This MCP server allows AI assistants like Claude to interact with Substack newsletters, retrieving posts, searching content, and accessing author information through a standardized interface. It bridges the gap between AI assistants and Substack's content ecosystem.
Clone the repository:
git clone https://github.com/Greg-Swiftomatic/substack-mcp.git
cd substack-mcp
Set up a virtual environment using uv:
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh # Install uv if not already installed
uv init .
uv venv
source .venv/bin/activate # On Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate
Install dependencies:
uv add "mcp[cli]" substack-api
Start the MCP server with:
python substack_mcp.py
Open Claude for Desktop's configuration file:
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.jsonAdd your server configuration:
{
"mcpServers": {
"substack": {
"command": "uv",
"args": [
"--directory",
"/ABSOLUTE/PATH/TO/substack-mcp",
"run",
"substack_mcp.py"
]
}
}
}
Restart Claude for Desktop.
Once configured, you can ask Claude questions like:
The server provides the following MCP tools:
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
get_newsletter_posts |
Retrieves recent posts from a Substack newsletter |
get_post_content |
Gets the full content of a specific Substack post |
search_newsletter |
Searches for posts within a newsletter |
get_author_info |
Gets information about a Substack author |
get_newsletter_recommendations |
Gets recommended newsletters for a Substack publication |
get_newsletter_authors |
Gets authors of a Substack newsletter |
If you encounter issues:
Check Claude's logs for errors:
# macOS/Linux
tail -n 20 -f ~/Library/Logs/Claude/mcp*.log
# Windows
type %APPDATA%\Claude\Logs\mcp*.log
Verify your server builds and runs without errors:
python substack_mcp.py
Make sure your claude_desktop_config.json file has the correct paths and syntax.
Try restarting Claude for Desktop completely.
To add this MCP server to Claude Code, run this command in your terminal:
claude mcp add-json "substack" '{"command":"uv","args":["--directory","/ABSOLUTE/PATH/TO/substack-mcp","run","substack_mcp.py"]}'See the official Claude Code MCP documentation for more details.
There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.
If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.
To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > Tools & Integrations and click "New MCP Server".
When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:
{
"mcpServers": {
"substack": {
"command": "uv",
"args": [
"--directory",
"/ABSOLUTE/PATH/TO/substack-mcp",
"run",
"substack_mcp.py"
]
}
}
}To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.
Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.
The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.
You can also explicitly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.
To add this MCP server to Claude Desktop:
1. Find your configuration file:
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json2. Add this to your configuration file:
{
"mcpServers": {
"substack": {
"command": "uv",
"args": [
"--directory",
"/ABSOLUTE/PATH/TO/substack-mcp",
"run",
"substack_mcp.py"
]
}
}
}3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect