Institutional-grade investment research inside Claude. Powered by the Parallax platform.
Your org admin adds the plugin once via Organization Settings → Plugins. After that:
- Claude asks for the API key when the plugin is enabled and stores it as a sensitive setting
- No shell config or permissions setup needed
1. Get your API key at chicago.global.
2. Install the plugin and enter the key. The plugin stores the key as a sensitive setting in your system's secure credential store. It does not read a PARALLAX_API_KEY shell variable.
Inside Claude, the install asks for the key:
/plugin marketplace add vallipichappan/parallax-plugin
/plugin install parallax@parallax-plugin
From your shell, claude plugin install never prompts, so pass the key on the command line:
claude plugin marketplace add vallipichappan/parallax-plugin
claude plugin install parallax@parallax-plugin --config PARALLAX_API_KEY=your_key_hereA key passed with --config lands in your shell history, so prefer the in-Claude install. If you installed without the key, run /plugin configure parallax@parallax-plugin inside Claude before your first query.
Upgrading from 1.4.0 or earlier? Those versions read a PARALLAX_API_KEY shell variable. 1.4.1 reads only the saved plugin setting, so run /plugin configure parallax@parallax-plugin once and enter your key. If Claude then offers only authenticate, run /mcp and reconnect the Parallax server.
The order matters. If the plugin connects before a valid key is saved, the server answers 401. Claude Code then registers the two placeholder tools authenticate and complete_authentication instead of the real ones — and that state survives a restart. You get a plugin that looks installed, exposes two tools that do nothing useful, and reports no error pointing at the key. If you hit this, see Troubleshooting below.
3. Start Claude:
claudeAsk it something like "score AAPL". Claude will ask permission the first time it calls a Parallax tool. Approving once per session is enough to get started — step 4 is only worth doing if the prompts annoy you.
4. Optional — stop the permission prompts:
Run /permissions inside Claude, find the Parallax entry, and add an allow rule for it. The tool prefix depends on how the server was installed, so read the exact prefix from that screen rather than guessing.
Scripted alternative (for org rollouts)
Only use this if you are provisioning many machines. It edits ~/.claude/settings.json in place and keeps a .bak copy. Confirm the prefix via /permissions first — a wrong rule silently does nothing.
python3 - <<'EOF'
import json, os, shutil
p = os.path.expanduser('~/.claude/settings.json')
if os.path.exists(p):
shutil.copy(p, p + '.bak')
s = json.load(open(p))
else:
s = {}
allow = s.setdefault('permissions', {}).setdefault('allow', [])
rule = 'mcp__plugin_parallax_parallax__*' # verify against /permissions before trusting this
if rule not in allow:
allow.append(rule)
json.dump(s, open(p, 'w'), indent=2)
print('added', rule, '(backup at', p + '.bak)')
EOFClaude only offers authenticate / complete_authentication, and nothing else works.
The server rejected your key, or there was no key when the plugin first connected. An unauthenticated request returns 401, and Claude Code responds by registering those two placeholder tools. Restarting does not clear it — the state is client-side.
Fix it in this order:
- Re-enter the key: run
/plugin configure parallax@parallax-plugininside Claude. A missing key is the most common cause. - Check the server is reachable and your key is accepted. Export the key in your shell for this one test (
export PARALLAX_API_KEY=your_key_here; it lands in shell history), then run:curl -s -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code}\n' -X POST https://mcp.chicago.global/api/mcp \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $PARALLAX_API_KEY" \ -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \ -H 'Accept: application/json, text/event-stream' \ -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"initialize","params":{"protocolVersion":"2025-06-18","capabilities":{},"clientInfo":{"name":"probe","version":"1"}}}'
200means the key works and the problem is client-side — go to step 3.401means the key is wrong or expired. - Run
/mcpinside Claude and reconnect the Parallax server. The real tools appear immediately.
A tool returns 402 or says "Insufficient credits". The key is valid but the account behind it has no credits. This is a billing state, not a setup error.
Results change between runs of the same screen. Expected. The universe search is not reproducible run-to-run, and the set of companies can differ, not just their order.
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
/parallax:start |
Guided entry point — four-branch menu that routes to the right command when you don't have one in mind |
/parallax:stock [ticker] |
Research brief — fundamentals + technicals lenses, peers, macro context, news, analyst views |
/parallax:peers [ticker] |
Peer comparison — factor matrix across the peer group, score trajectories, relative price performance |
/parallax:why-score [ticker] [question] |
Plain-language score explanation — why a stock scores this way, what a factor measures, why it moved |
/parallax:portfolio [holdings] |
Portfolio analysis with health flags, drill-down, and advisor mode |
/parallax:explain [holdings] |
Drawdown attribution — why is my portfolio down, transient vs fundamental |
/parallax:credit [ticker] |
Creditor's lens — Altman Z, leverage/coverage/liquidity thresholds, quality early-warning |
/parallax:etf [ticker or theme] |
ETF research, comparison, holdings overlap, and search |
/parallax:macro [country] |
Macro outlook — regime, indicators, sectors, rates, FX, equity opportunities |
/parallax:universe [theme] |
Build a scored portfolio from a natural language investment thesis |
/parallax:thematic-screen [theme] |
Thematic idea screen — ranked stock ideas with scores, macro context, and peer/financial detail (unweighted; use /parallax:universe for a portfolio) |
/parallax:deep-dive [ticker] |
Deep fundamental + technical analysis with AI assessment |
/parallax:screen [mode] [ticker] |
Shariah compliance screen (halal) or forensic earnings quality analysis |
/parallax:scenario [event] portfolio=[...] |
Event-driven exposure analysis — what's at risk, what to rotate into |
/parallax:rebalance [holdings] |
Prioritized rebalancing classifications with health flags and replacements |
/parallax:investor [profile] [ticker] |
AI investor profile — Buffett factor match, Greenblatt Magic Formula, Klarman margin of safety, Soros macro regime, or consensus across all four |
/parallax:start
/parallax:stock AAPL
/parallax:peers NVDA
/parallax:why-score AAPL "why is the value score so low?"
/parallax:why-score "what does the defensive factor measure?"
/parallax:portfolio AAPL 50%, MSFT 50%
/parallax:explain AAPL 30%, MSFT 40%, SPY 30%
/parallax:credit F
/parallax:etf SPY QQQ
/parallax:etf high quality tech ETFs
/parallax:macro United States
/parallax:macro compare US Japan
/parallax:universe profitable AI infrastructure companies
/parallax:thematic-screen energy transition pure plays
/parallax:deep-dive TSLA "Is the robotaxi thesis priced in?"
/parallax:screen halal AAPL
/parallax:screen quality TSLA.O
/parallax:scenario "Fed cuts 50bps" portfolio=AAPL 30%, MSFT 20%, XOM 50%
/parallax:rebalance AAPL 40%, MSFT 40%, GOOGL 20% target="improve quality"
/parallax:rebalance AAPL MSFT GOOGL NVDA (no weights = watchlist surveillance mode)
/parallax:investor AAPL (consensus across all 4 profiles)
/parallax:investor buffett AAPL (Buffett factor profile)
/parallax:investor greenblatt (Magic Formula universe screen)
/parallax:investor klarman BRKb.N (margin of safety check)
/parallax:investor soros (regime themes + trade ideas)
/parallax:investor consensus AAPL,MSFT,KO (basket consensus)
You can also ask naturally — skills fire automatically:
tell me about Microsoft
analyze my portfolio: AAPL 50%, GOOGL 50%
why is my portfolio down this month?
can Ford service its debt?
what ETFs overlap between VOO and VTI?
is Apple stock halal?
what if China tariffs hit my portfolio?
check earnings quality of Tesla
compare Apple vs Microsoft
is Apple a Buffett stock?
what do the legends think about NVDA?
run the Magic Formula screen
margin of safety check on Tesla
Each Parallax command sends the tool arguments Claude builds to Chicago Global's Parallax server at https://mcp.chicago.global/api/mcp. Those arguments include tickers, company names, portfolio holdings and weights, and query text. In advisor mode they also include any client context you supply, which Parallax's AI services process. Requests are authenticated with your Parallax API key. Claude stores the key with the plugin's settings. Tool results return to Claude and are processed under your Claude account's terms. This plugin has no server of its own and stores nothing else. For how Chicago Global handles this data, see the Chicago Global privacy policy.
Claude asks permission the first time it calls a Parallax tool. To stop the prompts, follow optional step 4 of manual install: run /permissions inside Claude and allow the Parallax server tools, or use the scripted alternative in that step.