How to connect AutoSEO to Claude and Claude Code via MCP

What do you need before you connect?

• The MCP URL. In AutoSEO, open Settings → API & MCP; the MCP Server panel shows your instance URL plus /api/mcp. On AutoSEO Cloud you copy the URL shown in your workspace, on a self-hosted instance it is your own domain.
• Public HTTPS. Claude calls custom connectors from Anthropic's infrastructure in claude.ai, Claude Desktop, Cowork and the mobile apps, so servers behind a VPN or on a private network won't connect (Claude Help Center).
• The right AutoSEO role. Approving an app requires the workspace permission Integrations, API keys, model settings, the same one needed for API keys.
• A Claude plan with custom connectors. Anthropic lists Free (one custom connector), Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise. On Team and Enterprise, Owners add custom connectors and members connect individually.

How does the connection work under the hood?

AutoSEO's MCP server is a stateless Streamable HTTP endpoint: every JSON-RPC message is a POST to /api/mcp, answered with plain JSON and authenticated on its own. It uses no SSE stream and no session ID, which the MCP transport spec allows. It negotiates the protocol revisions 2024-11-05, 2025-03-26, 2025-06-18 and 2025-11-25.

A request without a token gets a 401 whose WWW-Authenticate header points to the protected resource metadata (RFC 9728). Claude then finds the authorization server, identifies itself with a Client ID Metadata Document or registers via dynamic client registration (RFC 7591), both of which AutoSEO accepts, and runs an authorization-code flow with PKCE, where AutoSEO accepts only S256.

How do you add AutoSEO to claude.ai and Claude Desktop?

You configure a custom connector once; it then works on the web, in the desktop app and on mobile. As of September 2026 Anthropic calls the page Customize → Connectors; in the desktop app, Customize sits in the sidebar (Claude docs). Older guides call it Settings → Connectors.

1. In Claude, open Customize → Connectors and choose Add custom connector.
2. Name it AutoSEO and paste the MCP URL. Leave Advanced settings (OAuth client ID and secret) empty. If your dialog asks for an OAuth client option, keep Use Claude's published identity, the option Anthropic recommends: AutoSEO accepts Client ID Metadata Documents as well as dynamic registration, so Register automatically also works (Claude docs).
3. Click Add, then Connect. AutoSEO's consent page opens in your browser.
4. Check that Redirects to shows claude.ai, pick the workspace, the projects (All my projects or a selection) and the permissions, then click Allow access.
5. In a chat, click +, open Connectors and switch AutoSEO on.

On Team and Enterprise, an Owner adds the connector under Organization settings → Connectors (Add, Custom, Web), and each member clicks Connect to authorize with their own AutoSEO account, so per-user roles stay intact.

How do you connect Claude Code?

Claude Code connects from your machine and runs OAuth with a loopback redirect (Claude Code docs). Replace the example domain with yours:

claude mcp add --transport http autoseo https://seo.example.com/api/mcp

Then run /mcp inside Claude Code, select autoseo and authenticate, or run claude mcp login autoseo from a shell. The consent page now shows a localhost redirect host. claude mcp list confirms the connection.

The default is local scope (you, this project, stored in ~/.claude.json). --scope user adds AutoSEO to every project; --scope project writes a .mcp.json your team commits, and each teammate signs in with their own account. Claude Code's tool search loads only tool names and server instructions at startup, which keeps a server with over 100 tools cheap on context.

When is an API key the better choice?

For CI jobs, servers and headless runs without a browser, and as a fallback if OAuth against a local test instance gives you trouble. Create a key under Settings → API & MCP → Create key; AutoSEO shows it once and stores only its SHA-256 hash.

claude mcp add --transport http autoseo https://seo.example.com/api/mcp \  --header "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_KEY>"

In a shared .mcp.json, reference a variable instead of the key. Avoid reserved names such as ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, which Claude Code never sends to a remote server.

{  "mcpServers": {    "autoseo": {      "type": "http",      "url": "https://seo.example.com/api/mcp",      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer ${AUTOSEO_API_KEY}" }    }  }}

What does the AutoSEO plugin add?

The plugin bundles the MCP server, preconfigured for your instance, with 17 skills such as seo-audit, ai-visibility-report and competitor-gap. On public HTTPS, add your instance's hosted marketplace.json (Claude Code docs):

claude plugin marketplace add https://seo.example.com/api/plugin/marketplace.jsonclaude plugin install autoseo@autoseo

Start a new session, authenticate via /mcp and call skills with the plugin namespace, for example /autoseo:seo-audit (Claude Code docs). On localhost or plain HTTP, download the bundle from the Agent setup tab under Settings → API & MCP and add it as a local marketplace. A connector you already added in claude.ai also appears in /mcp when Claude Code uses the same claude.ai login.

Can AutoSEO use your Claude Code the other way round?

Yes, as a separate feature. Under Settings → Local Agents you install a small background service on a machine with Claude Code or Codex. AutoSEO's agent mode and other AI features then run there on your subscription, with API keys as a fallback. The agent only makes outbound HTTPS requests, and agent chats reach the same MCP tools through a key that expires within six hours.

Which permissions should you grant?

AutoSEO offers over 100 MCP tools (the MCP Server panel in Settings → API & MCP shows the current count); roughly a third of them can incur cost. AutoSEO hides those unless the connection has the spend scope, and its server instructions tell Claude to prefer free tools and confirm large paid batches. Tools that change data or start paid runs also check your role on every call.

• Tokens: access tokens expire after one hour and refresh automatically; refresh tokens roll over 30 days.
• Revoking: Settings → API & MCP → Connected apps → Disconnect revokes all tokens of an app immediately. Check this list after disconnecting in Claude, since a fresh connection can appear as its own entry.
• Consent hygiene: the consent page shows Published by and the publishing domain when the client identified itself with a metadata document, or Unverified app when it registered itself. Continue only if you just started the connection and the redirect host is claude.ai or localhost.
• Tool approvals: in Claude, set AutoSEO tools to Always allow, Needs approval or Blocked (Claude docs); keep write and paid tools on approval.

What can you ask Claude once AutoSEO is connected?

Ask in plain language; Claude picks the tools, usually starting with list_projects and get_project_context as AutoSEO's server instructions suggest.

Answers depend on the data behind them: tracked prompts for AI visibility tracking, the check behind AI crawlability, survey or CRM data for attribution. The MCP server and REST API pages list the same data for scripts. Measuring how Claude itself answers about your brand is a different feature: Claude visibility tracking.

What does a first session look like?

Example: Lena, a hypothetical marketing lead at a project-management SaaS company, wants a weekly AI visibility check in Claude. All numbers are illustrative.

1. She adds AutoSEO as a custom connector on her Pro plan. On the consent page she selects only the product project and unticks Write, Spend credits and Export, so Claude sees only free read tools.
2. She asks how visible the brand was over the last 30 days. Claude calls get_visibility_metrics and reports, say, 21% visibility, up from 18% (illustrative).
3. “Where do competitors appear and we don't?” get_competitor_gap_analysis returns, for example, 12 such prompts (illustrative), and get_top_sources shows which comparison pages cite the rival.
4. She has Claude turn the fan-out sub-queries behind those prompts (get_query_fanouts) into a content brief.
5. For an AI crawler check she needs run_crawlability_check, which is missing because the connection lacks Write and Spend credits. She reconnects with both for this check, then reconnects with Read only.

The pattern: read-only by default, wider scopes for a specific task, then narrow again. In Claude Code, the ai-visibility-report skill packages a similar sequence.

Why doesn't the connection work?

What does this mean for you?

• Connect read-only first; add Write or Spend credits per task, not permanently.
• Use OAuth for people and API keys for machines, kept in environment variables.
• Choose project access deliberately, especially in agency workspaces.
• Review Connected apps regularly and disconnect entries you don't recognise.
• In the terminal, install the plugin for the skills; to run AutoSEO's own AI on your Claude subscription, add a local agent.

The ChatGPT guide covers the same server in ChatGPT. Without an instance yet, self-host AutoSEO or use AutoSEO Cloud; either way the MCP URL waits in Settings → API & MCP.