How to connect Substack MCP to Claude Desktop
Add this block to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows), then restart Claude Desktop. Cursor and Codex use a similar schema.
{
"mcpServers": {
"substack": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "<server-package-name>"],
"env": {
"SUBSTACK_API_KEY": "your-api-token-here"
}
}
}
}
// Server source: https://github.com/marcomoauro/substack-mcp
// Check the server's README for the exact "command" and required env vars.Some MCP servers require an API key. Check the source page for setup: github.com/marcomoauro/substack-mcp.
Does Substack MCP cost extra?
The Substack MCP server is community-built — free to run, but you still pay for your Substack subscription.
- Community MCPs are normally self-hosted from a GitHub repo. There's no extra license fee.
- Your Substack account still needs whatever plan is required to access the data the MCP server queries.
- Trade-off: zero MCP cost, but no guarantee it'll keep working when Substack changes their UI or API.
What you can do with Substack from an AI agent
Three shapes of agent workflow. Pick the row that matches how you actually use Claude / Cursor / Codex day to day.
Skip the dashboard, ask Claude
- "What campaigns underperformed this week?" answered in seconds
- Quick one-off questions without leaving the editor
- Pipe Substack data into your personal notes / docs without writing a script
Run client analysis at agent speed
- Hand the MCP server to your team — every consultant can ask Claude about any client's Substack account
- Multi-account workflows without context-switching the Substack UI
- Reports you'd normally spend hours on, done before standup
Production agent workflows
- Embed in your internal Codex / Cursor agents that triage Substack data daily
- Combine with other MCP servers in a multi-step agent chain
- Constrain agents to read-only roles to keep production Substack safe
Limits and gotchas
- Community MCP — not maintained by Substack. Check the README and last-update date before depending on it.
- Rate limits: MCP calls count against your underlying Substack API quota. Burst usage from a curious agent can drain a daily allowance fast.
Agent-readiness verdict
Limited, and what exists is not Substack's doing. Substack publishes no public API documentation and no official MCP server, so there is nothing first-party for an agent to connect to. What fills the gap is a community server at github.com/marcomoauro/substack-mcp, which drives Substack's internal API for things like drafting and publishing posts. It is the one genuinely adopted community server in this catalogue, with 65 stars, 12 forks and active commits, so it is a real option rather than an abandoned experiment. It is still an unofficial client against an undocumented API, which means it can break whenever Substack changes something, and no support exists when it does.
Scored by Joonas (TMB).
Substack MCP & API FAQ
Is the Substack MCP server official?+
Can I use the Substack MCP with Cursor or Codex?+
Sources
- Substack official site: https://substack.com
- MCP server page: https://github.com/marcomoauro/substack-mcp
Data verified by Joonas on the dates shown. MCP server status auto-rechecked weekly.
10+ years in digital marketing. I review marketing software for AI-stack fit: real pricing, MCP and API support, and how cleanly each tool drops into an AI agent workflow, cross-checked against verified data and real user feedback.