DataForSEO MCP Server

About

DataForSEO MCP Server is DataForSEO's official Model Context Protocol implementation for exposing selected DataForSEO APIs to AI clients. It acts as a bridge between MCP-compatible assistants and DataForSEO's SEO and marketing data APIs.

Key Features

• Supports hosted remote MCP at https://mcp.dataforseo.com/mcp.
• Supports local npx usage, Docker, source-based TypeScript setup, and Cloudflare Worker deployment from the official repository.
• Supports stdio, Streamable HTTP, and legacy SSE transports.
• Exposes modules for AI_OPTIMIZATION, SERP, KEYWORDS_DATA, ONPAGE, DATAFORSEO_LABS, BACKLINKS, BUSINESS_DATA, DOMAIN_ANALYTICS, CONTENT_ANALYSIS, and MERCHANT APIs.
• Documents prompt configuration through ENABLED_PROMPTS, with examples such as top_3_google_result_domains and top_5_serp_paid_and_organic.
• Supports field filtering through a JSON configuration file to reduce response size and keep outputs focused.

Use Cases

• Ask an AI assistant to research keywords, SERPs, backlinks, competitors, business listings, website technologies, brand mentions, product data, or on-page SEO issues.
• Build agent workflows for SEO software, market research, content planning, rank intelligence, and marketing automation.
• Use the hosted endpoint for compatible clients, or run a local server when a client requires stdio or local process execution.

Setup or Requirements

A DataForSEO account and API login/password are required. The setup details are captured in mcpSetup because the official instructions differ for Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, ChatGPT, Gemini CLI, Docker, and generic MCP-compatible clients.

Compatibility

Official DataForSEO setup instructions document Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, ChatGPT, Gemini CLI, Docker, and generic MCP-compatible clients. The official pages do not provide dedicated setup pages for Windsurf, VS Code, Codex, or Lovable at verification time.

Limitations

DataForSEO MCP is a backend connector and must be connected to an MCP client before it is useful in chat. Credentials must come from the DataForSEO API Access dashboard rather than the normal dashboard login. Some clients and models have tool-count or token limits, so DataForSEO recommends disabling unnecessary modules or tools when responses are too large.

Sources

• DataForSEO MCP product page: https://dataforseo.com/model-context-protocol
• Official setup guide: https://dataforseo.com/help-center/setting-up-the-official-dataforseo-mcp-server-simple-guide
• Official GitHub repository: https://github.com/dataforseo/mcp-server-typescript
• Docker Hub image: https://hub.docker.com/r/dataforseo/mcp
• DataForSEO API documentation: https://docs.dataforseo.com/
• MCP introduction: https://modelcontextprotocol.io/docs/getting-started/intro

MCP Setup

Prerequisites

• DataForSEO account required
• DataForSEO API login and API password required from the API Access dashboard
• Node.js 18+ required for the documented npx local setup in current DataForSEO setup pages
• Docker required only for the documented container setup
• Git and npm required only when building the TypeScript server from source
• API usage and limits are governed by the user's DataForSEO account and API pricing

Access requirements

• Use API login and API password, not the normal dashboard login and password
• Remote HTTP setup can use OAuth where the client supports DataForSEO's OAuth flow
• Remote HTTP setup can use Basic authentication with a Base64-encoded username:password token
• Local npx and Docker setups use DATAFORSEO_USERNAME and DATAFORSEO_PASSWORD environment variables
• Optional module and response controls are configured with environment variables

Companion app or plugin

Name: DataForSEO API Access dashboard Install URL: https://app.dataforseo.com/

• Create or sign in to a DataForSEO account.
• Open the API Access section of the dashboard.
• Copy the API login and API password.
• For Basic authentication clients, generate or copy a Base64-encoded username:password token when needed.

The official setup guide warns that API credentials are different from the credentials used to sign in to the DataForSEO dashboard.

Client setup

Claude Desktop

Transport: HTTP

• Open Claude Desktop and go to Customize > Connectors.
• Click Add custom connector.
• Paste the DataForSEO MCP HTTP URL: https://mcp.dataforseo.com/mcp.
• Approve the authorization request to access the DataForSEO API.
• Start a new chat and approve the first DataForSEO tool call when Claude asks.

Auth:

• Authorize DataForSEO through Claude's custom connector flow.

This is the official Claude Desktop connector setup. DataForSEO also documents a local config-file setup for Claude Desktop.

Claude Desktop

Transport: stdio

npx -y dataforseo-mcp-server

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "dataforseo": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "dataforseo-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "DATAFORSEO_USERNAME": "your_api_login",
        "DATAFORSEO_PASSWORD": "your_api_password"
      }
    }
  }
}

• Open ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json on Windows.
• Add the documented mcpServers configuration.
• Replace your_api_login and your_api_password with values from the DataForSEO API Access dashboard.
• Restart Claude Desktop.
• Confirm the DataForSEO tools appear in the tool list.

Auth:

• Provide DATAFORSEO_USERNAME and DATAFORSEO_PASSWORD in the MCP server env configuration.

Use this method when Claude Desktop should launch the local stdio server with npx.

Claude Code

Transport: HTTP

claude mcp add --header "Authorization: Basic <base64_username_password>" --transport http dfs-mcp https://mcp.dataforseo.com/http

• Generate a Base64 token from the DataForSEO API login and password, or copy a pre-encoded token from the API Access dashboard.
• Run the documented Claude Code command with the Authorization header and remote endpoint.
• Run claude mcp list to verify the connection.

Auth:

• Pass Authorization: Basic <base64_username_password> as the header.

The official page shows the Authorization header placeholder as Basic followed by the generated token. The same page uses https://mcp.dataforseo.com/http for this Claude Code remote setup.

Claude Code

Transport: stdio

claude mcp add dataforseo --env DATAFORSEO_USERNAME=your_api_login --env DATAFORSEO_PASSWORD=your_api_password -- npx -y dataforseo-mcp-server

• Make sure Node.js 18+ is installed.
• Run the documented Claude Code local NPX registration command with DataForSEO API credentials.
• Run claude mcp list to verify the connection.

Auth:

• Provide DATAFORSEO_USERNAME and DATAFORSEO_PASSWORD as Claude MCP env values.

Use this method when Claude Code should launch the local npx server instead of connecting to the hosted endpoint.

Cursor

Transport: HTTP

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "dataforseo": {
      "url": "https://mcp.dataforseo.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Basic <base64_username_password>"
      }
    }
  }
}

• In Cursor, open Settings > Tools & Integrations > MCP Tools.
• Click Add Custom MCP.
• Paste the documented remote MCP configuration.
• Replace the Authorization value with the Base64-encoded username:password token from the DataForSEO API Access dashboard.
• Save and reopen the chat.

Auth:

• Use Authorization: Basic <base64_username_password> in the remote MCP headers.

DataForSEO notes that Cursor supports up to 40 active MCP tools and recommends disabling modules or tools that are not needed.

Cursor

Transport: stdio

npx -y dataforseo-mcp-server

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "dataforseo": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "dataforseo-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "DATAFORSEO_USERNAME": "your_api_login",
        "DATAFORSEO_PASSWORD": "your_api_password"
      }
    }
  }
}

• Open the global Cursor MCP configuration at ~/.cursor/mcp.json.
• Add the documented local NPX configuration.
• Replace the credentials with values from the DataForSEO API Access dashboard.
• Save the file.
• Restart Cursor or reload MCP servers from Tools & Integrations.

Auth:

• Provide DATAFORSEO_USERNAME and DATAFORSEO_PASSWORD in the MCP server env configuration.

Use this method when Cursor should start the local npx MCP server.

Other

Transport: HTTP

• In ChatGPT Web, open the OpenAI platform dashboard.
• Go to Settings > Apps > Advanced Settings and enable Developer mode.
• Return to Apps and click Create app.
• Paste https://mcp.dataforseo.com/mcp as the MCP server URL and give the app a name.
• Select OAuth authentication and create the app.
• Approve the authorization request to access the DataForSEO API.
• Start a new chat and approve the first DataForSEO tool call when requested.

Auth:

• Use OAuth in ChatGPT's custom app connector flow.

This platform entry covers ChatGPT Web because ChatGPT is not one of the fixed platform enum names in the directory schema.

Other

Transport: stdio

npx -y dataforseo-mcp-server

{
  "selectedAuthType": "gemini-api-key",
  "mcpServers": {
    "dataforseo": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "dataforseo-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "DATAFORSEO_USERNAME": "your_api_login",
        "DATAFORSEO_PASSWORD": "your_api_password"
      }
    }
  }
}

• Install the Gemini CLI globally with npm install -g @google/gemini-cli.
• Open ~/.gemini/settings.json, or C:\Users<user>.gemini\settings.json on Windows.
• Add the documented DataForSEO MCP server configuration.
• Restart the CLI.
• Run /mcp list to confirm DataForSEO is connected.

Auth:

• Provide DATAFORSEO_USERNAME and DATAFORSEO_PASSWORD in the Gemini MCP server env configuration.

This platform entry covers Gemini CLI.

Other

Transport: HTTP

docker run -p 3000:3000 -e DATAFORSEO_USERNAME=your_api_login -e DATAFORSEO_PASSWORD=your_api_password dataforseo/mcp:latest

• Install Docker.
• Pull and run the official DataForSEO MCP image with API credentials.
• Connect an MCP-compatible client to http://localhost:3000.
• Use Docker Hub for advanced image configuration.

Auth:

• Pass DATAFORSEO_USERNAME and DATAFORSEO_PASSWORD as Docker environment variables.

This platform entry covers Docker-based local HTTP serving.

Other

Transport: HTTP

npx -y dataforseo-mcp-server http

• Set DATAFORSEO_USERNAME and DATAFORSEO_PASSWORD in the shell environment.
• Run npx -y dataforseo-mcp-server http.
• Connect a compatible MCP client to the local Streamable HTTP server URL.

Auth:

• Either provide API credentials through environment variables or use Basic Authentication when making HTTP requests.

The official guide says most modern MCP-compatible clients except Claude Desktop can use Streamable HTTP.

Other

Transport: SSE

npx -y dataforseo-mcp-server sse

• Set DATAFORSEO_USERNAME and DATAFORSEO_PASSWORD in the shell environment.
• Run npx -y dataforseo-mcp-server sse.
• Use the SSE endpoint only for clients that still require the legacy SSE protocol.

Auth:

• Provide API credentials through environment variables or Basic Authentication where supported.

The official setup guide labels SSE as a legacy protocol.

VS Code

Exact public VS Code setup is not documented in the official DataForSEO MCP setup pages.

Windsurf

Exact public Windsurf setup is not documented in the official DataForSEO MCP setup pages.

Codex

Exact public Codex setup is not documented in the official DataForSEO MCP setup pages.

Lovable

Exact public Lovable setup is not documented in the official DataForSEO MCP setup pages.

Authorization flow

• For hosted HTTP clients with OAuth support, connect to https://mcp.dataforseo.com/mcp and approve access to the DataForSEO API.
• For hosted HTTP clients using Basic authentication, pass Authorization: Basic <base64_username_password> where the credentials are API login and API password.
• For local stdio, local HTTP, SSE, and Docker setups, set DATAFORSEO_USERNAME and DATAFORSEO_PASSWORD.
• For source builds, install dependencies, build the TypeScript project, and run with the same environment variables.

Environment variables

• DATAFORSEO_USERNAME
• DATAFORSEO_PASSWORD
• ENABLED_MODULES
• ENABLED_PROMPTS
• DATAFORSEO_FULL_RESPONSE
• DATAFORSEO_SIMPLE_FILTER

Setup docs: https://dataforseo.com/help-center/setting-up-the-official-dataforseo-mcp-server-simple-guide