Start with an AI assistant

Task

Ask your assistant to find the Swiss electricity mix in BAFU, inspect its reference product, and explain the difference between direct exchanges and its life-cycle inventory. The answer must come from actual VoLCA tool calls, not the assistant’s general knowledge.

Prerequisites

• An assistant that supports remote HTTP MCP servers and OAuth. Custom connector availability depends on your assistant and its plan.
• A confirmed VoLCA account, with access to the shared BAFU engine. Existing users can log in.
• Permission to connect an external assistant under your organization’s data policy. This exercise uses public data; do not upload private files.

Action

1. Open your engine

Log in to VoLCA, open the shared engine from your account, and confirm that BAFU is available. Keep its engine address: the URL identifies the engine, not just your account.

2. Connect your assistant

In your assistant’s connector or MCP settings, add a remote HTTP server:

• Name: VoLCA
• URL for the shared engine: https://app.volca.run/@volca/shared/mcp
• Authentication: OAuth, if your client supports automatic discovery. Complete the VoLCA sign-in and authorization screen.

For another engine, use its own address followed by /mcp. Do not reuse a local engine password as a hosted OAuth token. If your client does not support this flow, use its documented local MCP configuration or choose Python instead.

Local and remote are different. http://localhost:18765/mcp is suitable only for an MCP client running on the same machine as the local engine started in the CLI exercise. A cloud-hosted connector cannot reach your computer’s localhost. Do not expose an unauthenticated local server to the internet to work around this.

3. Ask a verifiable question

Copy this prompt:

Use VoLCA tools to list the available databases. In BAFU 2026v1, find the activity named exactly “Electricity mix” in CH, with a reference product of 1 kWh. Show its process identifier and direct inputs, then retrieve its life-cycle inventory. Explain the difference between direct inputs and cumulative inventory. Give a few inventory examples with their units, not a ranking of environmental impacts. If the database or activity is unavailable or ambiguous, stop and explain rather than substituting another result.

For the archive used by the local guides, the selected process identifier is:

3dd9f4d2-ebc3-32d6-8138-ba4253c4ebc3_a99c8f9b-0339-5c79-a622-08e1b5bee775

Expected result

Your assistant shows actual database search and inspection tool calls, identifies Electricity mix / CH / 1 kWh, and distinguishes direct exchanges from the cumulative inventory. Open a source link if VoLCA returns one; otherwise verify the process identifier in the browser. A backend-only engine may not supply a UI link.

The local engine v0.12.0 returned 2,147 inventory flows for this pinned BAFU archive. The hosted engine may use a different version. Never add mixed units or treat the largest raw inventory quantity as the largest environmental impact. An LCIA score needs a compatible characterization method.

Troubleshooting

• No tools called: verify the connector is enabled for this conversation. A plausible answer alone does not establish a working connection.
• Authorization failed: check the engine address, your membership and the client’s OAuth support. Reconnect through the authorization screen; never paste passwords or tokens into a chat.
• Localhost is unreachable: use the hosted HTTPS address for a cloud client, or a client running locally for a local engine.
• No matching database: ask the assistant to report the available names, then check the engine you selected. Do not silently substitute another database version.
• Cannot modify data: the shared engine is read-only. This first exercise does not require edits.

Next step

Read the MCP tools reference or continue with database production workflows. Hosted connector screens vary by provider; the local tool-call check does not replace testing your client’s complete authorization flow.