scout-mcp

An MCP server that searches 21 platforms in parallel and returns structured JSON. Built with the Model Context Protocol SDK.

Connect it to Claude Desktop, VS Code, Cursor, or any MCP client and search code registries, academic papers, social platforms, and tech blogs from a single tool call.

Tools

Tool	Source	Notes
`hackernews_search`	Hacker News (Algolia)	Stories, comments, polls
`github_search`	GitHub	Repositories by keyword
`github_repo_info`	GitHub	Single repo details
`npm_search`	npm Registry	Packages
`pypi_search`	PyPI	Python packages
`producthunt_search`	Product Hunt	Products by topic
`x_search`	X / Twitter	AI-powered via xAI Grok (requires `XAI_API_KEY`)
`devto_search`	Dev.to	Articles
`hashnode_search`	Hashnode	Articles (GraphQL)
`lobsters_search`	Lobste.rs	Stories
`stackexchange_search`	StackExchange	Q&A across all sites
`arxiv_search`	ArXiv	Academic papers
`reddit_search`	Reddit	Posts and comments
`youtube_search`	YouTube	Videos (requires `YOUTUBE_API_KEY`)
`zenn_search`	Zenn	Japanese tech articles
`qiita_search`	Qiita	Japanese tech articles
`semantic_scholar_search`	Semantic Scholar	Academic papers
`lemmy_search`	Lemmy	Fediverse posts
`gitlab_search`	GitLab	Projects
`bazaar_search`	x402 Bazaar	x402 API directory
`scout_report`	Multi-source	Parallel search across selected sources

Quick start

Claude Desktop / VS Code / Cline

bash

git clone https://github.com/bartonguestier1725-collab/scout-mcp.git
cd scout-mcp && npm install && npm run build

Add to your MCP client config:

config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "scout": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/scout-mcp/build/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Docker

Terminal

docker build -t scout-mcp .
docker run -i scout-mcp

The Dockerfile builds a minimal node:24-alpine image that runs the MCP server over stdio.

Configuration

All configuration is via environment variables. Most tools work without any keys. Optional keys unlock additional sources or raise rate limits.

Variable	Required	Description
`XAI_API_KEY`	For `x_search`	xAI API key for X/Twitter search
`GITHUB_TOKEN`	Recommended	Raises GitHub rate limit
`YOUTUBE_API_KEY`	For `youtube_search`	YouTube Data API v3 key
`PH_CLIENT_ID` / `PH_CLIENT_SECRET`	For `producthunt_search`	Product Hunt API credentials
`REDDIT_CLIENT_ID` / `REDDIT_CLIENT_SECRET`	For `reddit_search`	Reddit API credentials
`QIITA_TOKEN`	Optional	Raises Qiita rate limit
`S2_API_KEY`	Optional	Semantic Scholar dedicated rate limit
`SE_API_KEY`	Optional	StackExchange dedicated rate limit

How it works

Each tool makes a direct API call to its source, parses the response, and returns normalized JSON with consistent fields (title, url, source, created_at, etc.). The scout_report tool runs multiple searches in parallel using Promise.allSettled, so one source failing doesn't block the others.

Transport: stdio (standard MCP transport). The server reads JSON-RPC messages from stdin and writes responses to stdout.

HTTP mode

scout-mcp also runs as a paid HTTP API at https://scout.hugen.tokyo via the x402 protocol (USDC micropayments on Base). This mode uses the same tool implementations but exposes them as REST endpoints with payment middleware.

License

MIT