Skills & MCP Server

SocialCrawl is available as two standalone packages that give AI agents direct access to the API. Both currently bundle 44 platforms and 357 endpoints of the REST API's 50-platform, 400-endpoint catalogue; they are versioned separately, so the newest platforms land in the packages a release behind. For the complete surface, call the REST API directly. Choose whichever package matches your AI client.

Skills Package

The @socialcrawl skill works with Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Codex, Gemini CLI, and 40+ other agents. It lets your agent fetch current public social media data subject to documented endpoint caches, generate code snippets, and answer API questions through natural language.

Install

# Via skills.sh (recommended)
npx skills add socialcrawl/skills

# Global (available in all projects)
npx skills add socialcrawl/skills -g

# Via Git (manual) — the skill lives at skills/socialcrawl in the repo,
# and agents discover it at <skills-dir>/<name>/SKILL.md, so copy that
# subdirectory rather than cloning the repo into place.
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/socialcrawl/skills /tmp/socialcrawl-skills
mkdir -p .claude/skills
cp -r /tmp/socialcrawl-skills/skills/socialcrawl .claude/skills/socialcrawl

Set your API key

export SOCIALCRAWL_API_KEY="sc_your_api_key_here"

Add this to your shell profile (~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, etc.) so it persists across sessions.

The skill resolves your key from three sources in order: $SOCIALCRAWL_API_KEY, then ~/.config/socialcrawl/api_key, then a prompt. If it has to prompt, it saves your answer to ~/.config/socialcrawl/api_key so you only paste it once. The literal placeholder sc_your_api_key_here is treated as unset.

Use it

Invoke the skill directly or just ask in natural language:

/socialcrawl

Get the TikTok profile for @charlidamelio

Search YouTube for "machine learning" videos

The skill identifies the platform and endpoint, makes the API call, and returns structured JSON.

MCP Server

The socialcrawl-mcp server connects any MCP-compatible AI client to the SocialCrawl API. It is published on npm and the MCP Registry.

Install for Claude Code

claude mcp add --scope user socialcrawl -e SOCIALCRAWL_API_KEY=sc_your_key_here -- npx -y socialcrawl-mcp

Flags go before the -- separator; everything after it is the command Claude Code runs.

Install for Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code, or Windsurf

Add to your client's MCP config file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "socialcrawl": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "socialcrawl-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "SOCIALCRAWL_API_KEY": "sc_your_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart your AI client after saving.

Available tools

The MCP server exposes 7 tools:

Tool	Description	Needs API key?
`socialcrawl_list_platforms`	Discover every bundled platform with its endpoint count and capabilities	No
`socialcrawl_list_endpoints`	See all endpoints, required parameters, and credit costs for a platform	No
`socialcrawl_get_docs`	Access detailed API documentation by topic or platform slug	No
`socialcrawl_request`	Make any SocialCrawl API call — GET, or POST with a `body` for the batch endpoints	Yes
`socialcrawl_check_balance`	Credit balance and recent deductions via `GET /v1/credits/balance` (0 credits)	Yes
`socialcrawl_monitors`	Create and manage scheduled Monitors — create, list, get, runs, timeseries, pause, resume, delete	Yes
`socialcrawl_web`	Web scraping, search, crawl/batch/agent jobs, change monitors, and browser sessions	Yes

Three of the seven tools work without an API key — they query local bundled data. The four that hit the network (socialcrawl_request, socialcrawl_check_balance, socialcrawl_monitors, socialcrawl_web) need a key.

Smart validation

Before making any API call, socialcrawl_request validates locally that the platform exists, the endpoint exists, and all required parameters are present. If something is wrong, it tells the agent how to fix it — without consuming any credits.

Skills vs MCP

	Skills	MCP
Install via	skills.sh, Git	npm, MCP Registry
Protocol	Skill files read by agent	MCP stdio transport
Client support	Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Codex, Gemini CLI, 40+	Any MCP-compatible client
Discovery tools	No (skill handles routing)	Yes (3 local-only tools)
Local validation	No	Yes (saves credits)
Offline docs	Yes (reference files)	Yes (bundled data)
Monitors	Yes (reference file, calls the REST API)	Yes (`socialcrawl_monitors` tool)
Web/browser	Yes (reference file, calls the REST API)	Yes (dedicated `socialcrawl_web` tool)

Both packages use the same API, response format, and credit system. Pick whichever your AI client supports.

Skills & MCP Server

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