What is Crawlbase MCP?

Crawlbase MCP is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that bridges AI agents and the live web. Instead of relying on outdated training data, your LLMs can now fetch fresh, structured, real-time content — powered by Crawlbase’s proven crawling infrastructure trusted by 70,000+ developers worldwide.

It handles the complexity of scraping for you:

• JavaScript rendering for modern web apps
• Proxy rotation & anti-bot evasion
• Structured outputs (HTML, Markdown, screenshots)

How It Works

• Get Free Crawlbase Tokens → Sign up at Crawlbase ↗️, get free Normal, and JavaScript tokens.
• Set Up MCP Configuration → Configure the MCP server in your preferred client (Claude, Cursor, or Windsurf) by updating the MCP Servers settings.
• Start Crawling → Use commands like crawl, crawl_markdown, or crawl_screenshot to bring live web data into your AI agent.

Setup & Integration

Claude Desktop

1. Open Claude Desktop → File → Settings → Developer → Edit Config
2. Add to claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "crawlbase": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["@crawlbase/mcp@latest"],
      "env": {
        "CRAWLBASE_TOKEN": "your_token_here",
        "CRAWLBASE_JS_TOKEN": "your_js_token_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Cursor IDE

1. Open Cursor IDE → File → Preferences → Cursor Settings → Tools and Integrations → Add Custom MCP
2. Add to mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "crawlbase": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["@crawlbase/mcp@latest"],
      "env": {
        "CRAWLBASE_TOKEN": "your_token_here",
        "CRAWLBASE_JS_TOKEN": "your_js_token_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Windsurf IDE

1. Open WindSurf IDE → File → Preferences → WindSurf Settings → General → MCP Servers → Manage MCPs → View raw config
2. Add to mcp_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "crawlbase": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["@crawlbase/mcp@latest"],
      "env": {
        "CRAWLBASE_TOKEN": "your_token_here",
        "CRAWLBASE_JS_TOKEN": "your_js_token_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

🔑 Get your free tokens at Crawlbase ↗️.

Usage

Once configured, use these commands inside Claude, Cursor, or Windsurf:

• crawl → Fetch raw HTML
• crawl_markdown → Extract clean Markdown
• crawl_screenshot → Capture screenshots

Example prompts:

• “Crawl Hacker News and return top stories in markdown.”
• “Take a screenshot of TechCrunch homepage.”
• “Fetch Tesla investor relations page as HTML.”

Use Cases

• Market research → Pull live data from competitors, news, and reports
• E-commerce monitoring → Track products, reviews, and prices in real time
• News & finance feeds → Keep AI agents up-to-date with live events
• Autonomous AI agents → Give them vision to act on fresh web data

Resources & Next Steps

Looking to supercharge your AI agents with live web data? Get started here:

• ✍️ Learn More – See how MCP powers AI agents with real-time web data ↗️
• 🌐 Crawlbase Website – Get free tokens & start crawling today ↗️

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