InsightSocial — Claude Code MCP server: what it does, how to install
Connects AI coding agents to public data across 22 social platforms through a single API. Helpful for pulling creator metrics, reading post feeds, and researching company profiles.
claude mcp add --transport http insightsocial https://api.insightsocial.app/mcpWhat InsightSocial does
The server exposes over 230 endpoints across 22 social networks, including TikTok and YouTube. Responses share a unified schema, mapping post links and engagement numbers to predictable keys. Results are saved locally under ~/.insightsocial. The agent receives only a compact slice of ten items. This protects the context window from bloat.
Five MCP tools handle discovery and retrieval. search_endpoints and describe_endpoint look up routes and parameters without calling third-party APIs. To fetch data, the model runs call_endpoint. It can then reshape the stored JSON via read_result using built-in jq syntax.
Without an API key, the server only searches endpoints and cannot pull profile feeds. You can authenticate via the browser with npx -y insightsocial login or export INSIGHTSOCIAL_API_KEY. Each successful call consumes credits, but empty results and duplicate replays remain free.
What it helps with
- retrieve creator profile metrics from TikTok and YouTube
- collect public posts and comments from Reddit
- inspect company details and job listings on LinkedIn
- slice social network responses locally with jq to save tokens
Example prompts for the agent
- Use InsightSocial to fetch the TikTok profile for natgeo and show subscriber count
- Find InsightSocial endpoints for YouTube hashtag search and describe call parameters
- Pull the latest posts from r/programming on Reddit and extract titles using jq
How to install InsightSocial
1Platform CLI: remote server
claude mcp add --transport http insightsocial https://api.insightsocial.app/mcp2Platform CLI
claude mcp add --env INSIGHTSOCIAL_API_KEY=<INSIGHTSOCIAL_API_KEY> --transport stdio insightsocial -- npx -y insightsocialReplace <…> with your own values
1Platform CLI: remote server
codex mcp add insightsocial --url https://api.insightsocial.app/mcp2Platform CLI
codex mcp add insightsocial --env INSIGHTSOCIAL_API_KEY=<INSIGHTSOCIAL_API_KEY> -- npx -y insightsocialReplace <…> with your own values
Config file
{
"mcpServers": {
"insightsocial": {
"url": "https://api.insightsocial.app/mcp"
}
}
}{
"mcpServers": {
"insightsocial": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"insightsocial"
],
"env": {
"INSIGHTSOCIAL_API_KEY": "<INSIGHTSOCIAL_API_KEY>"
}
}
}
}Replace <…> with your own values
Config file
{
"servers": {
"insightsocial": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://api.insightsocial.app/mcp"
}
}
}{
"servers": {
"insightsocial": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"insightsocial"
],
"env": {
"INSIGHTSOCIAL_API_KEY": "<INSIGHTSOCIAL_API_KEY>"
}
}
}
}Replace <…> with your own values
1Platform CLI: remote server
gemini mcp add -t http insightsocial https://api.insightsocial.app/mcp2Platform CLI
gemini mcp add -e INSIGHTSOCIAL_API_KEY=<INSIGHTSOCIAL_API_KEY> insightsocial npx -y insightsocialReplace <…> with your own values
Step by step, with commands for each platform: How to add an MCP server to Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, Gemini CLI and more
Questions about InsightSocial
How to install InsightSocial in Claude Code?
Run claude mcp add --transport http insightsocial https://api.insightsocial.app/mcp in your terminal. This registers the hosted HTTP endpoint directly in Claude Code.
What does the InsightSocial MCP server do?
It gives your AI coding assistant tools to search and fetch public data across 22 social platforms using a single API. Responses are normalized to a shared format and cached locally so the model can inspect them without overflowing context.
Are endpoint searches and failed requests charged?
No, running search_endpoints, describe_endpoint, and local read_result queries is free. Credits are deducted only for successful data calls, while failed requests and empty responses cost nothing.
