginsights.com/data-api/v2 |
| Where to get | admin.hginsights.com |
| Rate limits | 25 requests per second (shared across all endpoints); ~50,000 requests per day |
| Documentation | data-docs.hginsights.com |
Available tools
The HG Insights MCP server exposes the full HG Insights API v2 for company discovery, enrichment, contact lookup, contract search, intent signals, catalog reference data, and credit management.
Company enrichment and discovery
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
| Enrich Companies | Enrich up to 25 companies per request with firmographics, spend, technographics, contracts, and AI maturity |
| Match Companies | Batch-resolve up to 10 companies by name, domain, and/or country into HG company records |
| Search Companies | Discover companies by firmographics, technology installs, spend, intent, and corporate hierarchy filters |
| Company Hierarchy | Return corporate hierarchy as a nested tree or flat list with configurable traversal modes |
| Company Functional Area Intelligence | Return who uses each product, where, and who decides — by department, role, and location |
Contact enrichment
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
| Search Contacts | Search HG's contact database by company, location, job function, seniority, and time in role |
| Enrich Contacts | Append business email and/or phone to up to 100 contact IDs per request |
Contracts and intent
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
| Search Contracts | Search technology contracts by company, vendor, category, deal value, country, dates, and active status |
| Get Company Intent Signals | Return buyer-intent signals combining HG topic-based intent and TrustRadius activities |
Catalog and reference data
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
| List countries | List supported countries for filtering |
| List states | List supported states and provinces |
| List industries | List industry taxonomy |
| List NAICS 2012 | List NAICS 2012 industry codes |
| List SIC US 1987 | List SIC US 1987 industry codes |
| List vendors | List technology vendors |
| List products | List technology products |
| List product categories | List product category taxonomy |
| List product attributes | List product attribute definitions |
| List spend categories | List IT spend category taxonomy |
| List intent topics | List intent topic taxonomy |
| List intent buyers journey | List buyer journey stages for intent filtering |
| List intent context types | List intent context types |
| List job functions | List job function taxonomy for contact search |
| List job seniorities | List job seniority levels for contact search |
| List FAI departments | List Functional Area Intelligence department taxonomy |
Credits and estimation
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
| Get Credits Balance | Return credit balance, contract dates, and data entitlements |
| Estimate company enrichment cost | Preview credit cost before enriching companies |
| Estimate Functional Area Intelligence cost | Preview credit cost before FAI requests |
| Estimate Company Hierarchy cost | Preview credit cost before hierarchy requests |
| Estimate contact enrichment cost | Preview credit cost before enriching contacts |
| Estimate contract search cost | Preview credit cost before contract searches |
| Estimate intent signals cost | Preview credit cost before intent enrichment |
Tips
Use the match → enrich pattern when you have partial company identifiers — call Match Companies to resolve HG IDs, then pass those IDs to Enrich Companies for full data.
Batch company enrichment — include up to 25 companies per Enrich Companies call for the most efficient use of rate limits and credits.
Call estimate endpoints first before billable operations (enrich, FAI, hierarchy, contacts, contracts, intent) to preview credit cost and avoid unexpected consumption.
Check your credits balance with Get Credits Balance before running large discovery or enrichment jobs.
Use Search Companies for discovery, Enrich Companies for detail — search returns minimal identifying fields; pass resulting IDs to enrich for firmographics, technographics, spend, and contracts.
For intent sweeps across many accounts, request only the summary field first (free aggregate counts), then drill into topics and activities only where the summary looks promising.
For Company Hierarchy, use format: list when filtering by country, region, or tier — those filters require list format and return HTTP 400 with tree format.
Store API keys in environment variables or secure vaults, never in client-side code or version control.
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