Olostep MCP Server

Docker Hub npm version License: ISC

Live web search, scraping and crawling API for AI. Get structured, LLM-ready data from any site. Scale to 1M requests in a single batch at low cost.

Olostep is web data infrastructure for AI. It provides live web search, scraping and crawling API to extract and structure data. This is the official Olostep Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, which gives any MCP-compatible AI agent those capabilities.

Use the hosted server at https://mcp.olostep.com/mcp (sign in with OAuth, or use an API key), or run it locally with an API key from the Olostep website.

Features

• Scrape website content in HTML, Markdown, JSON or Plain Text (with optional parsers)
• Parser-based web search with structured results
• AI Answers with citations and optional JSON-shaped outputs
• Batch scraping of up to 10k URLs
• Autonomous site crawling from a start URL
• Website URL discovery and mapping (with include/exclude filters)
• Country-specific request routing for geo-targeted content
• Configurable wait times for JavaScript-heavy websites
• Comprehensive error handling and reporting
• Simple API key configuration

Installation

There are multiple ways to connect to the Olostep MCP Server. Choose the one that best fits your workflow.

One-click install

Connect to the hosted server and sign in with your Olostep account (OAuth). No API key or local setup needed.

Or from the terminal:

# Claude Code
claude mcp add --transport http olostep https://mcp.olostep.com/mcp

# Gemini CLI (prompts for your API key)
gemini extensions install https://github.com/olostep/olostep-mcp-server

For other clients, see Client Setup.

☁️ Remote Endpoint (Recommended)

The simplest way — no local installation required. Connect directly to our hosted MCP server:

https://mcp.olostep.com/mcp

Authentication is done via a Bearer token in the Authorization header using your Olostep API key. See the Client Setup section below for configuration examples.

🐳 Docker Hub

Pull and run the official Docker image:

docker pull olostep/mcp-server

docker run -i --rm \
  -e OLOSTEP_API_KEY="your-api-key" \
  olostep/mcp-server

🔧 Local Docker Build

If you prefer to build the image yourself from source:

git clone https://github.com/olostep/olostep-mcp-server.git
cd olostep-mcp-server
npm install
npm run build
docker build -t olostep/mcp-server:local .

docker run -i --rm -e OLOSTEP_API_KEY="your-api-key" olostep/mcp-server:local

📦 npx

Run without any installation using npx:

env OLOSTEP_API_KEY=your-api-key npx -y olostep-mcp

On Windows (PowerShell):

$env:OLOSTEP_API_KEY = "your-api-key"; npx -y olostep-mcp

On Windows (CMD):

set OLOSTEP_API_KEY=your-api-key && npx -y olostep-mcp

Or install globally:

npm install -g olostep-mcp

Client Setup

Gemini CLI

Install the Olostep extension in Gemini CLI (requires an Olostep API key):

gemini extensions install https://github.com/olostep/olostep-mcp-server

Configure your API key through Gemini CLI's sensitive extension settings:

gemini extensions config olostep OLOSTEP_API_KEY

Gemini CLI stores this value in your system keychain. Restart Gemini CLI, then verify the extension and MCP server:

gemini extensions list
gemini mcp list

For authentication errors, configure the key again. For connection errors, restart Gemini CLI and run gemini mcp list. See the official Gemini CLI extensions documentation for details.

Cursor

The easiest way is to use the remote endpoint. Create or edit .cursor/mcp.json in your project root:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "olostep": {
      "url": "https://mcp.olostep.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Alternative (local): Go to Cursor Settings > Features > MCP Servers, click "+ Add New MCP Server":

• Name: olostep
• Type: command
• Command: env OLOSTEP_API_KEY=your-api-key npx -y olostep-mcp

Claude Desktop

Add this to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-server-olostep": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "olostep-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "OLOSTEP_API_KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Alternative (Docker):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "olostep": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run", "-i", "--rm",
        "-e", "OLOSTEP_API_KEY=YOUR_API_KEY_HERE",
        "olostep/mcp-server"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Or install via the Smithery CLI in your device terminal:

npx -y @smithery/cli install @olostep/olostep-mcp-server --client claude

Claude Code

Add the remote endpoint to your Claude Code MCP configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "olostep": {
      "url": "https://mcp.olostep.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Alternative (local):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "olostep": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "olostep-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "OLOSTEP_API_KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Windsurf

Add this to your ./codeium/windsurf/model_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "olostep": {
      "serverUrl": "https://mcp.olostep.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Alternative (local):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-server-olostep": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "olostep-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "OLOSTEP_API_KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Cline

Add this to your cline_mcp_settings.json (Cline → MCP Servers → Configure):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "olostep": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "olostep-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "OLOSTEP_API_KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"
      },
      "disabled": false,
      "autoApprove": []
    }
  }
}

Cline can also set this up for you: ask it to install the MCP server from this repository, and it follows llms-install.md.

VS Code

Add this to your .vscode/mcp.json:

{
  "servers": {
    "olostep": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.olostep.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Alternative (local):

{
  "servers": {
    "olostep": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "olostep-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "OLOSTEP_API_KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

GitHub Copilot CLI

Inside Copilot CLI, run /mcp add and enter:

• Name: olostep
• Type: HTTP
• URL: https://mcp.olostep.com/mcp
• Headers: leave empty

Save with Ctrl+S, then sign in with your Olostep account when prompted (OAuth). Check the connection with /mcp show olostep.

This writes the following to ~/.copilot/mcp-config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "olostep": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.olostep.com/mcp",
      "tools": ["*"]
    }
  }
}

Zed

Add this to your Zed settings.json:

{
  "context_servers": {
    "olostep": {
      "url": "https://mcp.olostep.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Alternative (extension): the Olostep Zed extension runs the local server and asks for your API key in Zed's setup screen.

Metorial

Option 1: One-Click Installation (Recommended)

1. Open Metorial dashboard
2. Navigate to MCP Servers directory
3. Search for "Olostep"
4. Click "Install" and enter your API key

Option 2: Manual Configuration

Add this to your Metorial MCP server configuration:

{
  "olostep": {
    "command": "npx",
    "args": ["-y", "olostep-mcp"],
    "env": {
      "OLOSTEP_API_KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"
    }
  }
}

The Olostep tools will then be available in your Metorial AI chats.

Configuration

Environment Variables

• OLOSTEP_API_KEY: Your Olostep API key (required)
• ORBIT_KEY: An optional key for using Orbit to route requests.

Available Tools

1. Scrape Website (scrape_website)

Extract content from a single URL. Supports multiple formats and JavaScript rendering.

{
  "name": "scrape_website",
  "arguments": {
    "url_to_scrape": "https://example.com",
    "output_format": "markdown",
    "country": "US",
    "wait_before_scraping": 1000,
    "parser": "@olostep/amazon-it-product"
  }
}

#### Parameters:

• url_to_scrape: The URL of the website you want to scrape (required)
• output_format: Choose format (html, markdown, json, or text) - default: markdown
• country: Optional country code (e.g., US, GB, CA) for location-specific scraping
• wait_before_scraping: Wait time in milliseconds before scraping (0-10000)
• parser: Optional parser ID for specialized extraction

#### Response (example):

{
  "content": [
    {
      "type": "text",
      "text": "{\n  \"id\": \"scrp_...\",\n  \"url\": \"https://example.com\",\n  \"markdown_content\": \"# ...\",\n  \"html_content\": null,\n  \"json_content\": null,\n  \"text_content\": null,\n  \"status\": \"succeeded\",\n  \"timestamp\": \"2025-11-14T12:34:56Z\",\n  \"screenshot_hosted_url\": null,\n  \"page_metadata\": { }\n}"
    }
  ]
}

2. Search the Web (search_web)

Search the Web for a given query and get structured results (non-AI, parser-based).

{
  "name": "search_web",
  "arguments": {
    "query": "your search query",
    "country": "US"
  }
}

#### Parameters:

• query: Search query (required)
• country: Optional country code for localized results (default: US)

#### Response:

• Structured JSON (as text) representing parser-based results

3. Answers (AI) (answers)

Search the web and return AI-powered answers in the JSON structure you want, with sources and citations.

{
  "name": "answers",
  "arguments": {
    "task": "Who are the top 5 competitors to Acme Inc. in the EU?",
    "json": "Return a list of the top 5 competitors with name and homepage URL"
  }
}

#### Parameters:

• task: Question or task to answer using web data (required)
• json: Optional JSON schema/object or a short description of the desired output shape

#### Response includes:

• answer_id, object, task, result (JSON if provided), sources, created

4. Batch Scrape URLs (batch_scrape_urls)

Scrape up to 10k URLs at the same time. Perfect for large-scale data extraction.

{
  "name": "batch_scrape_urls",
  "arguments": {
    "urls_to_scrape": [
      {"url": "https://example.com/a", "custom_id": "a"},
      {"url": "https://example.com/b", "custom_id": "b"}
    ],
    "output_format": "markdown",
    "country": "US",
    "wait_before_scraping": 500,
    "parser": "@olostep/amazon-it-product"
  }
}

#### Response includes:

• batch_id, status, total_urls, created_at, formats, country, parser, urls

5. Create Crawl (create_crawl)

Start an async crawl that autonomously discovers and scrapes entire websites by following links. Returns a crawl_id — the crawl runs in the background and does not return content in this response. You must then call get_crawl_results with the crawl_id to poll status and retrieve the scraped pages (same two-step pattern as batch_scrape_urls + get_batch_results).

{
  "name": "create_crawl",
  "arguments": {
    "start_url": "https://example.com/docs",
    "max_pages": 25,
    "output_format": "markdown",
    "country": "US",
    "parser": "@olostep/doc-parser"
  }
}

#### Response includes:

• crawl_id, object, status, start_url, max_pages, created, formats, country, parser

Pair this call with get_crawl_results — do not pass a crawl_id to get_batch_results (crawls and batches are separate resources).

6. Create Map (create_map)

Get all URLs on a website. Extract all URLs for discovery and analysis.

{
  "name": "create_map",
  "arguments": {
    "website_url": "https://example.com",
    "search_query": "blog",
    "top_n": 200,
    "include_url_patterns": ["/blog/**"],
    "exclude_url_patterns": ["/admin/**"]
  }
}

#### Response includes:

• map_id, object, url, total_urls, urls, search_query, top_n

7. Get Webpage Content (get_webpage_content)

Retrieves webpage content in clean markdown format with support for JavaScript rendering.

{
  "name": "get_webpage_content",
  "arguments": {
    "url_to_scrape": "https://example.com",
    "wait_before_scraping": 1000,
    "country": "US"
  }
}

#### Parameters:

• url_to_scrape: The URL of the webpage to scrape (required)
• wait_before_scraping: Time to wait in milliseconds before starting the scrape (default: 0)
• country: Residential country to load the request from (e.g., US, CA, GB) (optional)

#### Response:

{
  "content": [
    {
      "type": "text",
      "text": "# Example Website\n\nThis is the markdown content of the webpage..."
    }
  ]
}

8. Get Website URLs (get_website_urls)

Search and retrieve relevant URLs from a website, sorted by relevance to your query.

{
  "name": "get_website_urls",
  "arguments": {
    "url": "https://example.com",
    "search_query": "your search term"
  }
}

#### Parameters:

• url: The URL of the website to map (required)
• search_query: The search query to sort URLs by (required)

#### Response:

{
  "content": [
    {
      "type": "text",
      "text": "Found 42 URLs matching your query:\n\nhttps://example.com/page1\nhttps://example.com/page2\n..."
    }
  ]
}

9. Get Batch Results (get_batch_results)

Retrieve the results of a previously submitted batch scrape job using its batch_id.

{
  "name": "get_batch_results",
  "arguments": {
    "batch_id": "batch_abc123"
  }
}

#### Parameters:

• batch_id: The batch ID returned from batch_scrape_urls (required)

#### Response includes:

• batch_id, status (processing or completed), total_urls, completed_urls, items (array of scraped results per URL with url, custom_id, markdown_content, html_content, json_content, text_content, status, page_metadata)

10. Get Crawl Results (get_crawl_results)

Retrieve the status and scraped pages for an async crawl started with create_crawl. This is the required companion to create_crawl — create_crawl only kicks off the job and returns a crawl_id; this tool is how you actually fetch the discovered pages and their content.

{
  "name": "get_crawl_results",
  "arguments": {
    "crawl_id": "crawl_abc123",
    "formats": ["markdown"],
    "items_limit": 20,
    "cursor": 0
  }
}

#### Parameters:

• crawl_id: The crawl ID returned from create_crawl (required)
• formats: Array of formats to retrieve per page — markdown, html, json, text (default: ["markdown"])
• items_limit: Max pages to retrieve content for, 1–100 (default: 20)
• cursor: Pagination cursor into the list of discovered pages (default: 0)
• search_query: Optional filter to rank/select pages by relevance to a query

#### Response includes:

• While in progress: crawl_id, status (in_progress), pages_completed, pages_total, and a message prompting you to call again in ~10 seconds.
• When completed: crawl_id, status (completed), pages_returned, next_cursor, has_more, and a pages array where each entry has url, custom_id, and the requested content fields (markdown_content, html_content, json_content, text_content).

Error Handling

The server provides robust error handling:

• Detailed error messages for API issues
• Network error reporting
• Authentication failure handling
• Rate limit information

Example error response:

{
  "isError": true,
  "content": [
    {
      "type": "text",
      "text": "Olostep API Error: 401 Unauthorized. Details: {\"error\":\"Invalid API key\"}"
    }
  ]
}

Distribution

Docker Images

The MCP server is available as a Docker image:

• Docker Hub: [olostep/mcp-server](https://hub.docker.com/r/olostep/mcp-server)
• Official Docker MCP Registry: mcp/olostep (coming soon - enhanced security with signatures & SBOMs)
• GitHub Container Registry: ghcr.io/olostep/olostep-mcp-server

Docker Desktop MCP Toolkit

The Olostep MCP Server is being added to Docker Desktop's official MCP Toolkit, which means users will be able to:

• Discover it in Docker Desktop's MCP Toolkit UI
• Install it with one click
• Configure it visually
• Use it with any MCP-compatible client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, etc.)

Status: Submission in progress to Docker MCP Registry

Supported Platforms

• linux/amd64
• linux/arm64

Building Locally

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/olostep/olostep-mcp-server.git
cd olostep-mcp-server

# Build the image
npm install
npm run build
docker build -t olostep/mcp-server .

# Run locally
docker run -i --rm -e OLOSTEP_API_KEY="your-key" olostep/mcp-server

About Olostep

Olostep is web data infrastructure for AI. It provides live web search, scraping and crawling API to extract and structure data, used in production by AI companies to give their agents fresh, LLM-ready web data at scale.

• Website: https://www.olostep.com
• Documentation: https://docs.olostep.com
• Get an API key: https://olostep.com/auth

License

ISC License