MCP Server

The Influship MCP server exposes the API to AI agents through typed tools. It works with Claude Desktop, Cursor, ChatGPT Connectors, VS Code Copilot, and any Model Context Protocol-compatible client.

Before you start	Details
Auth	API key for generic clients; OAuth for account linking
Resource	The resources exposed by your configured endpoint
Cost	Tool calls use their corresponding API prices
Limits	Use tools/list; inspect each tool schema and your rate-limit headers

The server is hosted at https://mcp.influship.com/mcp and uses the Streamable HTTP transport (spec 2025-06-18). Stdio-only clients connect via the mcp-remote bridge.

How it works

Generic MCP clients authenticate with an Influship API key. Clients that support account linking can use OAuth instead. Calls use the billing route and rate limits associated with the credential.

The agent connects to https://mcp.influship.com/mcp with an X-API-Key or linked Influship account
The agent discovers the available typed tools, each with a full description and parameter schema
The agent picks the right tool, such as semantic_search_creators, and calls it with its arguments
The result includes the REST response fields plus MCP-specific suggested_followups

Clients can list available tools without authentication. get_sample_creator provides an unauthenticated preview. The remaining tools require an API key or OAuth account link.

Set up with AI

Copy this prompt into your coding agent.

Connect this project or development environment to the Influship MCP server.

Open in Cursor

Tools

The table below describes the general /mcp endpoint. The account-linked /plugin/mcp endpoint exposes a focused creator workspace and saved-shortlist tools; see ChatGPT setup. Use your client’s tool list for the inventory available on its configured endpoint.

Tool	Method	Endpoint
`get_sample_creator`	GET	Configured creator preview
`search_creators`	GET or POST	`/v1/creators/autocomplete` or `/v1/search`
`semantic_search_creators`	POST	`/v1/search`
`autocomplete_creators`	GET	`/v1/creators/autocomplete`
`find_lookalike_creators`	POST	`/v1/creators/lookalike`
`match_creators`	POST	`/v1/creators/match`
`get_creator`	GET	`/v1/creators/:id` or `/v1/profiles/:platform/:username`
`get_profile`	GET	`/v1/profiles/:platform/:username`
`lookup_profiles`	POST	`/v1/profiles/lookup`
`get_posts`	GET	`/v1/posts`
`get_instagram_post`	GET	`/v1/raw/instagram/post/:shortcode`
`get_instagram_posts`	POST	`/v1/raw/instagram/posts`
`get_instagram_post_transcript`	GET	`/v1/raw/instagram/transcript/:shortcode`
`get_instagram_post_transcripts`	POST	`/v1/raw/instagram/transcripts`
`get_tiktok_profile`	GET	`/v1/raw/tiktok/profile/:username`
`get_tiktok_music`	GET	`/v1/raw/tiktok/music`
`search_tiktok_users`	GET	`/v1/raw/tiktok/search/users`
`search_tiktok_videos`	GET	`/v1/raw/tiktok/search/videos`
`list_tiktok_hashtag_videos`	GET	`/v1/raw/tiktok/hashtag/videos`
`list_tiktok_music_videos`	GET	`/v1/raw/tiktok/music/videos`
`get_tiktok_video_captions`	GET	`/v1/raw/tiktok/video/captions`
`list_tiktok_profile_videos`	GET	`/v1/raw/tiktok/profile/:username/videos`
`get_tiktok_video`	GET	`/v1/raw/tiktok/video`
`list_tiktok_video_comments`	GET	`/v1/raw/tiktok/video/comments`
`list_tiktok_comment_replies`	GET	`/v1/raw/tiktok/video/comment/replies`
`get_tiktok_video_transcript`	GET	`/v1/raw/tiktok/video/transcript`
`get_tiktok_videos`	POST	`/v1/raw/tiktok/videos`
`get_tiktok_video_transcripts`	POST	`/v1/raw/tiktok/video/transcripts`
`get_youtube_channel`	GET	`/v1/raw/youtube/channel/:handle`
`get_youtube_video_transcript`	GET	`/v1/raw/youtube/transcript/:video_id`
`get_youtube_channel_transcripts`	GET	`/v1/raw/youtube/channel-transcripts/:handle`
`search_youtube`	GET	`/v1/raw/youtube/search`
`get_youtube_video`	GET	`/v1/raw/youtube/video/:video_id`
`get_youtube_typeahead`	GET	`/v1/raw/youtube/typeahead`
`render_creator_shortlist`	Composite	Search page or creator lookups
`render_creator_profile`	Composite	Creator and post lookups
`render_creator_comparison`	Composite	Creator lookups and match scoring

Each tool description tells the agent when to use it. Use semantic_search_creators for topical or campaign discovery, search_creators for a name or partial handle, and find_lookalike_creators when you already have seed creators.

Quickstart

Choose the setup for your client below. Config-based clients need an API key from the dashboard; account-linking clients use OAuth.

Claude Code (CLI)

One command:

claude mcp add influship --transport http https://mcp.influship.com/mcp --header "X-API-Key: YOUR_INFLUSHIP_API_KEY"

Add --scope user to install across every project, not just the current directory.

Claude Desktop

Open Customize → Connectors → Add custom connector, enter https://mcp.influship.com/mcp, then complete Influship account linking when prompted. Claude’s remote custom-connector flow uses OAuth rather than an arbitrary API-key header. If you prefer an API-key-backed local bridge, add this to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "influship": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://mcp.influship.com/mcp",
        "--header",
        "X-API-Key:YOUR_INFLUSHIP_API_KEY"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Cursor and Windsurf

Both clients use the same remote-server configuration. Set INFLUSHIP_API_KEY in the environment that launches the app, then add this JSON to .cursor/mcp.json for Cursor or ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json for Windsurf:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "influship": {
      "url": "https://mcp.influship.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "X-API-Key": "${env:INFLUSHIP_API_KEY}"
      }
    }
  }
}

VS Code

Run MCP: Add Server, or add the server to .vscode/mcp.json. VS Code uses a top-level servers object rather than Cursor’s mcpServers key:

{
  "inputs": [
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "influship-api-key",
      "description": "Influship API key",
      "password": true
    }
  ],
  "servers": {
    "influship": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.influship.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "X-API-Key": "${input:influship-api-key}"
      }
    }
  }
}

ChatGPT

In an eligible workspace, enable developer mode, create a custom app from Settings → Apps, and use https://mcp.influship.com/plugin/mcp as the remote MCP endpoint. Complete Influship account linking when prompted. The ChatGPT workspace lets you describe a campaign brief, inspect creator evidence, select up to eight creators, and compare two to four against the brief. Save a named shortlist with notes to your linked account, then resume it from the saved library. Selected creators remain available when you refine a search. Resume a saved shortlist to retrieve the latest stored creator evidence using your linked account’s lookup allowance. Your shortlist keeps selected profiles, the brief, and notes together. Collection dates and evidence labels help you review profile data, content evidence, and AI analysis. Each account can hold 100 saved shortlists. Updating a shortlist requires its current version; if another save changes it, reopen it before updating. Saved work is private to your linked account. In desktop hosts that support composer mentions, search your saved shortlist names to reference them in a conversation.

Stdio-only clients

Some clients only support stdio transport. Bridge them with mcp-remote:

npx -y mcp-remote https://mcp.influship.com/mcp --header "X-API-Key:YOUR_INFLUSHIP_API_KEY"

Authentication and billing

The MCP server supports two authentication paths:

Generic clients send X-API-Key; calls use the associated API account’s metering and rate limits
Account-linking clients send an OAuth bearer token; calls use the linked account’s billing route and allowance
get_sample_creator is an unauthenticated preview and does not expose arbitrary creator data

If you don’t have an API key, create one in the dashboard.

Pricing

MCP tool calls bill at the same per-credit price as the underlying REST endpoint. There’s no MCP surcharge.

Tool	Cost
`get_sample_creator`	No user charge
`search_creators`	0.05 credits for indexed creator lookup, or the search price when routed to semantic search
`semantic_search_creators`	25 credits + 2 per result returned
`find_lookalike_creators`	1.5 per creator returned
`match_creators`	1 per creator scored
`autocomplete_creators`	0.05 per call
`get_creator`	0.1 per call
`get_profile`	0.1 per call
`lookup_profiles`	0.1 per profile returned
`get_posts`	0.05 per post returned
`get_instagram_post`	1 per post
`get_instagram_posts`	1 per successful post
`get_instagram_post_transcript`	5 per transcript
`get_instagram_post_transcripts`	5 per successful transcript
TikTok profile, video, or comments tools	0.2 per request or source page
`get_tiktok_video_transcript`	2.5 per transcript
`get_tiktok_videos`	0.2 per successful entry; 1–20 URLs
`get_tiktok_video_transcripts`	2.5 per successful auto entry or 0.2 per captions entry; 1–10 URLs
`get_youtube_channel`	0.5 per channel
`get_youtube_video_transcript`	0.5 per transcript
`get_youtube_channel_transcripts`	0.5 per transcript returned
`search_youtube`	0.5 per fetched page
`get_youtube_video`	0.5 per video
`get_youtube_typeahead`	0.5 per request
`render_creator_*`	Sum of the REST calls the selected composite tool makes

One credit is $0.01. See the REST pricing reference for the full breakdown.

Rate limits

The credential’s account limits apply, matching direct REST usage. There’s also a per-IP cap of 60 requests per minute. If you hit it, the server returns 429 with a retry-after header. If you’re connecting many agents from the same IP (a corporate proxy, for example), reach out and we’ll tune the IP cap.

Error codes

When a tool call fails, the error message is surfaced as readable text in the MCP client.

Error	Meaning
`400`	Missing or invalid parameter
`401`	Missing or invalid API key or account authorization
`402`	Payment required
`403`	Credential valid but lacks permission for this tool
`404`	Creator, profile, or post not found
`429`	Rate limit exceeded — check `retry_after_seconds` in the response
`5xx`	Server or temporary upstream error; live data 503s may include `retry_after_seconds`

Anonymous agents (no API key)

For one-off agents without an API key or linked account, use the direct HTTP API with x402 or MPP. These payment protocols apply to supported REST endpoints rather than MCP tool calls.

Implementation tips

Use tool descriptions for selection. Each tool describes its purpose and parameters so your client can choose the appropriate operation.
Pass real IDs. Tools that take a creator_id expect a UUID from a previous tool’s response. Resolving by platform + username is supported on lookalike, match, and posts — useful when the user types a handle.
Bound multi-step workflows. Cursor pagination and composite render tools can make additional billed calls. Set a page or result ceiling before handing control to an autonomous agent.

Start building

Find and evaluate creators

Research and save

Apps and workflows

Live platform data

Connect your tools

Operate your integration

How it works

Set up with AI

Tools

Quickstart

Claude Code (CLI)

Claude Desktop

Cursor and Windsurf

VS Code

ChatGPT

Stdio-only clients

Authentication and billing

Pricing

Rate limits

Error codes

Anonymous agents (no API key)

Implementation tips

Next steps

Get an API Key

API Reference

Pay with x402

Pay with MPP

​How it works

​Set up with AI

​Tools

​Quickstart

​Claude Code (CLI)

​Claude Desktop

​Cursor and Windsurf

​VS Code

​ChatGPT

​Stdio-only clients

​Authentication and billing

​Pricing

​Rate limits

​Error codes

​Anonymous agents (no API key)

​Implementation tips

​Next steps

Get an API Key

API Reference

Pay with x402

Pay with MPP

How it works

Set up with AI

Tools

Quickstart

Claude Code (CLI)

Claude Desktop

Cursor and Windsurf

VS Code

ChatGPT

Stdio-only clients

Authentication and billing

Pricing

Rate limits

Error codes

Anonymous agents (no API key)

Implementation tips

Next steps