Skim402

What JessieJanie/skim402 MCP server does

JessieJanie/skim402 MCP server connects an MCP client to Skim's web-content APIs. Its primary read operation accepts a public URL and returns cleaned Markdown with a YAML-style metadata block containing fields such as title, byline, publication date, language, and excerpt. This is intended for agents that need page content in a smaller, more usable form than raw HTML.

The package covers more than single-page reading. Agents can submit several URLs at once, request JSON that follows a supplied schema, crawl pages within one site, convert public PDFs to Markdown, register URLs for later change checks, and poll predefined Signals feeds for structured items. The available tools are read_url, read_urls, extract_url, crawl_url, read_pdf, watch_urls, check_watch, and poll_signal.

How it works

The MCP server is launched as a local Node package with npx. MCP client configuration passes requests to Skim's hosted service rather than performing all extraction locally. The default authentication method is a SKIM_API_KEY value from Skim's card-plan service. The README also documents an optional SKIM_WALLET_PRIVATE_KEY route for pay-per-call USDC transactions on Base.

Single and batch reads return cleaned page content. Extraction accepts either a JSON Schema or a named preset such as article, product, job, review, event, or table. Crawling follows same-origin links and available sitemap information, with a maximum of 25 pages. Watch operations first register one to 20 URLs and then use the returned secret watch ID to request status or content differences.

Setup and configuration

Install the JessieJanie/skim402 MCP server by adding the following command to an MCP client configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "skim": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "skim-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "SKIM_API_KEY": "sk402_your_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

The README gives configuration locations for Claude Desktop and Cursor and says the same JSON can be used with Cline, Continue, Zed, and other MCP clients. A free card-plan key begins with sk402_; the documented free plan includes 1,000 reads per month. Instead of the card key, callers can configure a dedicated Base wallet through SKIM_WALLET_PRIVATE_KEY for optional x402 payments. The wallet path is not available for every operation: crawling, PDFs, and Signals require the API-key path, and Signals specifically requires SKIM_API_KEY.

Tools and capabilities

• Read one URL as cleaned Markdown with metadata.
• Read 1–10 URLs in a batch, with options to remove links or images.
• Extract structured JSON using a schema or supported preset.
• Crawl a site and return cleaned Markdown for up to 25 pages.
• Convert a public PDF to Markdown with an optional bookmark outline.
• Track changes across registered URLs and retrieve diffs or status.
• Poll named Signals such as ai-news, security, regulations, and research.

Limitations and notes

The JessieJanie/skim402 MCP server reads public URLs; the supplied material does not describe authenticated-site browsing. PDF conversion accepts files up to 8 MB and does not perform OCR, so image-only scans return an error. Crawling charges one credit per successful page, PDF conversion costs three credits, and successful Signal polls cost two credits; failed operations are described as not charged or refunded where applicable. The README documents a free plan as well as optional paid wallet usage, so usage limits and costs should be checked before deploying repeated crawls or polling jobs.