# zenrows-mcp

MCP server connecting AI agents to ZenRows for bypassing anti-bot shields and fetching web content. Helpful when protected websites block standard scrapers.

- MCP server · `type=mcp` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Windsurf (Devin Desktop), Cline, Zed, Gemini CLI · ★ 20
- Author: ZenRows
- License: MIT · policy=link-only · description only; the file stays with the author
- Source: https://github.com/ZenRows/zenrows-mcp
- Updated: 2026-10-24
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/mcp/zenrows-mcp

## What it does

The server connects MCP clients to ZenRows web data infrastructure. It offloads proxy rotation, browser orchestration, and bot challenge handling away from the local client. The agent reads protected sites directly without custom scraping code or selector tweaking.

Two transport options are supported. The local stdio variant runs via `npx @zenrows/mcp`, generating a free tier account with 5,000 monthly credits on the initial call unless disabled with `ZENROWS_AUTO_SIGNUP=false`. The hosted remote endpoint at `https://mcp.zenrows.com/mcp` handles requests over HTTP and requires a Bearer token or OAuth setup. Without Node.js installed locally, the npx command will fail immediately.

## Requirements
- Needs: Node.js (commands run via npx)
- Remote server: `https://mcp.zenrows.com/mcp`
- Environment variables: `ZENROWS_API_KEY` — keys and tokens: ask the human for the values, never commit them or put them in shared files.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Platform CLI: remote server**
```bash
claude mcp add --transport http zenrows-mcp https://mcp.zenrows.com/mcp
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
claude mcp add --env ZENROWS_API_KEY=<ZENROWS_API_KEY> --transport stdio zenrows-mcp -- npx -y @zenrows/mcp
```
Replace <…> with your own values

### Codex

1. **Platform CLI: remote server**
```bash
codex mcp add zenrows-mcp --url https://mcp.zenrows.com/mcp
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
codex mcp add zenrows-mcp --env ZENROWS_API_KEY=<ZENROWS_API_KEY> -- npx -y @zenrows/mcp
```
Replace <…> with your own values

### Cursor

**Config file**
File `.cursor/mcp.json`:
```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "zenrows-mcp": {
            "url": "https://mcp.zenrows.com/mcp"
        }
    }
}
```
File `.cursor/mcp.json`:
```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "zenrows-mcp": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "@zenrows/mcp"
            ],
            "env": {
                "ZENROWS_API_KEY": "<ZENROWS_API_KEY>"
            }
        }
    }
}
```
Replace <…> with your own values

### GitHub Copilot

**Config file**
File `.vscode/mcp.json`:
```json
{
    "servers": {
        "zenrows-mcp": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.zenrows.com/mcp"
        }
    }
}
```
File `.vscode/mcp.json`:
```json
{
    "servers": {
        "zenrows-mcp": {
            "type": "stdio",
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "@zenrows/mcp"
            ],
            "env": {
                "ZENROWS_API_KEY": "<ZENROWS_API_KEY>"
            }
        }
    }
}
```
Replace <…> with your own values

### Gemini CLI

1. **Platform CLI: remote server**
```bash
gemini mcp add -t http zenrows-mcp https://mcp.zenrows.com/mcp
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini mcp add -e ZENROWS_API_KEY=<ZENROWS_API_KEY> zenrows-mcp npx -y @zenrows/mcp
```
Replace <…> with your own values

## When to use it
- fetch protected web pages without triggering bot blocks
- delegate proxy rotation and browser handling to remote infrastructure
- extract web page data without writing CSS selectors
- run asynchronous web scraping jobs through the Batch API

## Example prompts
- Visit `https://news.ycombinator.com/` and summarize the three most recent posts.
- Extract the main article text using zenrows-mcp without running local browsers.
- Trigger batch page extraction using the batch tools.

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