MCP Server

Firecrawl Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for AI assistants like Claude Desktop

The Firecrawl MCP server enables AI assistants like Claude Desktop to scrape, crawl, and extract web data using the Model Context Protocol (MCP). It provides seamless integration with any MCP-compatible client.

What is MCP?

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open protocol that standardizes how AI applications connect to data sources. The Firecrawl MCP server implements this protocol, allowing AI assistants to access web scraping capabilities.

Installation

For Claude Desktop

Add the Firecrawl MCP server to your Claude Desktop configuration:

1. Install the MCP server:

npm install -g @mendable/firecrawl-mcp-server

2. Configure Claude Desktop:

Edit your Claude Desktop config file:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Add the Firecrawl server:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "firecrawl": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@mendable/firecrawl-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "FIRECRAWL_API_KEY": "fc-YOUR_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop

The Firecrawl tools will now be available in Claude Desktop.

For Other MCP Clients

The server works with any MCP-compatible client. Install and configure according to your client’s documentation:

npm install -g @mendable/firecrawl-mcp-server

Then add it to your client’s MCP configuration.

Authentication

Get your API key from firecrawl.dev and set it in your MCP configuration:

{
  "env": {
    "FIRECRAWL_API_KEY": "fc-YOUR_API_KEY"
  }
}

Available Tools

The MCP server provides the following tools:

1. Scrape

Scrape a single URL and get clean, LLM-ready content.

Parameters:

• url (required) - The URL to scrape
• formats - Output formats: markdown, html, screenshot, links
• onlyMainContent - Extract only main content (default: true)
• includeTags - HTML tags to include
• excludeTags - HTML tags to exclude

Example Usage in Claude:

Scrape the documentation from https://docs.firecrawl.dev

2. Crawl

Crawl an entire website and get content from all pages.

Parameters:

• url (required) - Starting URL
• limit - Maximum pages to crawl (default: 100)
• maxDepth - Maximum discovery depth
• excludePaths - Paths to exclude (e.g., ["blog/*", "admin/*"])
• includePaths - Paths to include
• formats - Output formats for scraped pages

Example Usage in Claude:

Crawl the Firecrawl blog and extract all article titles

3. Map

Discover all URLs on a website.

Parameters:

• url (required) - Website URL
• search - Search query to filter URLs
• limit - Maximum URLs to return
• includeSubdomains - Include subdomains

Example Usage in Claude:

Map all URLs on https://firecrawl.dev related to pricing

4. Search

Search the web and optionally scrape results.

Parameters:

• query (required) - Search query
• limit - Number of results (default: 10)
• scrapeResults - Also scrape the search results
• formats - Output formats for scraped content

Example Usage in Claude:

Search for "best web scraping tools 2024" and scrape the top 5 results

5. Agent

Autonomous AI agent for web research and data extraction.

Parameters:

• prompt (required) - What you want the agent to find
• urls - Optional URLs to focus on
• model - Model to use: spark-1-mini (default), spark-1-pro
• schema - JSON schema for structured output

Example Usage in Claude:

Find the pricing plans for Notion and compare them to Airtable

6. Batch Scrape

Scrape multiple URLs in parallel.

Parameters:

• urls (required) - Array of URLs to scrape
• formats - Output formats

Example Usage in Claude:

Scrape these URLs and extract the main content:
- https://firecrawl.dev
- https://docs.firecrawl.dev
- https://firecrawl.dev/pricing

Usage Examples

With Claude Desktop

Once configured, you can ask Claude naturally:

Scraping:

Scrape the Firecrawl documentation and summarize the main features

Crawling:

Crawl the Firecrawl blog and create a list of all articles with their titles and URLs

Agent Research:

Find information about the founders of Firecrawl, including their names and roles

Search:

Search for recent articles about web scraping best practices and summarize the key points

Batch Processing:

Scrape these competitor websites and compare their pricing:
- https://competitor1.com/pricing
- https://competitor2.com/pricing
- https://competitor3.com/pricing

Programmatic Usage

You can also run the MCP server programmatically:

import { Server } from '@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/index.js';
import { StdioServerTransport } from '@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/stdio.js';
import FirecrawlMCPServer from '@mendable/firecrawl-mcp-server';

const server = new FirecrawlMCPServer({
  apiKey: process.env.FIRECRAWL_API_KEY
});

const transport = new StdioServerTransport();
await server.connect(transport);

Configuration

Environment Variables

{
  "env": {
    "FIRECRAWL_API_KEY": "fc-YOUR_API_KEY",
    "FIRECRAWL_API_URL": "https://api.firecrawl.dev"
  }
}

Advanced Configuration

For custom configurations, you can extend the server:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "firecrawl": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/custom-server.js"],
      "env": {
        "FIRECRAWL_API_KEY": "fc-YOUR_API_KEY",
        "FIRECRAWL_API_URL": "https://api.firecrawl.dev",
        "MAX_CRAWL_LIMIT": "100",
        "DEFAULT_FORMATS": "markdown,html"
      }
    }
  }
}

Tool Response Format

All tools return structured data that Claude can easily parse:

Scrape Response

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "markdown": "# Page Title\n\nContent...",
    "html": "<html>...</html>",
    "metadata": {
      "title": "Page Title",
      "description": "Page description",
      "sourceURL": "https://example.com"
    }
  }
}

Crawl Response

{
  "success": true,
  "data": [
    {
      "markdown": "# Page 1\n\nContent...",
      "metadata": {
        "title": "Page 1",
        "sourceURL": "https://example.com/page1"
      }
    },
    {
      "markdown": "# Page 2\n\nContent...",
      "metadata": {
        "title": "Page 2",
        "sourceURL": "https://example.com/page2"
      }
    }
  ],
  "total": 2,
  "creditsUsed": 2
}

Agent Response

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "result": "The founders of Firecrawl are...",
    "sources": [
      "https://firecrawl.dev/about",
      "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/firecrawl"
    ]
  }
}

Error Handling

The MCP server provides clear error messages:

{
  "success": false,
  "error": "Invalid API key",
  "code": "AUTHENTICATION_ERROR"
}

Common error codes:

• AUTHENTICATION_ERROR - Invalid or missing API key
• RATE_LIMIT_ERROR - Rate limit exceeded
• INVALID_URL - Invalid URL format
• SCRAPE_FAILED - Failed to scrape the URL
• CRAWL_TIMEOUT - Crawl operation timed out

Debugging

Enable debug logging:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "firecrawl": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@mendable/firecrawl-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "FIRECRAWL_API_KEY": "fc-YOUR_API_KEY",
        "DEBUG": "true"
      }
    }
  }
}

Logs will be written to:

• macOS/Linux: ~/.config/firecrawl-mcp/logs/
• Windows: %APPDATA%\firecrawl-mcp\logs\

Updating

Update to the latest version:

npm update -g @mendable/firecrawl-mcp-server

Then restart your MCP client (e.g., Claude Desktop).

Uninstalling

1. Remove the server configuration from your MCP client config
2. Uninstall the package:

npm uninstall -g @mendable/firecrawl-mcp-server

Supported Clients

The Firecrawl MCP server works with:

• Claude Desktop (Anthropic)
• Continue (VS Code extension)
• Cody (Sourcegraph)
• Any MCP-compatible client

Security

• API keys are stored in your local MCP configuration
• All requests are made directly from your machine to the Firecrawl API
• No data is sent to third parties except Firecrawl
• Use environment variables or secure configuration files for API keys

Performance

• Scraping is near-instant for most pages
• Crawling time depends on the number of pages (typically 1-5 minutes for 50-100 pages)
• Agent tasks vary based on complexity (30 seconds to 2 minutes)
• Batch scraping processes URLs in parallel for optimal speed

Limitations

• Maximum crawl limit: 1000 pages per request
• Maximum batch scrape: 100 URLs per request
• Rate limits apply based on your Firecrawl plan
• Timeout limits: 5 minutes for crawls, 2 minutes for agent tasks

Resources

• MCP Server Repository
• Model Context Protocol
• Firecrawl Documentation
• API Reference
• GitHub Issues

Support

For help:

• GitHub Issues
• Discord Community
• Documentation