How to Connect The Odds API to Microsoft Copilot via MCP

💡 No install? Use cloud.anythingmcp.com directly. Sign in, click Connectors → The Odds API, paste your credentials, mint an MCP API key and you're done. No Docker, no git clone, no local server.

The Odds API + Microsoft Copilot

The Odds API (the-odds-api.com) v4: betting odds from US, UK, EU and Australian bookmakers for soccer, NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, tennis and more, event odds with player props, live scores, participants and historical odds. Not the odds-api.io service.

Prerequisites

See the full setup instructions baked into the connector (visible in the in-app store when you select the connector). The required environment variables for this connector are:

THE_ODDS_API_KEY

Step 1 — Get credentials

Setting up takes about 2 minutes. You need an API key from the-odds-api.com. A free plan with 500 credits a month exists; historical odds need a paid plan.

1. Sign up at the-odds-api.com. The key arrives by e-mail and is also shown on your account page.
2. Paste it into THE_ODDS_API_KEY: 32 lowercase hex characters. The connector sends it as the apiKey query parameter; it is never a tool argument.
3. Install the connector and run the_odds_api_list_sports: it lists the sports and competitions with the sport keys the other tools need, and costs no credits.

Not the odds-api.io service: AnythingMCP also has an Odds API connector, for odds-api.io. This one is for The Odds API at the-odds-api.com: use it when your key comes from there.

What it reads: odds from bookmakers in the US, UK, EU and Australia for soccer, American football, basketball, baseball, ice hockey, tennis, cricket, MMA and more; match winner, handicap, over/under and futures markets; the odds of one event in any market, including player props, alternate lines and period markets; live scores and results of the last 1 to 3 days; the teams and players of a sport; and, on paid plans, odds and events as they were at a past moment (snapshots since June 2020).

Every call counts against your credits: most calls spend credits from your monthly quota, and every answer shows the balance: credits remaining, credits used and the cost of that call. The AI keeps an eye on it and tells you when it runs low.

• Free: the_odds_api_list_sports and the_odds_api_list_events.
• 1 credit: the_odds_api_get_scores (2 with the results of past days), the_odds_api_get_event_markets, the_odds_api_list_participants and the_odds_api_get_historical_events.
• Odds: number of markets times number of regions. One market in one region costs 1; match winner, handicap and over/under in the US and the EU together cost 6. Up to ten bookmakers named one by one count as one region. The AI starts with one market and one region.
• Historical odds (paid plans only): 10 credits per market per region. The AI asks you before every such call.

Typical flow: the sport key first (soccer_epl, basketball_nba, americanfootball_nfl), then the free list of events with their ids and start times, then the_odds_api_get_odds for a whole sport, or the_odds_api_get_event_markets and the_odds_api_get_event_odds for one game with its player props.

Read-only, no bets: every tool only reads. No tool places a bet or changes your account, so there is nothing to confirm and no tool is switched off at install. Odds are information, not betting advice.

Reading the odds: odds are decimal unless you ask for American odds. The implied probability is 1 divided by the decimal odds. A soccer match winner market has three outcomes, including the draw. Prices change all the time and every bookmaker carries its last update, so the AI tells you how recent the odds are. Times come in UTC and the AI converts them to your time zone.

Limits: besides the monthly credits, too many requests at once answer 429; the AI waits a second and tries again.

Common errors: 401 means the key is missing or wrong, or the monthly credits are used up. 422 is an invalid parameter, such as an unknown market or region, or a historical call on a plan without history. 404 on an event means it has started or finished and is no longer listed.

The connector does not place bets, manage your the-odds-api.com account or plan, or tell you what to bet on.

Step 2 — Install the adapter

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/HelpCode-ai/anythingmcp/main/docker-compose.quickstart.yml -o docker-compose.yml
printf 'JWT_SECRET=%s\nENCRYPTION_KEY=%s\n' "$(openssl rand -hex 32)" "$(openssl rand -hex 32)" > .env
docker compose up -d

Step 3 — Add the connector in Microsoft Copilot

Your server URL: in AnythingMCP, open MCP Servers → the server this connector is on, and copy its URL (https://cloud.anythingmcp.com/mcp/…). Use it wherever this guide shows YOUR_SERVER_ID.

Microsoft Copilot uses MCP servers through agents built in Copilot Studio: you add AnythingMCP to an agent as a tool, then publish the agent to Microsoft 365 Copilot and Teams. Copilot Studio connects from Microsoft's cloud over Streamable HTTP, which AnythingMCP supports.

1. In Copilot Studio, open your agent (or create one), go to Tools and choose Add a tool → New tool → Model Context Protocol.
2. Enter a Server name (for example AnythingMCP), a Server description that says what the connector does, and the Server URL https://cloud.anythingmcp.com/mcp/YOUR_SERVER_ID. Copilot Studio uses the description to decide when to call the server.
3. Under authentication, choose API key, set Type to Header and the header name to X-API-Key, then select Create.
4. In Add tool, choose Create a new connection, paste an MCP API key from AnythingMCP (MCP Servers → your server → API keys) and select Add to agent.
5. Try it in the agent's Test pane: ask for something that needs the The Odds API tools.
6. Select Publish, then Channels → Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams, keep Make agent available in Microsoft Copilot selected and choose Add channel. See agent in Teams installs it for you; in Microsoft 365 Copilot, type @ and pick the agent.

Prefer per-user sign-in? Choose OAuth 2.0 → Dynamic discovery instead of an API key: each user then signs in to AnythingMCP the first time the agent calls it.

Self-hosting? Use your instance's public HTTPS address instead of https://cloud.anythingmcp.com. Copilot Studio connects from Microsoft's cloud, so localhost does not work.

Available tools

Example prompts

• "Compare the match winner odds for Arsenal vs Chelsea at the European bookmakers and show the implied probabilities."
• "Which bookmaker has the best moneyline for each NBA game tonight?"
• "What player props are on offer for Monday Night Football, and what do they cost in credits?"
• "Give me last night's NHL scores."
• "How many credits do I have left this month?"

FAQ

Which Copilot is this for? Microsoft 365 Copilot at work, through agents built in Copilot Studio. The Microsoft Copilot app for personal accounts has no option to add your own MCP server.

What do I need? A work account with access to Copilot Studio (a license or a trial) to build the agent. People who use it in Microsoft 365 Copilot or Teams need access to the agent: share it with them, or ask an admin to publish it to the organization. If your organization applies data policies to Power Platform connectors, they cover MCP servers too.

The agent doesn't call the tools. Check that the header name is exactly X-API-Key and that the key belongs to the same MCP server as the URL, and make the server description specific: Copilot Studio uses it to decide when to call the server. Publish the agent again after each change; in an open chat, type "start over" to get the new version.

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