Apify MCP Server
Give your AI agents 4,000+ web scraping and automation actors over MCP.
Updated
What is Apify MCP?
The Apify MCP server is a Model Context Protocol server that lets AI agents discover, run, and read results from Apify's library of 4,000+ web scraping and automation actors — ready-made scrapers for social media, search engines, maps, e-commerce sites, and any other website.
Apify hosts the server at https://mcp.apify.com, so there is nothing to deploy. Agents authenticate either via OAuth (a browser sign-in on first connect) or by sending an Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_TOKEN> header with a token from the API & Integrations section of the Apify Console. The same project is open-source and can be run locally over stdio with npx @apify/actors-mcp-server for development.
Beyond running actors, the server exposes tools to search the Apify Store, inspect actor details and run logs, read dataset and key-value-store records, and even search the Apify documentation — giving an agent everything it needs to turn unstructured web data into structured output on demand.
Tools the Apify MCP server exposes
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
| search-actors | Search for actors in the Apify Store. |
| fetch-actor-details | Retrieve details for a specific actor, including its input schema and README. |
| call-actor | Run an actor and return its run results. |
| add-actor | Add an actor as a new callable tool for the user. |
| get-actor-run | Get detailed information about a specific actor run. |
| get-actor-run-list | List an actor's runs, filterable by status. |
| get-actor-log | Retrieve the logs for a specific actor run. |
| abort-actor-run | Abort a running actor run, optionally gracefully. |
| get-dataset-items | Retrieve items from a dataset with filtering and pagination. |
| get-key-value-store-record | Get the value stored under a specific key. |
| search-apify-docs | Search the Apify documentation for relevant pages. |
| fetch-apify-docs | Fetch the full content of an Apify documentation page by URL. |
Connect the Apify MCP server
Claude Code
- 1
Add the remote server
Run: claude mcp add --transport http apify https://mcp.apify.com
- 2
Authenticate
On first use, complete the OAuth sign-in to Apify in your browser, or pass an API token with a header: --header "Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_TOKEN>" (token from the Apify Console API & Integrations section).
- 3
Verify
Run /mcp in Claude Code to confirm Apify is connected and its tools (e.g. search-actors, call-actor) are listed.
Cursor
- 1
Open MCP settings
Edit .cursor/mcp.json (project) or the global Cursor MCP config.
- 2
Add the Apify server
Add an entry: {"mcpServers":{"apify":{"url":"https://mcp.apify.com","headers":{"Authorization":"Bearer <APIFY_TOKEN>"}}}}. Replace <APIFY_TOKEN> with your Apify API token, or omit the header to use OAuth.
- 3
Reload and verify
Reload Cursor; the Apify server and its tools should appear as available in the MCP panel.
Security & permissions
Apify's MCP server uses bearer-token (or OAuth) authentication. With a bearer token, the agent sends Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_TOKEN>; this Apify API token scopes what the agent can do — it can run actors on your behalf and read the datasets, key-value stores, and run logs that token authorizes. Treat the token as a secret, prefer a token scoped to the minimum needed, and rotate it from the Apify Console if exposed. Note that running actors consumes your Apify platform usage, so an over-permissioned agent can incur real cost.
Using Apify MCP with Gamut
In Gamut, you connect Apify once and reference it as a tool inside an automated agent workflow — Gamut manages the MCP connection and credentials. An event- or schedule-triggered agent can then call an Apify actor to scrape a target (a product page, a search result, a competitor site), read the resulting dataset items, and pass that structured data downstream — for example a nightly run that scrapes pricing into a dataset and posts a summary to your team. The agent only runs actors and reads back the data its token authorizes.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Apify MCP server?
It is a Model Context Protocol server, hosted by Apify at https://mcp.apify.com, that lets AI agents discover and run Apify's 4,000+ web scraping and automation actors and read back their results — turning unstructured web data into structured output an agent can use.
Is the Apify MCP server free?
The MCP server itself is free and open-source. You pay only for the Apify platform usage that running actors consumes. Apify's permanent Free plan includes $5 of prepaid usage per billing cycle with no credit card required, and paid plans add more for higher volume.
How do I connect the Apify MCP server to Claude or Cursor?
Point your client at the remote URL https://mcp.apify.com. On first connect you can sign in via OAuth, or supply an Apify API token as an Authorization: Bearer header. In Claude Code use 'claude mcp add --transport http apify https://mcp.apify.com'; in Cursor add the URL (and optional bearer header) to .cursor/mcp.json.
Is the Apify MCP server hosted or self-hosted?
Both. Apify officially hosts it at https://mcp.apify.com (recommended for most users), and because it is open-source you can also run it locally over stdio with 'npx @apify/actors-mcp-server' using your APIFY_TOKEN.