MCP server | RankControl Docs

There are two ways to hand an agent your workspace. The remote connector runs hosted and connects with your RankControl login. The npm package runs on your machine with an API key. Both give any MCP client 80+ tools: visibility data, the content pipeline, repurposing, link building, brand memory, and reports.

Remote connector

The hosted server lives at https://api.rctrl.com/mcp. Nothing to install and no API keys. You sign in and approve access in the browser. Connect as the workspace owner. A workspace still in setup must finish onboarding first.

Claude (claude.ai)

Open Settings → Connectors.
Click Add custom connector.
Name it RankControl, paste https://api.rctrl.com/mcp, and save.
Click Connect. Your browser opens rctrl.com: sign in, review the access list, and approve.

Claude can now use the tools in any chat.

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http rankcontrol https://api.rctrl.com/mcp

Claude Code walks you through the same sign-in and approval in the browser.

What you approve

The consent screen lists the access before anything is granted:

Read AI citations and visibility
Read articles and the content calendar
Read traffic and crawler analytics
Plan and edit content
Manage tracked queries
Manage link outreach
Manage social drafts
Publish approved articles
Publishing set-up helpers for Shopify, Webflow and Framer (destinations connect in the dashboard)
Manage workspace settings
Run agents

Only the workspace owner can approve. To disconnect, remove the connector in Claude and its access stops.

Local server (npm)

The same package that powers the CLI is an MCP server. It runs on your machine and acts under the scopes of the key it runs with. Use it for CI, headless setups, or when you want key-level scope control.

Authorize once (rankcontrol login, see Getting started), then register the server.

claude mcp add rankcontrol -- npx rankcontrol mcp

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "rankcontrol": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["rankcontrol", "mcp"]
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "rankcontrol": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["rankcontrol", "mcp"],
      "env": { "RANKCONTROL_API_KEY": "rctrl_pk_..." }
    }
  }
}

Prefer a skill?

Agents that run shell commands directly (Claude Code, OpenClaw, and any skills-compatible agent) can learn the CLI itself instead of connecting over MCP:

npx skills add rankcontrol/rankcontrol

The skill carries the full command reference plus the ground rules: dry-run semantics, the review gates, and when not to add --confirm. Source at github.com/rankcontrol/rankcontrol.

What agents can do

Area	Tools
Visibility	score, trend, share of voice, cited sources, sentiment, citation checks, tracked queries, crawler access
Content	list, scored ideas, hide ideas, plan ideas and titles, commit, generate, publish, reschedule, archive, citability report, internal links
Reports	exec summary, top wins, agent activity, page engagement, traffic, funnel
Analytics	traffic, rankings with Google AI Overview shown and cited per keyword, page engagement, data sources, Cloudflare connect
Repurposing	queue, generate drafts, edit, Buffer and Postiz channels, push, mark posted
Link building	backlinks and stats, outreach pipeline, contact finding, reply drafting, queueing, Link Network
Social	thread prospects, stats, status, reply drafting
Brand memory	read everything, update voice and style, manage products and buyer profiles, suggest audiences and draft a buyer profile to review
Team	list, invite, revoke, remove
Support	`contact_support` files a report to the team when something breaks

Example prompts that work end to end:

“Which of my tracked queries cite competitors but not us? Plan articles for the top three.”

“Update my brand tone to be more direct, then show me what the writers will see.”

“Summarize last month vs the month before and draft a LinkedIn post about the biggest win.”

Safety model

Agents get the same guardrails as humans, enforced server-side:

Dry run by default. Publicly visible actions (publish, social push, outreach send, Link Network changes, team invites) return a preview until called again with confirm: true. Tool descriptions tell the agent a human should approve first.
Granted access only. The remote connector acts under what you approved on the consent screen. The local server acts under its key’s scopes: a key without write:publish cannot publish, no matter what the agent asks. Grant the minimum during login --scopes.
Rate limits. Every endpoint carries a per-caller cap generous enough for real work and tight enough that a looping agent cannot run away with your usage. Costly tools sit at 5 to 10 calls per minute.
Revocable. Every key is visible in Settings → API and dies the moment you revoke it. The remote connector stops when you remove it in Claude.